He walks out in a crown that looks like it weighs forty pounds. He’s wearing enough velvet to carpet a small apartment. Then, he opens his mouth and sings a jaunty Brit-pop tune that sounds like it belongs on a Beatles B-side. It’s hilarious. It’s also deeply unsettling if you’re actually paying attention to the lyrics. Lin-Manuel Miranda didn’t just write the Hamilton King George songs to give the audience a bathroom break or a quick laugh; he used Jonathan Groff (and the actors who followed) to embody the entire concept of toxic colonial entitlement.
The music is catchy. You’ll hum it for days. But the "King George III" tracks—specifically the trilogy of "You'll Be Back," "What Comes Next?", and "I Know Him"—serve as the structural anchor for the entire musical. While Alexander Hamilton is rapping at 144 words per minute, George is stuck in the 1760s. He’s singing harpsichord-inflected pop. It’s a genius move. It highlights the literal and metaphorical distance between the "New World" and the crown.
The British Invasion Sound in a Hip-Hop World
Why does the King sing like he’s in the 1960s? Miranda has been pretty open about this. He wanted the King’s music to represent the "old" way of doing things. While the revolutionaries are using the language of the future—hip-hop, R&B, and fast-paced wordplay—the King is stuck in a melodic loop. It’s the British Invasion sound. Think Herman’s Hermits or Sgt. Pepper era Beatles.
It creates this immediate, visceral contrast.
The first time we hear "You'll Be Back," the audience usually roars with laughter. It’s a "break-up" song. The King is treating the American Revolution like a messy split between two teenagers. "You'll be back like before / I will fight the fight and win the war for your love." It’s cute. Until it isn’t.
Then he says he’ll kill your friends and family to remind you of his love. That’s the pivot.
The Hamilton King George songs work because they use "sweet" music to deliver horrifying threats. It’s gaslighting set to a major key. The King doesn't see the colonists as people; he sees them as property that has gone astray. This isn't just a creative choice; it's a historical reflection of the British monarchy's inability to comprehend the shift in political thought happening across the Atlantic.
Breaking Down the Trilogy: More Than Just "Da Da Da"
You’ve got three main moments with the King. Each one marks a specific phase of the war and the aftermath.
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1. You'll Be Back
This is the "Abusive Boyfriend" anthem. It’s 1776. The King is confident. He’s condescending. He calls the colonists "my people" and "my subjects." The song is filled with "thee" and "thou," distancing him even further from the gritty, modern language of Hamilton and Burr. The "da da da da da" section is iconic because it’s so mindless. It’s the sound of someone who doesn't think they have to try very hard to keep your attention.
2. What Comes Next?
Short. Punchy. Bitter. This happens after the Battle of Yorktown. The Americans have won. Now, George is essentially saying, "Good luck with that." It’s a fascinating look at the reality of governing. Winning a war is easy; governing is hard. He’s mocking them. He sings about how they’re on their own and asks if they actually have a plan.
Honestly, he had a point. The Articles of Confederation were a disaster. The early years of the U.S. were messy. George’s spiteful little ditty reflects the genuine skepticism of the global powers at the time. Nobody thought this "experiment" would last more than five years.
3. I Know Him
This one is arguably the best of the three because of how it’s performed. George is watching from across the pond as George Washington steps down. He’s baffled. "I wasn't aware that was something a person could do." To a monarch, power is life. Giving it up voluntarily? It’s insanity.
When he hears that John Adams is the new president, he loses it. "That poor man, they're going to eat him alive!" It’s one of the few times the King is actually right about the politics of the new nation. The transition from Washington to Adams was brutal.
The Performance Factor: Why the Spittle Matters
If you’ve watched the filmed version on Disney+, you noticed the spit. Jonathan Groff’s performance became legendary partly because of his... enthusiasm. But that physicality is part of the character. King George is supposed to be slightly "undone."
