Need a pick me up after all of this heartache? I did too! That's why I actually FINISHED Six over on the Patreon! If you haven't already joined, now is a great time to do so, for early access to all of my content, including more Epic The Musical hitting Patreon in JUST 3 DAYS, and more episodes of my Hamilton collab with Casper! www.patreon.com/collection/572719
Not sure if you noticed, but the chorus changes a bit each time it's sung. Most notably the last one, but also the ones in between. Lots of support to you and I hope that you are better now, and that you are not just surviving, but living to your fullest possible. ❤
I hope you are doing okay. I know this was a hard one, especially considering the quality of the acting, and the sheer emotions in the performance. Sending you warm thoughts.
'Her story wasn't over when she lost her head, her story was over when it happened again" this line just made me bawl my eyes out, Katherine Howard was taken advantage ever since she was young and she had no one to depend on because all those around her didn't even care enough to see how she was doing
I don’t know if you noticed, but Howard’s song is the only one where the other queens don’t join in as backup singers. Another excellent storytelling device to show how alone and abandoned by those who should have protected her she was.
@@danieldavid3766at the very end yes, but you’ll notice that in all other songs they join in immediately. They’re completely silent until the very end in this song and that’s the only thing they sing.
the other queens literally sing the first line of the song (all you wanna do, all you wanna do baby) and they sing all of the "playtime's over" lines starting from the very first chorus. agreed though that they sing the least in this one compared to the others.
They sing the first line 'All you wanna do, all you wanna do babe' while she does her spoken 'I think we can all agree . . .' They also sing that same line as well as 'Playtime's over' on every chorus.
fun fact! the song *does* end with k howard's execution, the clip just cuts before that. she just stands there in the dark sobbing quietly for a few seconds, and then says in her normal voice, "and then I got beheaded 🤷♀️" the way she downplays the whole thing always gets me, like she's trying so hard to sound cool and unaffected, and after the whole breakdown she still clinges to that mask of indifference until the end 😭😭😭
Matches the history too, she gave a short speech before her execution and asked that the executioner's stone be brought up to her cell the night before so she could practice laying her head on it correctly.
Yes, but the song itself was over. Like the singing and the music was over by the time she said that. It wasn’t a part of the song, it was just filler for the acting part of the musical
That's because the mask isn't for the audience, it's for her. As someone who masks I can tell you that there are two kinds of masks. One for keeping people out and one for keeping yourself together. Usually the first is because you have a mental or physical disability that you hide with mask to keep from having to explain it the every person who strikes up a conversation with you. The second is a response to extreme trauma. I have both and she definitely has the second.
I always interpreted the hands as people (men) that 'wanted' her, they always felt more possessive to me, and her pushing them off is her fighting to get out finally And then at the choris, there are more hands, and they pull her down, trap her
I interpreted them as her trauma, which is why when she feels like she’s found her place/belongs she pushes them away, it’s not her anymore and the end where they’re dragging her down.
She pushes the possessiveness away because she found her inner strength, and then when she felt confident, it was viscerally taken because there was a level of understanding this time, and hope... Like finally feeling confident only for that to be ripped away and diminished.
The final hands is also representing that it was forceful. The last one was sexual assault which in reality she escaped. She even sent a letter saying they could still be friends and hangout just with someone else around from now on. She was beheaded bc she was “impure” and painted as a whore….
Also notice how in the first two choruses she says “PLEASE me” but in the third she says “SEIZE me”. It really symbolises that she’s only now realising these men are using her for their own desires😢
Katherine Howard was around 13 during her involvement with henry mannox (as the song points out) but it is believed that he could have actually been anywhere up to the age of 36 she was around 15 during her invovement with Francis Derham and he was in his late 20s/early 30s she was 17 when she married 50 year old henry viii and it is around the same time when her and thomas culpepper became involved, and as usual he was quite a bit older than her (27 or 28) she was beheaded when she was 18 or 19 for her ‘relationships’ with both thomas culpepper and francis derham, for centuries she was seen as some sort of serial adultress, ‘the promiscuous one’ and even now some still paint her out to be this way, i've heard people claim that she wasn't abused or groomed by henry mannox or francis derham because she went along with it ‘willingly’ (wich is beyond frustrating). Im so glad that this musical finally tells her story the way it should be told. She was an abused child who was failed by those that were supposed to guide her. She was young and naive and thought these men cared about her, when in reality they were just using her which ultimatley lead to her death.
Wish the musical would have also told Boleyn's POV... was pushed by her family into a relationship with Henry and was acussed of adultery when Henry got bored of her just like Katheryne Even more heartbreaking knowing that they were cousins. Howard was pushed onto Henry by the same family members who pushed Boleyn and saw how it turned out. They knew they were leading her to slaughter
@@nantae1047 yeah it’s heartbreaking we’re always told that anne boleyn chased the king and she planned the whole thing but in reality she was pushed by her family but also pursued by Henry because she refused to be with him, i mean there have even been letters found that were written by Anne Boleyn to the king reminding him that he had a wife.
Fun fact : It is also worth noting (if I remember correctly) that she was badly beheaded and it had to take several chops for the executioner to behead her. The axe was probably dull. So she suffered quite a bit alongside her fear and panic of impending death. Poor girl.
the fact that the other wives aren't supporting/singing with katherine, but are always in shadow, looking away from her, putting hands on her and tugging her this way and that with blank faces, its so ominous and well done. she is utterly alone, and no one around her meant her well.
I think that's also why the others are turned away. They aren't the 'Queens' in this song, they're the hands of the men and the women who ignored it or (worse) handed her over
this song is the perfect representation of getting caught up in a friend joking about the most traumatic experience of their life and then suddenly getting hit with just how actually fucked up it is afterwards.
"her story wasnt over when she lost her head, her story was over when it happened again" godDAMN that hurts so much but is so true. the worst part of it for her wasnt being killed, the worst part was that final lifeline being just another betrayal
One of the things about this song and it's lyrics, is how much of it is using very childlike terms, it's not that audible from the live reacording but the lyric is "Enough be Enoughsies", and coupled with the Birds and the Bees, it just goes to show how young Katherine was and how truly messed up it all was as well
@@SimsAllAround Yes and no. Those are the only *explicitly* childish words, but a lot of the lyrics are written to deliberately have multiple meanings that allude to how immature she was, even with the lyrics that don’t have any sort of sexual connotation.
The thing that always gets me is the fact that Henry's first marriage was longer than Cathryn howards life. It's just a little fact I know but it has a devastating meaning.
Mortius, I am SO sorry that this is personal for you. Thank you for your vulnerability and showing your big heart here. And because you should hear it too, _you're_ not alone. Thrilled you're in a better place now, please continue to take care of yourself. And you're nicer than me, so I'm gonna preemptively warn folks against any incoming victim blaming BS - disrespectfully GTFOH
I had this same thought - he has such a beautiful heart and I was so honored to be able to see it... His biggest mistake in all of this was choosing to watch the Sam Pauly version. Just watching her face as she realizes that the one man who she thought was her friend is the same as all the others makes me bawl my eyes out every time.
@amandaturner4991 in his defense, we did loudly suggest that for full impact - we just didn't know how close to home it was. I was also crying with him ngl. If you watch his finale vid, it moved me to happy tears if you need the pick-me-up. I hope he got lots of comfort & puppy snuggles
The way the line "I get you and you get me" morphs through context each time its said is so well done. First, it's excited to be special and chosen. Second, it's proud to be so valuable. Third, it's resigned to being essentially owned. Fouth, it's hope at finally being understood, which is then betrayed. It just wrecks me every time.
The comparison between this and her verse in ex-wives is so drastic. "Lock up your husbands, lock up or sons. K Howard is here and the fun's begun." History portrays her as promiscuous when, really, she was a young girl who was taken advantage of and was never given the space to create boundries and reject the advances of others when she didn't want them.
that line also has a double meaning. it could refer to promiscuity, which is the initial interpretation that most people have, but then you listen to all you wanna do and you realize she could also be asking for the men to be locked up to keep her safe from them
That is the life of the noble's daughters at the time. They are only used to raise up the men in the family. They were married off young to older men. And they were sent off, like to the duchess' house for "training", or Anne Boleyn being sent to France, where they basically learned how to attract a husband, and the "training" often included the free for all that was known to have happened at the Duchess's house with the young girls under her "care" and the men who worked within the household. The major difference with Katherine Howard and the other wives was how young she was when she married Henry and when she died, somewhere between 17 and 19 when she was executed after less than 2 years of marriage. And although in this song Katherine doesn't want to be entangled or married to Henry, no one can can no to the King, and even if they could the men in families would never allow it as they gain money and power with their connect to the king or whomever they basically sell the daughters to. Although this is given as the song of Katherine Howard, it is true to all too many of the girls and women of that time, especially those in the upper class or the nobles. However, that is one of the reasons I like the ending of the musical, when the 6 wives rewrite their histories, rejecting the King and the role they had been forced into by the men around them, and banding together
My heart broke when they touch her the first time, and Mortius assumed she was shrugging off their support, which obviously was not what the choreography was meant to represent.
I've always interpreted their hands on her to be the hands of the men. It's also interesting to notice during which parts they have their backs turned to KH.
