"The Schuyler Sisters" is the fifth song from Act 1 of the musical ''

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

'', based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, which premiered on

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in 2015. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote both the music and lyrics to the song.

Background

Musical director

Alex Lacamoire Alex Lacamoire (born May 24, 1975) is a Cuban-American composer, arranger, conductor, musical director, music copyist, and orchestrator who has worked on many shows both on and off-Broadway. He is the recipient of multiple Tony and Grammy Aw ...

explained that the song originally had a throwback Daft Punk/

Pharrell Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom h ...

feel, but after viewing a series of

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with the three actresses improvising on Destiny's Child songs, he reworked the song to give it a Destiny's Child vibe, then let the sisters add their own harmonies to the tune; he "realized there's nothing in the song as cool as the harmonies the girls do when they're messing around, so we... just let them riff".

Synopsis

The song introduces the three

Schuyler Schuyler may refer to: Places United States * Schuyler County, Illinois * Schuyler County, Missouri * Schuyler, Nebraska, a city * Schuyler County, New York * Schuyler, New York, a town * Schuyler Island, Lake Champlain, New York * Schuyler C ...

sisters:

Angelica ''Angelica'' is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as Iceland, Lapland, and Greenland. They gr ...

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, and Peggy, their different personalities and views, and how they are excited to be in a new age, "amidst the powder keg of the early days of the revolution". Burr tries to flirt with Angelica, but Angelica rejects him and instead professes how she wants a "revelation" instead of a "revolution."

Style

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' described the sisters as a "Destiny's Child-esque R&B girl group."

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said the song wouldn't sound out of place in an album by Wyclef protégé

City High City High was an American R&B/ hip hop trio consisting of rappers/singers Ryan Toby, Robbie Pardlo, and Claudette Ortiz. City High is best known for their song " What Would You Do?", which earned a Grammy nomination. Career In 2001, City High ...

. ''

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'' said the number "combines

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with the Andrews Sisters and a hat tip to ' Three Little Maids From School Are We'". WIUX described it as "a pre-pre-feminist power anthem".

Critical reception

''Entertainment Monthly'' says this song marks the moment when "the album really kicks it into high gear." Jeff Lunden of Byline said that this is the song he keeps "more or less in constant rotation". When Miranda appeared on the West Wing Weekly podcast, he said the line "I'm looking for a mind at work" was taken from the TV series ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schuyler Sisters 2015 songs Songs from Hamilton (musical) Songs with feminist themes Songs about socialites