History tells us George III struggled with mental health issues later in life, often attributed to Porphyria, though modern historians debate the exact diagnosis. In Hamilton, the King’s rigidity and his sudden bursts of manic energy capture that instability. He’s a man holding onto a world that is literally spinning out of his control.
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The actors who have played the role—Andrew Rannells, Rory O’Malley, Taran Killam—all bring a different flavor of "diva." But the core remains: he is the only character who never moves. Everyone else is dancing, revolving on the stage’s turntable, fighting, and dying. The King stands still. He is the stationary point of the old world.
Why We Can't Get These Songs Out of Our Heads
There is a psychological trick happening with the Hamilton King George songs. Because they are the only "pure" pop songs in the show, our brains latch onto them differently than the complex rap verses of "Satisfied" or "My Shot." They provide "earworms."
But there's a deeper reason they resonate.
They represent the voice of the status quo. We all know someone who acts like King George—someone who can’t understand why you’d want change, someone who thinks they know what’s best for you, someone who uses "love" as a weapon. By making the King a comedic figure, Miranda makes him approachable, which actually makes his tyranny feel more real. It’s not a mustache-twirling villain; it’s a guy who genuinely thinks he’s the hero of the story.
The contrast is everything.
If the King had a rap battle with Hamilton, he would have lost immediately. By giving him his own musical lane, the show keeps the two worlds separate. It emphasizes that the British Crown and the American Revolutionaries weren't even speaking the same language.
Real Insights for Hamilton Fans
If you're looking to dive deeper into why these songs work, you have to look at the orchestrations. Notice the harpsichord? It’s a dead giveaway. It’s the sound of the 18th-century aristocracy. Alex Lacamoire, the show's orchestrator, used these specific instruments to "age" the King’s sound.
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Compare that to the heavy bass and synth loops used in "Cabinet Battle #1."
The King's songs are also the only ones that don't use the ensemble for backup vocals in a traditional sense. He is alone. He has "servants" (usually just the stagehands or silent ensemble members), but he doesn't have a tribe. He doesn't have a "crew." Hamilton has Laurens, Mulligan, and Lafayette. Burr has his ambitions. The King just has his crown. It’s a lonely kind of power.
How to Listen to the King George Tracks Like a Pro
To truly appreciate the Hamilton King George songs, don't just listen to the lyrics. Listen to the "air" around the notes.
- Listen for the "Vaudeville" influence: The way the King interacts with the "audience" is very much in the tradition of British music hall performances.
- Watch the feet: If you see the show live, notice that the King rarely walks. He struts. He poses. It’s all about the image.
- Notice the silence: The King uses silence better than anyone else in the show. His comedic timing relies on the audience waiting for him to speak. He owns the room by doing nothing.
The American Revolution was a messy, loud, violent transition. King George III represents the "before." He is the gilded cage. He’s the reason the "ten-dollar founding father" had to work so hard to get out.
If you want to understand the revolutionary spirit, you have to understand what they were revolting against. It wasn't just a tax on tea. It was a worldview that said one man, by birthright, owned the lives and futures of millions. And that man? He thinks it’s all just a catchy little song.
Actionable Steps for Further Exploration
To get the most out of your Hamilton obsession and understand the historical context of these songs, try these specific moves:
- Listen to "The Federalist Papers" audiobook: It sounds dry, but it explains the "What Comes Next?" anxiety that George mocks in his second song.
- Compare the "King George" tracks to The Beatles - 1 album: Specifically "Penny Lane" and "All You Need Is Love." You’ll hear the exact melodic DNA Lin-Manuel Miranda was pulling from.
- Read "The Last King of America" by Andrew Roberts: It’s a massive biography that gives a much more nuanced, sympathetic look at George III than the "mad king" trope we see on stage.
- Watch different versions of "You'll Be Back" on YouTube: Seeing how different actors (like Brian d'Arcy James or Thayne Jasperson) handle the "spit" and the "stare" shows how much room there is for interpretation in the role.