@@vivijensenforchhammer4353 another person pointed out that you notice at the end after they touch her the last time they walk off leaving her alone on the stage, like the men who are done using her and leave her alone after because she has nothing left to offer them
Facts about Katherine Howard: - During Henry VIII's reign, there weren't definative or consistent spellings of words or names yet, meaning that Katherine's name was also spelt as Catherine or Katheryn by other people. A letter she once signed herself was signed 'Katheryn' at the end, so many people believe that is how her name is actually spelt. People still spell her name as Catherine however to differenciate her from Katherine Parr, Henry's 6th wife. - She and Anne Boleyn were cousins but they never met each other. Katherine was also a second cousin to Jane Seymour, Henry's 3rd wife. - There is a gallery in the Tower of London called the 'Haunted Gallery', given that name since some Tourists have reported seeing a female figure running across the gallery, hearing screams that are believed to be Katherine's as she was said to have run away from guards trying to arrest her, screaming for Henry to forgive her. However, even if Katherine had tried to flee her captors, her original apartments no longer exist and the route that she would have taken would not have included that gallery. Nevertheless, there have been more reported ghostly sightings (and faintings) than anywhere else in the palace. - It's unknown how old she was when she was beheaded. Since she was around 17 when she married Henry, who was 49 at the time, it's assumed that she was around 18-19 years old since they were only married from 28 July 1540 - 13 February 1542 (1 year 6 months and 16 days ) - There was myth that was created that when she was saying her final words she said that she would 'rather die the wife of Thomas Culpeper'. This has been proven to be false by several witness statements at the time and was likely a lie that was made up to paint her as 'Temptress' similar to Anne Boleyn. - In Six, Katherine's design is inspired by Britney Spears and Ariana Grande, both of whom started their music careers young and were heavily sexualised by the media. - She had little interest in politics or religion. Katherine did, however, become involved in helping a prisoner in the Tower of London called Margaret Pole, the Countess of Salisbury, who was imprisoned for two years. (Her 'crime' was ultimately the fact that she was one of the very last Plantagenets as the daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, brother of King Edward IV. Henry believed that Margaret and her family were planning to overthrow the Tudor dynasty with a plan to replace Henry with his first cousin and Plantagenet, Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter.) In a goodwill gesture, Katherine purchased warm clothes for the woman. - She was described as very beautiful by those who knew her. French ambassador Charles de Marillac described Katherine as, 'A young lady of extraordinary beauty.' Katherine was believed to be quite short in stature with long, copper red hair, wide blue eyes, a round race and a fair and youthful complexion. -Her relationship with Mary (Catherine of Aragon's daughter) was strained as Mary was older than her stepmother, and disrespectful, although their relationship improved after Katherine dismissed two of Mary’s maids as punishment. Her relationship with Elizabeth was more harmonious. The pair were related through Anne Boleyn (Elizabeth was Anne's daughter) and Katherine gifted jewels to her. Katherine also won favour with Prince Edward (Jane Seymour's son) - Katherine appeared a gracious and conventional Queen. At her first court Christmas, she greeted her predecessor, Anne of Cleves, Henry's 4th wife, warmly. They exchanged gifts and even danced together. - Katherine and Henry surprisingly got on well together. She even managed to make Henry, who was very obese due to a lack of exercise and poor diet, lose some weight because of her influence. - Her father was Lord Edmund Howard, who had connections to other people associated with the English royal family at the time. Her mother was Joyce Culpeper, also known as Jocasta. Katherine was one of the youngest in a big family that included siblings, half-siblings, and step-siblings. As a result, her parents struggled to afford her upbringing and she was sent to live with her step-grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. - At her grandmother's house, Katherine received relatively little education and little oversight. Several young girls, including some of Katherine's family members, as well as her grandmother's servants, were all raised in the same house. - Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham were convicted of treason on the 1st of December 1541 and executed shortly afterwards. Culpeper was a sexual predator and there is evidence that he had previously been accused of rape and murder but escaped punishment thanks to his favour with the King. Katherine always stated that Dereham had raped her and he had used her 'in such sort as a man doth use his wife many and sundry times'. - Dereham faced a traitors death, which consisted of: hanging, membering, disembowelling, beheading and quartering. Dereham was quatered while Culpeper suffered the same fate as Katherine did. Dereham's and Culpeper's heads afterwards were put on display on London Bridge. - Katherine alongside Anne Boleyn has a memorial plaque and plate of her family's arms in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula to commemorate her and her cousin, which you can visit and send flowers to. Every year on the anniversary of Anne Boleyn's execution, May 19th, a bouquet of red roses is delivered to the tower of London anonymously with the instruction for it to be placed over the plaque carrying Anne's name. The identity of the sender has never been confirmed. - There's some confusion about how old Henry Manox was as some people say in the song that the line 'He was 23, and I was 13' was actually their age difference, making Manox around 36 according to the age difference belief. It was seen as strange for a man at the time who was in mid to late 30's to not be married yet. It's more likely that he was in his early to mid 20's, as he did later get married, but it doesn't make it any less creepier as he was an adult whilst she was a child. (I honestly just want to hug her and tell her that we believe her and that it's not her fault.)
>Every year on the anniversary of Anne Boleyn's execution, May 19th, a bouquet of red roses is delivered to the tower of London anonymously with the instruction for it to be placed over the plaque carrying Anne's name. The identity of the sender has never been confirmed. 🥹 Aww, that's really sweet.
Another heartbreaking fact I'd add is that while awaiting execution she asked for the block to be brought to her so that she may practice laying her head across it just right
A not so fun fact about the costume design of Kate Howard is that it is based off of the out fits of several celebrities that were sexualized at a young age one example being Ariana Grande that you can see in her hair style
In regards to the “why are people laughing” thing; I saw this show three times, la, San Francisco, and Vegas. In Vegas and la the audience went along with the song, increasingly getting more uncomfortable until erupting in applause at the end because it moved us so well. But in sf the audience slowly stopped going along with the song and got quieter and quieter. After her final ‘mwah’ everyone just sat there in stunned silence for at least 15 seconds before she said her next line and it felt appropriate to clap again. It was one of the most powerful moments of live theater I’ve ever experienced.
The latter is what happened when I saw it too. There were a handful of people clapping immediately after, but they petered out pretty quickly when everyone else just sat in silence for 10 seconds
I believe Samantha Pauly herself has said she actually likes it when the laughter slowly fades away as the song progresses and there is uncomfortable silence after. It means she got to the audience
I saw it with my parents and got emotional during the song but I knew lyrics and back story going in. My parents were unfazed. It wasn’t until I explained the full song on the way home they realized. It takes a few go’s to understand the full lyrics and context.
Omg! That "Fairest of the Fair" line, I literally just put it together. It's basically a call back to Snow White, "Fairest in the Land", hinting to the audience that she's completely innocent and all those men took advantage of her.
And her age…she was 13 in the song some think she might have been 9 or 10 historically bc they aren’t sure when it actually started and how much grooming occurred.
Alot of people actually see the hands grabbing her in a darker meaning then being "supportive", alot see it more as her being grabbed and held in a way by those who hurt her, being held there by those guys, ignoring every time she pushed it off and just grabbing again and again It's hard for me to describe it, but alot see it like that, which is another reason some girls when listening in get so uncomfortable cause you can hear mainly guys laughing sometimes when she struggles against it all (ik its not all the guys but you do hear it once or twice), i understand that some people don't understand what the choreography is hinting at, pls don't get mad at me
Absolutely this. Every time I see it when the Queens start grabbing at her I never get it as comfort or supportive, and more along the lines of discomfort that K. Howard has felt at the hands of other people that have surrounded her (and the women who turned blind eyes when the men were abusing / grooming her )
i mean she literally shoves them off of her several times near the end of the song... not to mention the way she pauses and looks at them... definitely not meant to be supportive 😬
There has been a lot of Ideas that KH doesn't even use words like sx and similar because she is actually _too immature._ She doesn't even fully comprehend what she is talking about
@@conejitorosada2326 Okay, that part I am really confused about, because I have seen people citing this again and again, but in every Lyric version I could find it is "enough, see". I think that one is just projection.
@@saiyasha848 Tbf, lyrics/captions can be a bit inaccurate from people hearing diff things (unless done by the actual studio/production/etc that did the show/musical/movie). But anyway // I think it's less projection and more just what it sounds like, tbf, with the childish theme picking up near the end and "playtime's over" being incorporated as a part of the song.
@@ErosNocturne Oh, no, the childish theme is definitly there, I think just that one specific lyric is projection. I tried to google it and every lyric version I found said "Enough, see"
RIGHT?! And then the lights come up and she goes from sobbing to smiling as the mask goes back on perfectly in a split second, that's one of the best and most horrible parts of the whole performance but I can never find a clip of it online
Yup. When I saw the national tour come to D.C. a couple years ago, the audience was just sitting in stunned silence at the end of her song. They didn't feel like they could applaud until she slipped back into character with "...And then I was beheaded."
I always saw the hands as the abusers, the man clinging to her and her trying to reject them. Since the hands slide through her body and shake her, her acting becomes more disoriented as she goes on, confused and tortured, and the hands keep clinging and trying to expose her. Especially on the last guy when she stops looks down and sees the hands on her thighs, I see that as her realizing she was assaulted.
@@MoonyFBM because katherine howard died so young, the bones in her grave disentegrated (went back into the earth, as opposed to withstanding time like most skeletons)
@@AxanaNtalk about trying to erase victims voices… I mean here it’s just a theory but the consequently thought how victims were/are viewed by the perpetrators after they did what they did - a disposable inconvenience Is a horrible conclusion but sadly very true I lost a friend that way as a child The police only found her body three years later … and still they found his DNA on her…
When i saw the performance, the finale was so eerie. She gasped, looked up, and then there was a light directly above her. I was in the upper circle, and from there here face looked like a death mask with an expression of horror. It still gives me chills when I think about it. I found myself sobbing, litterally.
She was only either 18-19 when she was killed.. as an SA survivor, holy fuck does that make it feel so much worse.. SHE WAS A CHILD for all of her story (Edit: please listen to the studio version eventually. She does some absolutely astonishing high notes)
Katherine Howard won the competition for me. I can't listen to her story without tearing up. Just as the song says, she was an abused child dragged around by all these men in power, using her however they wanted and disposing of her in the end. All the men mentioned were real. It's actually funny to see how "ex-wives" shows her as a debaucherous vixen going after men, and then you get here... Well, the image of her in that song is what was told about her for the longest time. Only more recently historians went "oh shi, wait. That was a groomed and abused child." She was accused of adultery and executed at the Tower of London, just like her cousin before her. There is a story of her asking for the block on the day before her execution, so she could practice laying on it. The execution itself was awful, according to some sources, done with an axe that got stuck in her neck and took several hacks to finally behead her. (Anne's was done with a sword in one swoop). She was about 19-21 when she died. (Henry, for comparison, was in his 40s, fat, with ulcerous leg from an injury decades ago that smelled horrible. What a lovely man for a young pretty girl, jfc). So young, that when in victorian era workers were renovating the chapel where a lot of execution victims were buried, Katherine's bones weren't found, thought to be disintegrated, not strong enough to last bc of her age. Anne's were found tho and so were others that were there, but not Katherine's
Yes, this one it seems that the clapping starts immediately. There was another one Ive seen that I believe was an audience of high school students and the silence in that was deafening.
I heard somewhere from one of the K Howard performers (iirc it might’ve even been Sam who said it) that because of how grueling the subject matter is, she totally understands when the audience doesn’t applaud right away/at all and doesn’t take it personal since it can feel very wrong to clap and cheer after all that
@@officialmortius sending you a big healing hug so that you feel better after watch that. hope you didnt feel too upset after that video. no matter what happens in our lifes... you are more than what life has done to you. you are who you chose chose to be. and if you ever feel life has taken that choice away from you fight for that choice, to be who you want to be and strive to be your best self. it all begins by taking that first step. love all you music nerds and know your not alone xx
Fellow CSA survivor here. This song is so raw for so many reasons, in a (kind of) good way. It shows the progression of her not just coming to terms with what was done to her, but like, genuinely *realizing* what happened, that it wasn't normal or okay. She was 13 when her SA experiences started, and by some accounts it was constant until she passed at 18-19. Her life was shorter than Henry's first marriage. A common phenomena in csa survivors is not even knowing what's happening to them is abnormal. Sure it's weird, and maybe uncomfy, but what do we have to compare it to? A lot of csa victims never speak up until much later because they had no idea it wasn't just a Thing that Happens™, and her gradually beginning to realize it isn't normal or okay over the course of the song and letting her flippant, playful mask slip destroys me every time. To Mortius, thank you for your vulnerability and strong, soft heart. And thank you for treating this with the gravity and kindness it deserves.
I was fortunate to see this show in person, I had listened to the album beforehand so I knew this song. I clapped for the actual performance, not for the message. This song is difficult vocally and mentally so having an actress be able to sing this multiple nights for a month is praiseworthy. Also, the musical directors and writers masterfully created this moment. The lyrics have so much meaning (the double entendres) and the use of touch in the choreography does so much with so little. PLUS PLUS, sometimes people need to be slapped in the face for them to understand.
i’m so glad youre reacting to sam’s interpretation! she is so moving, emotional, and POWERFUL - such a wonderful performance :) cant wait to see what you think
Man... when Mortius said she was shrugging off the hands of support... my heart dropped. I didn't realize that he didn't realize what the hands were representing by that point. That moment was the *first* time in the song she tried resisting the hands: the predatory touch she constantly endured. She may not even have realized what it was. She just knew she didn't want it anymore. Each time the hands appeared, they lingered longer, touched more, held on tighter, multiplied, and restrained. And during the following choreo, the hands that weren't touching her kept getting closer until she actively started flinching and dodging away from them until they finally snagged her multiple times despite her fighting them off. They only let go when she breaks down, and her song ends. Also, I'm sad the recording ended when it did because Mortius didn't get to see how, as soon as the lights came back on, she was smiling and joking again, masking so hard with no evidence of her breakdown a few seconds ago. The other parts I hate loving are the clever double entendres (lute, flute, plucking chords, favorite quill, spilling ink, sore wrists - which are made clearer by her hand gestures and body language) and immature language (can't get enough-sie, birds and the bees me, playtime's over). They're so well written and tell so much without ever saying it directly. I hate it.
Mortius, thank you for the honesty in this reaction. I’m a survivor and I’ve never seen anyone who understood the rawness of this song in the same way, and being able to experience it with you was so incredibly… I don’t know if ‘healing’ is the right word, but it made me feel so much less alone. Thank you a million times- you have made an enormous difference for me today 🩷 sending all the love in the world. The whole time I just wanted to (consensually) hug you and tell you it was gonna be ok!! To all my fellow survivors out there, you are SO loved and SO strong.
Theres so many inuendos in this song its crazy, "used his favourite quill" is his "sword" and stuff but once it gets to henry its more explicitly stated
My favorite is the “I’m the 10 amongst these 3s”. I haven’t found any supporting info - but I read it as a reference to “Dance 10, Looks 3” from “A Chorus Line”. Or as it’s more commonly called by those who know the show ”T*ts & A**”. A song about how the actress was never cast in anything, no matter how well she performed (Dance 10), until she got a boob & butt job (fixing her Looks 3). It’s as upbeat a tune as this one starts & hides the destructive theme until you stop & think about it.
I know we shouldn't compare the queens pain as they all suffered (minus Cleves-) But since this is a competition for who had it worse... I think we all agree that Howard was the one who deserved to win. It's truly sad as she never had someone to be there taking care of her, which left her vunerable to all those assholes. Not to disminish Aimie's(Soundtrack) performance or the one of any other actress who played her, but the emotion Sam(Broadway) puts is enough to make it... feel even worse... especially with how she sings it in the end Unlike the others, i got no "fun"facts (not like the others have much more): •She married Henry around 16-17, and was beheaded around 19. Her age is inconsistend as her birth date is unsure, so she could've been up to 22. Either way, she's the youngest queen to mary and die. •She wasn't payed much attention while she lived with her grandma as she spent much time in court instead that with the young ones, and Kate got mostly influenced by the older girls on the house, who let guys into their rooms in exchange of gifts. •Her relationship with Francis stopped once the dutchress found out, but they both agreed to Mary once he got back from a travel. In fact, if they exchanged votes before any intimate contact, they would've been seen as husband and wife on the eyes of the church (tho they already called eachother that) •As i mentioned once before, she was a Lady in waiting for Ana of Cleves, which was the only queen she got to meet in person. Henry and her married less then a month of his divorce with Cleves. In fact, it was in the same day of Thomas Cromwell's execution, who organized Cleves and Henry's marriage. Even after it, Howard wasn't crown, as she was only gonna be if she showed signs of pregnancy •What about Elizabeth and Mary? Well, it's said that she and Elizabeth (Boleyn's daugther) got along pretty well. Tho it was more difficult with Mary (Aragon's daugther), specially since Mary was older than her. But they got along in the end. Edward (Jane's son) was still around 3 years old. •Her romance with Thomas started before her marriage with Henry, tho that didn't stop it. Some/Most of their encounters were organized by Jane Boleyn (A.Boleyn's sister in law). After this, including her past, was found out, Howard defended herself saying that what happend with Mannox and Daream wasn't consentual. Sadly, this didn't work out, as they (later) made a law that said that she HAD to tell her romantic past to the king before hand •The day she got arrested, she was in such panic that they had to take any object away from her so that she wouldn't k!ll herself. It's said, and most likely possible, that, the night before her beheading, she spend hours practicing laying down her head on a block She's the queen i took hours into researching and i think that shows. Her life was a tragedy from beggining to end and one of the most devasting ones i ever heard.
This was a hard reaction to watch. Before this I knew that All You Wanna Do was a song depicting something bad that people go through and didn't feel any sort of deeper emotion besides "That sucks." But after watching this it's been made abundantly clear that this isn't just a "That sucks" it's something far darker and more emotionally painful than my limited sense of empathy could muster before this. I'm sorry.
I just noticed that after she says “I am so hot” Sam/Katheryn hesitates, like she is trying to find more good qualities in herself and she is coming up short😢
Kathryn Howard was a child who was a political pawn. She had little to no supervision while living with her grandmother, and she was misused. If you think about how we treat teenage girls, and younger, how they are sexualized, and how pop stars are public property, she's no different. There were countdown clocks across the internet for when certain actresses and singers would be legal for intimate activities, including taking photos of their genitals. The first upskirt photos of Brittany Spears came out within days of her 18th birthday. Ariana Grande and Brittany Spears were the inspiration for how KH is written & portrayed; Grande & Miley Cyrus are the author's choices for part if it ever gets made into a movie. This is the number I have the greatest trouble with watching, for all the obvious reasons. K Howard's own family destroyed her portraits, so we aren't really sure what she looked like. As she said in "Ex-Wives", she's just one word in a stupid rhyme. Six allowed her portrayal to at least claim agency, something denied her in her mortal life.
I’m sorry that this was such a difficult reaction for you but thank you so much for doing it. You said ‘how am I supposed to make content out of this’ due to the intense emotions, and I think this is the exact type of reaction this song deserves. It’s really hard to watch others react to this song and get caught up in the fun beat, and not understand how heartbreaking this story is
This was so heartbreaking. I was watching how much the first verse was hitting you, Mortius, knowing how much harder the song was going to be. Making such a harsh and wrecking song such a bop was diabolic. Somehow, however, it makes it even more impactful than a more traditional sad "see how I suffered" song. I'm sorry it was so hard for you. Just gotta say me too.
What makes this also sad is the cutsey lyrics like 'birds and bee's me' and 'Enough-sy' shows how young she was when all this happened to her. Also who wanted to give Mortius a hug throughout this vid?
I actually just looked it up- what she's doing is still a glissando. The term for the smooth glissando is specifically portamento, while what Sam is doing on "You say I'm all you need" is what's known as a discrete glissando, or a stepped glissando.
She and Anne Boleyn were first cousins so she was related to Anne's daughter by Henry, Elizabeth I. It's believed that the death of her mother combined with seeing what happened to Katherine Howard is what lead to Elizabeth refusing to be married when she became Queen.
If you haven't been warned the way you are, you likely don't realize the implications of the song until the final verse. I was really taken in by the pop vibes my first listen and then it all hit me like a mac truck at the end. I think that's the intent. So the people laughing are probably first time listeners who haven't had time to think about the implications of the lyrics.
Agreed - I tend not to pay much attention to lyrics on my first few listens, so I can understand that completely (probably the only reason I wasn't in the same boat was because my daughter explained what was going on beforehand). Incidentally this is the first time I've seen the footage, and good lord that's powerful. Virtual hugs to Mortius with this one.
When I heard it for the first time it was 7 in the morning and I was just letting myself be guided by pop, until it reached the line of "I thought this time would be different" And I got triggered and rewinded the whole song I ended up crying
Yeah first verse I whas bobbing, just frowning a bit one or to times. And then every few lines I got a bit more allarmed. My innocent enjoyment of the song slowly being stripped away the same way her innocence got stripped away.
Thank you for picking up so quickly on the actual themes of this song. I've seen reactors go the entire song calling Katherine awful names and blaming her because the delivery is upbeat and missing the point of the contrast in subject matter and delivery. You saw it immediately and empathized with her front the start. I can see this was very difficult for you and I appreciate your analysis and reaction!
I watched this ion patreon but I just want to note an observation. The girl who plays K Howard seems very ...childlike. Like her smile and her doe eyes are very innocent and even her sad face looks like puppy dog eyes which is not usual for a sexy character. Even the way she dances seems a little childlike at the beginning which makes this all the more heartbreaking because of how fast she had to grow up.
There are three things about this that I had noticed. First: The shrugging off of the hands on her shoulders not only signify that she shrugs away the support but also tries to shrug off any kind of contact (from men) without being seen as rude as it is still in character and "fun" with her expression. But when the hands get more forceful with each chorus and end up affecting her whole body, she needs to break free and show her unmasking side to get rid of them. Second: There is one line in the chorus that changes and I believe you only caught it in the fourth chorus. The first two choruses the line is "Please me, squeeze me, birds and the bees me." During the third chorus, the one about Henry, she already switches to "*Seize* me, squeeze me, birds and the bees me" until during the fourth chorus she ends on "Squeeze me, don't care if you please me" Which makes it all the more heartbreaking to me And the third: Her whole demeanor but also her words during this song signal how young she actually was. During the whole show whenever she wants to say something, Katherine Howard puts her hand up as if she was in school. Then she always says "Birds and the bees me", like a child would. She uses metaphors and that is mostly because she doesn't even understand herself what exactly is happening. then the "enoughsies" is just childspeech. And of course the "playtime's over" comment also shows that at first this was a game to her, because it is fun to get attention from people you look up to. But she increasingly notices that it is not, in fact, a game and playtime is over, she has to grow up and realize the stuff that is going on is wrong. Overall this is a heartbreaking, spine chilling song disguised as a fun up-beat one. There are many "jokes" in it and because many know the story already, they decide to laugh along the jokes so the vibe doesn't get too heavy. That is why you hear lots of people laughing in the audience (or it's first time listeners that don't understand the entirity of the lyrics yet). Thank you for reacting to this and I hope it wasn't too hard on you to react to this. Lots of love from Germany (The Haus of Holbein :D)!
If you go back to her ex-wives verse: Prick up your ears I’m the Katherine who lost her head For my promiscuity outside of wed- Lock up your husbands Lock up your sons K Howard is here and the funs begun This song puts gives us her perspective of the self imposed victim blaming while also unsurprisingly framing it as many see the behavior without context. Seeing her as promiscuous and luring these men when she was groomed by these husbands and sons.
i said this during the live chat, but i wanted to say it again. to anyone who has gone through anything similar, i am so sorry. i wish there was a way to give everyone a hug, or any kind of support they might need. you are loved, and you are wanted.
Mortius I hope you know that you never have to put yourself through this for our views. If this sort of thing is ever too hard, please take care of yourself first. We will still be here no matter what, I hope you are okay after this recording.
I've always interpreted the last little bit at 43:24 (the last "the only thing you wanna do is" kiss* gasp*) as her being beheaded, and the reason she does get beheaded is because Henry found out about her friend taking advantage of her and blamed her for it, which is wrong in so many ways might I add.
I'm so glad you reacted to Samantha Pauly's performance for this one. For most of the queens, I tend to prefer the west end cast - nothing wrong with the Broadway cast, I just prefer the English version - but Samantha is the one exception. Her performance is extremely powerful for this song. Also, glad to see you clearly understood the horrific nature of the song. I see so many reactors just nod along for most of it, since it is such a catchy tune, not really paying attention to the content, at least until K Howard breaks down near the end, and sometimes not even then. Whether due to your own lived experiences, possibly alongside the warnings you got beforehand. It was appreciated!
She is an INCREDIBLE performer. That was heartbreaking. She felt all the appropriate emotions at all the right moments. The ways she puts on the mask and can see it is fake at times and then her hopefulness. The growing desperation. THIS time it is going to be different. you'll see! The way she visible tries to convince herself it is okay. the moment you can see her heart breaking when she realizes that they only value one part of her and don't really care about anything else. She was a child during all of it. The last part with the betrayal and her resignation that it is never gonna get better made me cry.
14:57 just throwing out here that while it is absolutely not ok to laugh at someone going through something to is traumatic, some of that could just be people like me who laugh on reflex when something gets really intense, dark, or embarrassing without realizing till after. (There’s also a chance it’s someone who went through something similar and sometimes makes jokes about it as a coping mechanism. That is a common trauma response.)
The hands that she’s shrugging off isn’t her rejecting support, although it would be great if it was. It’s her being in denial/trying to dodge the inevitability of those men trying to lay a claim on her.
32:23 most people don’t see that as support. Most people see it as shrugging off warnings from the past, AKA the hands are those of the men who took advantage of her.
As a victim of childhood s/a this version of the song always makes me so emotional, the anger and the desperation and all the emotion is just so overwhelmingly relatable
What is very sad to me: The other queens keep dancing with the same energy as Kath slowly realizes what's up, as if to say, "What? This is so normal, just look at us! You're just overreacting." This is the attitude many people face when talking about abuse.
With the first 2 guys it’s “Please me, squeeze me”, then with Henry it’s “Seize me, squeeze me”, and Thomas, “Don’t care if you don’t please me.” 😭 This song always makes me so emotional, and then your very clear, strong, appropriate reactions to what is being said… I had to stop multiple times to clear my tears so I could actually see the video.
This is the first video of yours I've seen. Thank you for being vulnerable with your audience; I'm sure it's helped a lot of people. It's never a survivor's fault, and we need to keep saying it until everyone who has endured that hears it and believes it.
What's even more sad is that Thomas Culpepper was rumored to be a serial grape-ist, so when he and Katherine were 'involved', it's more likely that he ass@ulted her and she was blamed for it. The day before she was put in her cell, she ran through the halls of the palace screaming and crying her innocence; and then the night before she was beheaded, she practiced putting her head onto a makeshift chopping block. Even worse, Henry hired an axeman to behead her, and the axe was dull while the headsman wasn't quite as experienced. The first swing hit her in the back, and then after that, it took countless swings for her head to actually get fully chopped off.
Yes. The sign that the charges against Anne Boleyn were BS was that Henry hired an experienced swordsman to behead her, the “best” option before the invention of a guillotine. Henry made Katherine’s beheading a horror show with a dull ax and inexperienced executioner in part because she was “guilty” aka the charges were true even though that was victim-blaming.
The way the live chat was planing a murder for king Henry with jobs and every thing: I was head scientist @wolfie was head troops @ poke moon was the commander and @ mari was the head of the spy’s
Fun thing: i was just watching Mortius' reaction and, out of curiosity, opened the chat and was greeted with a flook of protective guards. My face was like: 😶
I think the laughter in the audience is caused by people who have had a sudden tonal shift. Their bodies releasing an awkward laugh as the beat and lyrics don't match up.
The thing that really captivates me about this performance is the lighting and how it mixes with the choreo of the other queens. They are draped in shadow almost the entire time and their faces are specifically obscured whenever they put their hands on Howard. It gives me two distinct impressions, 1. that the men in her life were never genuine with her and always hid their true intentions to get closer to her, and 2. that this was how those men saw Howard, a faceless nobody, pretty enough to be used for their pleasure and then discarded, because she meant nothing to them. She wasn’t a person in their eyes, she was barely more than a shadow. Also like the specific placement of their hands. At first it’s hands on the shoulders like a controlling parent keeping you in line, then there’s another on the waist from behind, unable to see who’s grabbing you but keeping you pressed against them, facing outwards like a prize to show off but unable to leave, and then they add the ones on the legs, keeping her from running away. All of them focus on hindering movement. They also remind me of puppet strings, which I find interesting as the only part of her without a “string” is her head. The rest of her body is being used against her will but her mind still remains, despite the slowly forming cracks. I’ve still got more analysis but I’ll post the rest on Tumblr.
Alright so i usually don’t comment on videos but i just *had* to for this one I loved your reaction to this song. I’ve searched up All You Wanna Do reactions before, but almost all of them were really lackluster and didn’t really dive into the horrible story between the “innocent” and upbeat lyrics. Of course I knew you were going to analyze well, so I’ve been looking forward to this video for a long time. And boy, did this not disappoint. I’ve watched the video to its entirety and I guess I just wanted to say thank you for putting thoughts into the song and figuring out the true message of what K.H. went through. Keep going strong, Mortius!
25:37 Connection is like a trigger word for her. It makes her realize the cycle is repeating. Everytime she says it you hear the realization and the increased desperation/sadness
sam pauly is FANTASTIC in this song, the role as a whole really. most howards put some kind of emotion into the final chorus but you can see her vulnerability throughout the entire performance - you comment on the masking, for example.
The content you make out of this is the feeling and impact this has for someone who has lived through SA. Those who haven't felt those emotions can understand a small bit by seeing you and how this song affects you. You are teaching others how to feel empathy for the awful things others has gone through.
Her story wasn't over when she lost her head, her story was over when it happened again. I used to think she was so dumb and awful. She was a child who was abused her whole life.
When I saw this in Toronto, the actress for K.Howard ended this song with this incredible sobbing gasp. It was so full of emotion and the whole theatre was silent for like 10 seconds.
I've never actually seen the live performance of this either and wow. That hit hard. Like the song alone was still emotionally but that performance was insane
“It’s never the same, but it’s eventually okay”… I’m sobbing! Partly because it’s so true and I am definitely in a place of healing from some past trauma of my own, but in someways I don’t think there will ever be a time when you won’t need that message. We are thankful for you and all you bring, the joyful, happy positive vibes we love, And that deep emotion that you showed in this video. All of it is just as valid and so important! For you… And for all of us! We are going to have good and bad days, sometimes it can hit us out of nowhere, and sometimes everything is great! Trauma is a weird thing, but it will eventually be okay! Thank you!
Whenever I listen to " all you want to do " it reminds me that all of the Queens had traumatic experiences as Henry's wives. It's just that the songs were written in a pop upbeat tone and K.H.'s song is your wake-up call that it wasn't this bubbly catfight ish thing that happened in Court. 6 women had their life ruined
The audience at this show laughed at a lot of the slightly lighter moments. When I saw this show everyone was so stunned at this song they didn’t even clap at the end. The applause happened when she said the line after the lights came up.
Ive never wanted to hug a youtuber as much as i wanted to hug you (or otherwise show comfort in a way that youre open to receiving it) during this video.
One thing you missed a little bit with the chorus changes is that she went from saying “please me squeeze me” to “seize me squeeze me” that one always hit me hard
Watching your reaction was intense, painful at times, but so interesting. Thank you for giving so much of yourself and your vulnerability. Take care of yourself. On an unrelated note, the lyrics changes from "mate" to "friend" caught me off guard.
Sad fact: when they were repairing the church where she is burried, her grave was one of the graves that was opened. All the graves next to her still had bones, but because she was so young when she died, her bones were completely dissolved
So, my comment is more in reaction to your reaction. You’re uncomfortable, as you should be. It’s meant to sound fun and upbeat, but it really isn’t. And I’m so sorry that this brought up so much past trauma. I really wanted to reach through my screen and hug you (consensually of course). And I’m so glad you were able to look past it and still talk about the musicality of it. And the lyrics are brilliantly written that the audience can know what they mean, yet still laugh at it. Again, a testament to the delivery and writing style of the lyricist. That last chorus is rough, but so beautifully done. The emotions are very conflicting for sure. “Her story wasn’t over when she lost her head. Her story was over when it happened again. And it always happens again.” I cried when you said that. Again, I wanted to reach through and hug you. Your vulnerability in this is noted and, in the best way possible, appreciated. Thank you for sharing this. Now, let’s all have a group therapy session to decompress and unpack all of these conflicted emotions.
I'm a recent subscriber. Hamilton brought me here, but then I saw this video. Just seeing how this storyline impacted you in real time, and seeing you reliving your own trauma while trying to process it... Thank you for being you. You don't have to explain or apologize. There are many of us here who have been to hell and back. Sometimes you become cold. I've had friends say that when I tell them about my trauma, I talk about it like it happened to someone else and not me. Self-preservation we think, because we don't ever want to be vulnerable again, that's how to avoid being hurt. That's one of the worst things about trauma, the loss of innocence and the loss of the ability to allow yourself to be vulnerable. Your reaction really resonated with me. I love your channel. You open yourself up, and people are drawn to that quality. Don't ever change. You've got a fan for life here! I'd love it if you'd react to some Tori Amos songs, I think you'd really get into and appreciate her work. You could start with Winter, Live at Montreaux, 1992. There are two different nights, pick the one where she's wearing the blue shirt. Yes, many people have reacted to this version, and there's a reason for that! Tori has gotten me through so many rough times. As a musical theatre performer, I'm loving all your Broadway musical content! Keep it coming, and thank you for everything you do.
I'm so sorry you relate to this song at all (and everyone else included as well). Just wanted to add this here to say you're not alone and sending every positive thing your way.
I was not expecting to cry at work today. I'm doing a training class, and I'm just bawling. Mortius, your obvious personal connection to the topic just broke me. This is, hands down, the best version of this song. The others are also great, but the actresses don't delve as deeply into the abuse aspect, they keep the song light and "fun". Good choice to react to this version.
Why was this reaction more heartbreaking than the song😭😭 PS: Mortius, you are loved❤️❤️ and this reaction was definitely one of my favorite “all you wanna do” reactions!! I hope everyone who has experience anything like this knows that they are loved and that it will eventually get better❤️❤️
My favourite detail of this song is how in the last two choruses, you can hear sirens in the background. She’s starting to wake up to the danger but powerless to stop it because of the time she’s in. 😢
We saw Pauly in Chicago for the US premiere and when Pauly finished All You Wanna Do, there was no immediate applause. Just an audience in a state of shock and empathy - which spoke the audience's appreciation louder than any applause.
"Its never the same but its eventually ok" hits so hard, ive never been truge stuff like this but i am dealing with my own stuff and those words hit me so hard that i am still thinking about it even tho i watched the video the day it released
also, like - the final 'play time's over', the realization that she was going to die (you can almost hear 'henry' there saying it instead of her, it means something different now) just *hits* like a gut punch.
Need a pick me up after all of this heartache? I did too! That's why I actually FINISHED Six over on the Patreon! If you haven't already joined, now is a great time to do so, for early access to all of my content, including more Epic The Musical hitting Patreon in JUST 3 DAYS, and more episodes of my Hamilton collab with Casper! www.patreon.com/collection/572719
Not sure if you noticed, but the chorus changes a bit each time it's sung. Most notably the last one, but also the ones in between.
Lots of support to you and I hope that you are better now, and that you are not just surviving, but living to your fullest possible. ❤
I hope you are doing okay. I know this was a hard one, especially considering the quality of the acting, and the sheer emotions in the performance. Sending you warm thoughts.
I have the same reaction to this song every time I ALWAYS cry and if you didn’t know Anne Boleyn and K Howard were cousins I think
When is UA-cam version for epic the musical? In two weeks after the release date? I don’t have Patreon so this is why I’m asking.
Fun fact: Anne bolyne and Catherine Harward are 1st cousins (the real people back then not the actors)
'Her story wasn't over when she lost her head, her story was over when it happened again" this line just made me bawl my eyes out, Katherine Howard was taken advantage ever since she was young and she had no one to depend on because all those around her didn't even care enough to see how she was doing
That was the line that made me cry too
And if I remember correctly she was less than 20 by the time she was beheaded.
Mortius said at like 44:00@@IsabellaHuerta-xn8zs
@karentorresalfaro3371 she was 17
@@karentorresalfaro3371I think the agreed range of her age is 17-22ish
Still the youngest by a while
I don’t know if you noticed, but Howard’s song is the only one where the other queens don’t join in as backup singers. Another excellent storytelling device to show how alone and abandoned by those who should have protected her she was.
OH MY GOSH 😭 Man, good point
Don’t they say “Playtime’s over”?
@@danieldavid3766at the very end yes, but you’ll notice that in all other songs they join in immediately. They’re completely silent until the very end in this song and that’s the only thing they sing.
the other queens literally sing the first line of the song (all you wanna do, all you wanna do baby) and they sing all of the "playtime's over" lines starting from the very first chorus. agreed though that they sing the least in this one compared to the others.
They sing the first line 'All you wanna do, all you wanna do babe' while she does her spoken 'I think we can all agree . . .' They also sing that same line as well as 'Playtime's over' on every chorus.
fun fact! the song *does* end with k howard's execution, the clip just cuts before that. she just stands there in the dark sobbing quietly for a few seconds, and then says in her normal voice, "and then I got beheaded 🤷♀️" the way she downplays the whole thing always gets me, like she's trying so hard to sound cool and unaffected, and after the whole breakdown she still clinges to that mask of indifference until the end 😭😭😭
Matches the history too, she gave a short speech before her execution and asked that the executioner's stone be brought up to her cell the night before so she could practice laying her head on it correctly.
Yes, but the song itself was over. Like the singing and the music was over by the time she said that. It wasn’t a part of the song, it was just filler for the acting part of the musical
That's because the mask isn't for the audience, it's for her. As someone who masks I can tell you that there are two kinds of masks. One for keeping people out and one for keeping yourself together. Usually the first is because you have a mental or physical disability that you hide with mask to keep from having to explain it the every person who strikes up a conversation with you. The second is a response to extreme trauma. I have both and she definitely has the second.
There IS a utube that shows that. I don't know the creator. It IS on here somewhere.
The last gasp she makes is a representation of her getting beheaded. The writers of the show confirmed this.
I always interpreted the hands as people (men) that 'wanted' her, they always felt more possessive to me, and her pushing them off is her fighting to get out finally
And then at the choris, there are more hands, and they pull her down, trap her
I interpreted them as her trauma, which is why when she feels like she’s found her place/belongs she pushes them away, it’s not her anymore and the end where they’re dragging her down.
I view it as her trauma in the way of the impact the men left on her
She pushes the possessiveness away because she found her inner strength, and then when she felt confident, it was viscerally taken because there was a level of understanding this time, and hope... Like finally feeling confident only for that to be ripped away and diminished.
The final hands is also representing that it was forceful. The last one was sexual assault which in reality she escaped. She even sent a letter saying they could still be friends and hangout just with someone else around from now on. She was beheaded bc she was “impure” and painted as a whore….
Oh Mortius! My heart wants to hug you. Thankyou for being so vulnerable 😢❤
Also notice how in the first two choruses she says “PLEASE me” but in the third she says “SEIZE me”. It really symbolises that she’s only now realising these men are using her for their own desires😢
And in the last one it’s “don’t care if you DON’T please me”
It’s also when the literal sirens start going off 🚨 🚨
Katherine Howard was around 13 during her involvement with henry mannox (as the song points out) but it is believed that he could have actually been anywhere up to the age of 36
she was around 15 during her invovement with Francis Derham and he was in his late 20s/early 30s
she was 17 when she married 50 year old henry viii and it is around the same time when her and thomas culpepper became involved, and as usual he was quite a bit older than her (27 or 28)
she was beheaded when she was 18 or 19 for her ‘relationships’ with both thomas culpepper and francis derham,
for centuries she was seen as some sort of serial adultress, ‘the promiscuous one’ and even now some still paint her out to be this way, i've heard people claim that she wasn't abused or groomed by henry mannox or francis derham because she went along with it ‘willingly’ (wich is beyond frustrating). Im so glad that this musical finally tells her story the way it should be told. She was an abused child who was failed by those that were supposed to guide her. She was young and naive and thought these men cared about her, when in reality they were just using her which ultimatley lead to her death.
Wish the musical would have also told Boleyn's POV... was pushed by her family into a relationship with Henry and was acussed of adultery when Henry got bored of her just like Katheryne
Even more heartbreaking knowing that they were cousins. Howard was pushed onto Henry by the same family members who pushed Boleyn and saw how it turned out. They knew they were leading her to slaughter
@@nantae1047 yeah it’s heartbreaking we’re always told that anne boleyn chased the king and she planned the whole thing but in reality she was pushed by her family but also pursued by Henry because she refused to be with him, i mean there have even been letters found that were written by Anne Boleyn to the king reminding him that he had a wife.
People failed her:(
Fun fact : It is also worth noting (if I remember correctly) that she was badly beheaded and it had to take several chops for the executioner to behead her. The axe was probably dull. So she suffered quite a bit alongside her fear and panic of impending death. Poor girl.
@@SiIker. That's Mary Queen of Scots.
the fact that the other wives aren't supporting/singing with katherine, but are always in shadow, looking away from her, putting hands on her and tugging her this way and that with blank faces, its so ominous and well done. she is utterly alone, and no one around her meant her well.
I think that's also why the others are turned away. They aren't the 'Queens' in this song, they're the hands of the men and the women who ignored it or (worse) handed her over
this song is the perfect representation of getting caught up in a friend joking about the most traumatic experience of their life and then suddenly getting hit with just how actually fucked up it is afterwards.
YESSSSSSS!!!!!!
absolutely.... that oh wait moment where you want to be like "honey, no thats not ok are you ok?"
"her story wasnt over when she lost her head, her story was over when it happened again"
godDAMN that hurts so much but is so true. the worst part of it for her wasnt being killed, the worst part was that final lifeline being just another betrayal
One of the things about this song and it's lyrics, is how much of it is using very childlike terms, it's not that audible from the live reacording but the lyric is "Enough be Enoughsies", and coupled with the Birds and the Bees, it just goes to show how young Katherine was and how truly messed up it all was as well
Interesting, I had thought it was “Enough be enough, see…”
@@erinsilver3920you are correct
@@erinsilver3920No, it is - I think the “Birds and the Bees me” and “Playtime’s over” are the only childlike words in here
@@SimsAllAround Yes and no. Those are the only *explicitly* childish words, but a lot of the lyrics are written to deliberately have multiple meanings that allude to how immature she was, even with the lyrics that don’t have any sort of sexual connotation.
The thing that always gets me is the fact that Henry's first marriage was longer than Cathryn howards life. It's just a little fact I know but it has a devastating meaning.
Mortius, I am SO sorry that this is personal for you. Thank you for your vulnerability and showing your big heart here.
And because you should hear it too, _you're_ not alone. Thrilled you're in a better place now, please continue to take care of yourself.
And you're nicer than me, so I'm gonna preemptively warn folks against any incoming victim blaming BS - disrespectfully GTFOH
I had this same thought - he has such a beautiful heart and I was so honored to be able to see it... His biggest mistake in all of this was choosing to watch the Sam Pauly version. Just watching her face as she realizes that the one man who she thought was her friend is the same as all the others makes me bawl my eyes out every time.
@amandaturner4991 in his defense, we did loudly suggest that for full impact - we just didn't know how close to home it was. I was also crying with him ngl. If you watch his finale vid, it moved me to happy tears if you need the pick-me-up. I hope he got lots of comfort & puppy snuggles
The way the line "I get you and you get me" morphs through context each time its said is so well done. First, it's excited to be special and chosen. Second, it's proud to be so valuable. Third, it's resigned to being essentially owned. Fouth, it's hope at finally being understood, which is then betrayed. It just wrecks me every time.
Already crying but sure, I can spare more tears why the hell not👍
The comparison between this and her verse in ex-wives is so drastic. "Lock up your husbands, lock up or sons. K Howard is here and the fun's begun."
History portrays her as promiscuous when, really, she was a young girl who was taken advantage of and was never given the space to create boundries and reject the advances of others when she didn't want them.
that line also has a double meaning. it could refer to promiscuity, which is the initial interpretation that most people have, but then you listen to all you wanna do and you realize she could also be asking for the men to be locked up to keep her safe from them
That is the life of the noble's daughters at the time. They are only used to raise up the men in the family. They were married off young to older men. And they were sent off, like to the duchess' house for "training", or Anne Boleyn being sent to France, where they basically learned how to attract a husband, and the "training" often included the free for all that was known to have happened at the Duchess's house with the young girls under her "care" and the men who worked within the household. The major difference with Katherine Howard and the other wives was how young she was when she married Henry and when she died, somewhere between 17 and 19 when she was executed after less than 2 years of marriage. And although in this song Katherine doesn't want to be entangled or married to Henry, no one can can no to the King, and even if they could the men in families would never allow it as they gain money and power with their connect to the king or whomever they basically sell the daughters to. Although this is given as the song of Katherine Howard, it is true to all too many of the girls and women of that time, especially those in the upper class or the nobles. However, that is one of the reasons I like the ending of the musical, when the 6 wives rewrite their histories, rejecting the King and the role they had been forced into by the men around them, and banding together
The way the other queens touch Katherine during the chorus just makes it hit so much harder. 🥺😔
My heart broke when they touch her the first time, and Mortius assumed she was shrugging off their support, which obviously was not what the choreography was meant to represent.
@@erinsilver3920 i mean, that interpretation still works
I've always interpreted their hands on her to be the hands of the men.
It's also interesting to notice during which parts they have their backs turned to KH.
@@vivijensenforchhammer4353 another person pointed out that you notice at the end after they touch her the last time they walk off leaving her alone on the stage, like the men who are done using her and leave her alone after because she has nothing left to offer them
Facts about Katherine Howard:
- During Henry VIII's reign, there weren't definative or consistent spellings of words or names yet, meaning that Katherine's name was also spelt as Catherine or Katheryn by other people. A letter she once signed herself was signed 'Katheryn' at the end, so many people believe that is how her name is actually spelt. People still spell her name as Catherine however to differenciate her from Katherine Parr, Henry's 6th wife.
- She and Anne Boleyn were cousins but they never met each other. Katherine was also a second cousin to Jane Seymour, Henry's 3rd wife.
- There is a gallery in the Tower of London called the 'Haunted Gallery', given that name since some Tourists have reported seeing a female figure running across the gallery, hearing screams that are believed to be Katherine's as she was said to have run away from guards trying to arrest her, screaming for Henry to forgive her. However, even if Katherine had tried to flee her captors, her original apartments no longer exist and the route that she would have taken would not have included that gallery. Nevertheless, there have been more reported ghostly sightings (and faintings) than anywhere else in the palace.
- It's unknown how old she was when she was beheaded. Since she was around 17 when she married Henry, who was 49 at the time, it's assumed that she was around 18-19 years old since they were only married from 28 July 1540 - 13 February 1542 (1 year 6 months and 16 days )
- There was myth that was created that when she was saying her final words she said that she would 'rather die the wife of Thomas Culpeper'. This has been proven to be false by several witness statements at the time and was likely a lie that was made up to paint her as 'Temptress' similar to Anne Boleyn.
- In Six, Katherine's design is inspired by Britney Spears and Ariana Grande, both of whom started their music careers young and were heavily sexualised by the media.
- She had little interest in politics or religion. Katherine did, however, become involved in helping a prisoner in the Tower of London called Margaret Pole, the Countess of Salisbury, who was imprisoned for two years. (Her 'crime' was ultimately the fact that she was one of the very last Plantagenets as the daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, brother of King Edward IV. Henry believed that Margaret and her family were planning to overthrow the Tudor dynasty with a plan to replace Henry with his first cousin and Plantagenet, Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter.) In a goodwill gesture, Katherine purchased warm clothes for the woman.
- She was described as very beautiful by those who knew her. French ambassador Charles de Marillac described Katherine as, 'A young lady of extraordinary beauty.' Katherine was believed to be quite short in stature with long, copper red hair, wide blue eyes, a round race and a fair and youthful complexion.
-Her relationship with Mary (Catherine of Aragon's daughter) was strained as Mary was older than her stepmother, and disrespectful, although their relationship improved after Katherine dismissed two of Mary’s maids as punishment. Her relationship with Elizabeth was more harmonious. The pair were related through Anne Boleyn (Elizabeth was Anne's daughter) and Katherine gifted jewels to her. Katherine also won favour with Prince Edward (Jane Seymour's son)
- Katherine appeared a gracious and conventional Queen. At her first court Christmas, she greeted her predecessor, Anne of Cleves, Henry's 4th wife, warmly. They exchanged gifts and even danced together.
- Katherine and Henry surprisingly got on well together. She even managed to make Henry, who was very obese due to a lack of exercise and poor diet, lose some weight because of her influence.
- Her father was Lord Edmund Howard, who had connections to other people associated with the English royal family at the time. Her mother was Joyce Culpeper, also known as Jocasta. Katherine was one of the youngest in a big family that included siblings, half-siblings, and step-siblings. As a result, her parents struggled to afford her upbringing and she was sent to live with her step-grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.
- At her grandmother's house, Katherine received relatively little education and little oversight. Several young girls, including some of Katherine's family members, as well as her grandmother's servants, were all raised in the same house.
- Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham were convicted of treason on the 1st of December 1541 and executed shortly afterwards. Culpeper was a sexual predator and there is evidence that he had previously been accused of rape and murder but escaped punishment thanks to his favour with the King. Katherine always stated that Dereham had raped her and he had used her 'in such sort as a man doth use his wife many and sundry times'.
- Dereham faced a traitors death, which consisted of: hanging, membering, disembowelling, beheading and quartering. Dereham was quatered while Culpeper suffered the same fate as Katherine did. Dereham's and Culpeper's heads afterwards were put on display on London Bridge.
- Katherine alongside Anne Boleyn has a memorial plaque and plate of her family's arms in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula to commemorate her and her cousin, which you can visit and send flowers to. Every year on the anniversary of Anne Boleyn's execution, May 19th, a bouquet of red roses is delivered to the tower of London anonymously with the instruction for it to be placed over the plaque carrying Anne's name. The identity of the sender has never been confirmed.
- There's some confusion about how old Henry Manox was as some people say in the song that the line 'He was 23, and I was 13' was actually their age difference, making Manox around 36 according to the age difference belief. It was seen as strange for a man at the time who was in mid to late 30's to not be married yet. It's more likely that he was in his early to mid 20's, as he did later get married, but it doesn't make it any less creepier as he was an adult whilst she was a child.
(I honestly just want to hug her and tell her that we believe her and that it's not her fault.)
Thomas culpepper was her cousin as well.
The so-called "Haunted Gallery" is at Hampton Court.
>Every year on the anniversary of Anne Boleyn's execution, May 19th, a bouquet of red roses is delivered to the tower of London anonymously with the instruction for it to be placed over the plaque carrying Anne's name. The identity of the sender has never been confirmed.
🥹 Aww, that's really sweet.
Another heartbreaking fact I'd add is that while awaiting execution she asked for the block to be brought to her so that she may practice laying her head across it just right
@@pie1o1morris46- that might be apocryphal, though.
A not so fun fact about the costume design of Kate Howard is that it is based off of the out fits of several celebrities that were sexualized at a young age one example being Ariana Grande that you can see in her hair style
Ariana Grande and Britney Spears... If I'm not wrong the cuore progression is either similar or the same as Toxic...
@@Costanza_B not just the chord progression, this song also has the exact same BPM as Toxic.
@@jovindsouza3407 Thank you, I didn't remember that detail!!
In regards to the “why are people laughing” thing; I saw this show three times, la, San Francisco, and Vegas. In Vegas and la the audience went along with the song, increasingly getting more uncomfortable until erupting in applause at the end because it moved us so well. But in sf the audience slowly stopped going along with the song and got quieter and quieter. After her final ‘mwah’ everyone just sat there in stunned silence for at least 15 seconds before she said her next line and it felt appropriate to clap again. It was one of the most powerful moments of live theater I’ve ever experienced.
this is so true
The latter is what happened when I saw it too. There were a handful of people clapping immediately after, but they petered out pretty quickly when everyone else just sat in silence for 10 seconds
I believe Samantha Pauly herself has said she actually likes it when the laughter slowly fades away as the song progresses and there is uncomfortable silence after. It means she got to the audience
People underestimate the power of uncomfortable laughter, especially since she's makes a joke about such a fucked up topic
I saw it with my parents and got emotional during the song but I knew lyrics and back story going in. My parents were unfazed. It wasn’t until I explained the full song on the way home they realized. It takes a few go’s to understand the full lyrics and context.
Omg! That "Fairest of the Fair" line, I literally just put it together. It's basically a call back to Snow White, "Fairest in the Land", hinting to the audience that she's completely innocent and all those men took advantage of her.
And her age…she was 13 in the song some think she might have been 9 or 10 historically bc they aren’t sure when it actually started and how much grooming occurred.
@ziggywizzle9677 Iirc the teacher was also in his thirties, not 23.
Not that 23 is better that 30 of course.
@@elissiaroAbout 36, I believe
Alot of people actually see the hands grabbing her in a darker meaning then being "supportive", alot see it more as her being grabbed and held in a way by those who hurt her, being held there by those guys, ignoring every time she pushed it off and just grabbing again and again
It's hard for me to describe it, but alot see it like that, which is another reason some girls when listening in get so uncomfortable cause you can hear mainly guys laughing sometimes when she struggles against it all (ik its not all the guys but you do hear it once or twice), i understand that some people don't understand what the choreography is hinting at, pls don't get mad at me
Absolutely this. Every time I see it when the Queens start grabbing at her I never get it as comfort or supportive, and more along the lines of discomfort that K. Howard has felt at the hands of other people that have surrounded her (and the women who turned blind eyes when the men were abusing / grooming her )
i mean she literally shoves them off of her several times near the end of the song... not to mention the way she pauses and looks at them... definitely not meant to be supportive 😬
It's definitely 'people grabbing at her and feeling entitled to her body' as well as the classic 'hands drawing you down and drowning you in the deep'
I also saw it as older women saying “oh honey no….” Not comfort but attempted restraint that she was shrugging off as “I’m fine I got this”
...Does anybody not see it this way
There has been a lot of Ideas that KH doesn't even use words like sx and similar because she is actually _too immature._ She doesn't even fully comprehend what she is talking about
What really gets me is the "enoughsy" part as it sounds relatively normal until you think about how childish it sounds
@@conejitorosada2326 Okay, that part I am really confused about, because I have seen people citing this again and again, but in every Lyric version I could find it is "enough, see". I think that one is just projection.
@@saiyasha848 Tbf, lyrics/captions can be a bit inaccurate from people hearing diff things (unless done by the actual studio/production/etc that did the show/musical/movie). But anyway // I think it's less projection and more just what it sounds like, tbf, with the childish theme picking up near the end and "playtime's over" being incorporated as a part of the song.
@@ErosNocturne Oh, no, the childish theme is definitly there, I think just that one specific lyric is projection. I tried to google it and every lyric version I found said "Enough, see"
@@saiyasha848I’ve definitely seen enoughsie/enoughsy on the offical lyrics on Spotify and Apple Music
Not so fun fact, the video itself cuts short. In the live performance she’s just kind of left in the silence, crying.
RIGHT?! And then the lights come up and she goes from sobbing to smiling as the mask goes back on perfectly in a split second, that's one of the best and most horrible parts of the whole performance but I can never find a clip of it online
@@bearhugzfam649 I will now go searching... I need to know now.
@@bearhugzfam649there’s a UA-cam bootleg
@@DinoandGalaxy it never shows it though :( the camera points away just then
Yup. When I saw the national tour come to D.C. a couple years ago, the audience was just sitting in stunned silence at the end of her song. They didn't feel like they could applaud until she slipped back into character with "...And then I was beheaded."
I always saw the hands as the abusers, the man clinging to her and her trying to reject them. Since the hands slide through her body and shake her, her acting becomes more disoriented as she goes on, confused and tortured, and the hands keep clinging and trying to expose her. Especially on the last guy when she stops looks down and sees the hands on her thighs, I see that as her realizing she was assaulted.
That’s exactly what they are
Poor girls bones weren't even strong enough to last without disintegrating because of how young she was- just horrifying
Plus there's also the theory they covered her bones with lime to literally erase her from history.
wait what? could you clarify? I'm not native english and couldn't quite understand what you meant
@@MoonyFBM because katherine howard died so young, the bones in her grave disentegrated (went back into the earth, as opposed to withstanding time like most skeletons)
@@AxanaNtalk about trying to erase victims voices…
I mean here it’s just a theory
but the consequently thought how victims were/are viewed by the perpetrators after they did what they did - a disposable inconvenience
Is a horrible conclusion but sadly very true
I lost a friend that way as a child
The police only found her body three years later … and still they found his DNA on her…
When i saw the performance, the finale was so eerie. She gasped, looked up, and then there was a light directly above her. I was in the upper circle, and from there here face looked like a death mask with an expression of horror. It still gives me chills when I think about it. I found myself sobbing, litterally.
She was only either 18-19 when she was killed.. as an SA survivor, holy fuck does that make it feel so much worse.. SHE WAS A CHILD for all of her story
(Edit: please listen to the studio version eventually. She does some absolutely astonishing high notes)
Katherine Howard won the competition for me. I can't listen to her story without tearing up. Just as the song says, she was an abused child dragged around by all these men in power, using her however they wanted and disposing of her in the end. All the men mentioned were real.
It's actually funny to see how "ex-wives" shows her as a debaucherous vixen going after men, and then you get here... Well, the image of her in that song is what was told about her for the longest time. Only more recently historians went "oh shi, wait. That was a groomed and abused child." She was accused of adultery and executed at the Tower of London, just like her cousin before her.
There is a story of her asking for the block on the day before her execution, so she could practice laying on it. The execution itself was awful, according to some sources, done with an axe that got stuck in her neck and took several hacks to finally behead her. (Anne's was done with a sword in one swoop).
She was about 19-21 when she died. (Henry, for comparison, was in his 40s, fat, with ulcerous leg from an injury decades ago that smelled horrible. What a lovely man for a young pretty girl, jfc). So young, that when in victorian era workers were renovating the chapel where a lot of execution victims were buried, Katherine's bones weren't found, thought to be disintegrated, not strong enough to last bc of her age. Anne's were found tho and so were others that were there, but not Katherine's
That was Mary Queen of Scot lmao
@@alilith3476 no it wasn't.
@@sunnysunsinsThey mean for the axe in the back thing was her.
I’ve seen SIX twice now, both times it was dead silent after this song for at least 5 seconds. Everyone feels it.
Yes, this one it seems that the clapping starts immediately. There was another one Ive seen that I believe was an audience of high school students and the silence in that was deafening.
I heard somewhere from one of the K Howard performers (iirc it might’ve even been Sam who said it) that because of how grueling the subject matter is, she totally understands when the audience doesn’t applaud right away/at all and doesn’t take it personal since it can feel very wrong to clap and cheer after all that
Watch this guy make an All You Wanna Do/Poison mashup cover after this. The refrains would probably blend together shockingly well.
That is the worst idea I’ve ever heard…. I love it
That would be so evil
Do it :)
@@officialmortius sending you a big healing hug so that you feel better after watch that.
hope you didnt feel too upset after that video.
no matter what happens in our lifes... you are more than what life has done to you. you are who you chose chose to be. and if you ever feel life has taken that choice away from you fight for that choice, to be who you want to be and strive to be your best self. it all begins by taking that first step.
love all you music nerds and know your not alone xx
All you wanna do is feed me poison 🎶
Oh my gosh I want it.
Fellow CSA survivor here. This song is so raw for so many reasons, in a (kind of) good way. It shows the progression of her not just coming to terms with what was done to her, but like, genuinely *realizing* what happened, that it wasn't normal or okay. She was 13 when her SA experiences started, and by some accounts it was constant until she passed at 18-19. Her life was shorter than Henry's first marriage.
A common phenomena in csa survivors is not even knowing what's happening to them is abnormal. Sure it's weird, and maybe uncomfy, but what do we have to compare it to? A lot of csa victims never speak up until much later because they had no idea it wasn't just a Thing that Happens™, and her gradually beginning to realize it isn't normal or okay over the course of the song and letting her flippant, playful mask slip destroys me every time.
To Mortius, thank you for your vulnerability and strong, soft heart. And thank you for treating this with the gravity and kindness it deserves.
I was fortunate to see this show in person, I had listened to the album beforehand so I knew this song. I clapped for the actual performance, not for the message. This song is difficult vocally and mentally so having an actress be able to sing this multiple nights for a month is praiseworthy. Also, the musical directors and writers masterfully created this moment. The lyrics have so much meaning (the double entendres) and the use of touch in the choreography does so much with so little.
PLUS PLUS, sometimes people need to be slapped in the face for them to understand.
i’m so glad youre reacting to sam’s interpretation! she is so moving, emotional, and POWERFUL - such a wonderful performance :) cant wait to see what you think
i remember when i saw six live, the audience didn’t even clap after this song, the whole room felt so heavy 🤍
Man... when Mortius said she was shrugging off the hands of support... my heart dropped. I didn't realize that he didn't realize what the hands were representing by that point.
That moment was the *first* time in the song she tried resisting the hands: the predatory touch she constantly endured. She may not even have realized what it was. She just knew she didn't want it anymore.
Each time the hands appeared, they lingered longer, touched more, held on tighter, multiplied, and restrained.
And during the following choreo, the hands that weren't touching her kept getting closer until she actively started flinching and dodging away from them until they finally snagged her multiple times despite her fighting them off. They only let go when she breaks down, and her song ends.
Also, I'm sad the recording ended when it did because Mortius didn't get to see how, as soon as the lights came back on, she was smiling and joking again, masking so hard with no evidence of her breakdown a few seconds ago.
The other parts I hate loving are the clever double entendres (lute, flute, plucking chords, favorite quill, spilling ink, sore wrists - which are made clearer by her hand gestures and body language) and immature language (can't get enough-sie, birds and the bees me, playtime's over). They're so well written and tell so much without ever saying it directly. I hate it.
Mortius, thank you for the honesty in this reaction. I’m a survivor and I’ve never seen anyone who understood the rawness of this song in the same way, and being able to experience it with you was so incredibly… I don’t know if ‘healing’ is the right word, but it made me feel so much less alone. Thank you a million times- you have made an enormous difference for me today 🩷 sending all the love in the world. The whole time I just wanted to (consensually) hug you and tell you it was gonna be ok!! To all my fellow survivors out there, you are SO loved and SO strong.
Theres so many inuendos in this song its crazy, "used his favourite quill" is his "sword" and stuff but once it gets to henry its more explicitly stated
My favorite is the “I’m the 10 amongst these 3s”.
I haven’t found any supporting info - but I read it as a reference to “Dance 10, Looks 3” from “A Chorus Line”. Or as it’s more commonly called by those who know the show ”T*ts & A**”. A song about how the actress was never cast in anything, no matter how well she performed (Dance 10), until she got a boob & butt job (fixing her Looks 3). It’s as upbeat a tune as this one starts & hides the destructive theme until you stop & think about it.
@@meaghanrodel6056Ohhhhh boy…
I know we shouldn't compare the queens pain as they all suffered (minus Cleves-) But since this is a competition for who had it worse... I think we all agree that Howard was the one who deserved to win. It's truly sad as she never had someone to be there taking care of her, which left her vunerable to all those assholes. Not to disminish Aimie's(Soundtrack) performance or the one of any other actress who played her, but the emotion Sam(Broadway) puts is enough to make it... feel even worse... especially with how she sings it in the end
Unlike the others, i got no "fun"facts (not like the others have much more):
•She married Henry around 16-17, and was beheaded around 19. Her age is inconsistend as her birth date is unsure, so she could've been up to 22. Either way, she's the youngest queen to mary and die.
•She wasn't payed much attention while she lived with her grandma as she spent much time in court instead that with the young ones, and Kate got mostly influenced by the older girls on the house, who let guys into their rooms in exchange of gifts.
•Her relationship with Francis stopped once the dutchress found out, but they both agreed to Mary once he got back from a travel. In fact, if they exchanged votes before any intimate contact, they would've been seen as husband and wife on the eyes of the church (tho they already called eachother that)
•As i mentioned once before, she was a Lady in waiting for Ana of Cleves, which was the only queen she got to meet in person. Henry and her married less then a month of his divorce with Cleves. In fact, it was in the same day of Thomas Cromwell's execution, who organized Cleves and Henry's marriage. Even after it, Howard wasn't crown, as she was only gonna be if she showed signs of pregnancy
•What about Elizabeth and Mary? Well, it's said that she and Elizabeth (Boleyn's daugther) got along pretty well. Tho it was more difficult with Mary (Aragon's daugther), specially since Mary was older than her. But they got along in the end. Edward (Jane's son) was still around 3 years old.
•Her romance with Thomas started before her marriage with Henry, tho that didn't stop it. Some/Most of their encounters were organized by Jane Boleyn (A.Boleyn's sister in law). After this, including her past, was found out, Howard defended herself saying that what happend with Mannox and Daream wasn't consentual. Sadly, this didn't work out, as they (later) made a law that said that she HAD to tell her romantic past to the king before hand
•The day she got arrested, she was in such panic that they had to take any object away from her so that she wouldn't k!ll herself. It's said, and most likely possible, that, the night before her beheading, she spend hours practicing laying down her head on a block
She's the queen i took hours into researching and i think that shows. Her life was a tragedy from beggining to end and one of the most devasting ones i ever heard.
This was a hard reaction to watch. Before this I knew that All You Wanna Do was a song depicting something bad that people go through and didn't feel any sort of deeper emotion besides "That sucks."
But after watching this it's been made abundantly clear that this isn't just a "That sucks" it's something far darker and more emotionally painful than my limited sense of empathy could muster before this.
I'm sorry.
I just noticed that after she says “I am so hot” Sam/Katheryn hesitates, like she is trying to find more good qualities in herself and she is coming up short😢
she's trying to wear that mask but just can't
Kathryn Howard was a child who was a political pawn. She had little to no supervision while living with her grandmother, and she was misused. If you think about how we treat teenage girls, and younger, how they are sexualized, and how pop stars are public property, she's no different. There were countdown clocks across the internet for when certain actresses and singers would be legal for intimate activities, including taking photos of their genitals. The first upskirt photos of Brittany Spears came out within days of her 18th birthday.
Ariana Grande and Brittany Spears were the inspiration for how KH is written & portrayed; Grande & Miley Cyrus are the author's choices for part if it ever gets made into a movie.
This is the number I have the greatest trouble with watching, for all the obvious reasons. K Howard's own family destroyed her portraits, so we aren't really sure what she looked like. As she said in "Ex-Wives", she's just one word in a stupid rhyme. Six allowed her portrayal to at least claim agency, something denied her in her mortal life.
I’m sorry that this was such a difficult reaction for you but thank you so much for doing it. You said ‘how am I supposed to make content out of this’ due to the intense emotions, and I think this is the exact type of reaction this song deserves. It’s really hard to watch others react to this song and get caught up in the fun beat, and not understand how heartbreaking this story is
This was so heartbreaking. I was watching how much the first verse was hitting you, Mortius, knowing how much harder the song was going to be. Making such a harsh and wrecking song such a bop was diabolic. Somehow, however, it makes it even more impactful than a more traditional sad "see how I suffered" song. I'm sorry it was so hard for you. Just gotta say me too.
Just had to join by the end. ❤
What makes this also sad is the cutsey lyrics like 'birds and bee's me' and 'Enough-sy' shows how young she was when all this happened to her.
Also who wanted to give Mortius a hug throughout this vid?
I actually just looked it up- what she's doing is still a glissando. The term for the smooth glissando is specifically portamento, while what Sam is doing on "You say I'm all you need" is what's known as a discrete glissando, or a stepped glissando.
She and Anne Boleyn were first cousins so she was related to Anne's daughter by Henry, Elizabeth I. It's believed that the death of her mother combined with seeing what happened to Katherine Howard is what lead to Elizabeth refusing to be married when she became Queen.
If you haven't been warned the way you are, you likely don't realize the implications of the song until the final verse. I was really taken in by the pop vibes my first listen and then it all hit me like a mac truck at the end. I think that's the intent. So the people laughing are probably first time listeners who haven't had time to think about the implications of the lyrics.
Agreed - I tend not to pay much attention to lyrics on my first few listens, so I can understand that completely (probably the only reason I wasn't in the same boat was because my daughter explained what was going on beforehand). Incidentally this is the first time I've seen the footage, and good lord that's powerful. Virtual hugs to Mortius with this one.
When I heard it for the first time it was 7 in the morning and I was just letting myself be guided by pop, until it reached the line of "I thought this time would be different"
And I got triggered and rewinded the whole song
I ended up crying
Yeah first verse I whas bobbing, just frowning a bit one or to times. And then every few lines I got a bit more allarmed. My innocent enjoyment of the song slowly being stripped away the same way her innocence got stripped away.
Thank you for picking up so quickly on the actual themes of this song. I've seen reactors go the entire song calling Katherine awful names and blaming her because the delivery is upbeat and missing the point of the contrast in subject matter and delivery. You saw it immediately and empathized with her front the start. I can see this was very difficult for you and I appreciate your analysis and reaction!
Piece of trivia: k Howard and anne Boleyn, the only two queens who were executed, were first cousins
I watched this ion patreon but I just want to note an observation. The girl who plays K Howard seems very ...childlike. Like her smile and her doe eyes are very innocent and even her sad face looks like puppy dog eyes which is not usual for a sexy character. Even the way she dances seems a little childlike at the beginning which makes this all the more heartbreaking because of how fast she had to grow up.
There are three things about this that I had noticed.
First: The shrugging off of the hands on her shoulders not only signify that she shrugs away the support but also tries to shrug off any kind of contact (from men) without being seen as rude as it is still in character and "fun" with her expression. But when the hands get more forceful with each chorus and end up affecting her whole body, she needs to break free and show her unmasking side to get rid of them.
Second: There is one line in the chorus that changes and I believe you only caught it in the fourth chorus. The first two choruses the line is "Please me, squeeze me, birds and the bees me." During the third chorus, the one about Henry, she already switches to "*Seize* me, squeeze me, birds and the bees me" until during the fourth chorus she ends on "Squeeze me, don't care if you please me" Which makes it all the more heartbreaking to me
And the third: Her whole demeanor but also her words during this song signal how young she actually was. During the whole show whenever she wants to say something, Katherine Howard puts her hand up as if she was in school. Then she always says "Birds and the bees me", like a child would. She uses metaphors and that is mostly because she doesn't even understand herself what exactly is happening. then the "enoughsies" is just childspeech. And of course the "playtime's over" comment also shows that at first this was a game to her, because it is fun to get attention from people you look up to. But she increasingly notices that it is not, in fact, a game and playtime is over, she has to grow up and realize the stuff that is going on is wrong.
Overall this is a heartbreaking, spine chilling song disguised as a fun up-beat one. There are many "jokes" in it and because many know the story already, they decide to laugh along the jokes so the vibe doesn't get too heavy. That is why you hear lots of people laughing in the audience (or it's first time listeners that don't understand the entirity of the lyrics yet). Thank you for reacting to this and I hope it wasn't too hard on you to react to this.
Lots of love from Germany (The Haus of Holbein :D)!
If you go back to her ex-wives verse:
Prick up your ears I’m the Katherine who lost her head
For my promiscuity outside of wed-
Lock up your husbands
Lock up your sons
K Howard is here and the funs begun
This song puts gives us her perspective of the self imposed victim blaming while also unsurprisingly framing it as many see the behavior without context. Seeing her as promiscuous and luring these men when she was groomed by these husbands and sons.
i said this during the live chat, but i wanted to say it again. to anyone who has gone through anything similar, i am so sorry. i wish there was a way to give everyone a hug, or any kind of support they might need. you are loved, and you are wanted.
🫂
at around 40:00 you can hear someone near the camera actually sobbing in empathy... that part just hits hard
Mortius I hope you know that you never have to put yourself through this for our views. If this sort of thing is ever too hard, please take care of yourself first. We will still be here no matter what, I hope you are okay after this recording.
the chord progression in this song contradicts is upbeat nature so well, because it’s just DESCENDING the entire time, it’s so ominous and fitting
I've always interpreted the last little bit at 43:24 (the last "the only thing you wanna do is" kiss* gasp*) as her being beheaded, and the reason she does get beheaded is because Henry found out about her friend taking advantage of her and blamed her for it, which is wrong in so many ways might I add.
I'm so glad you reacted to Samantha Pauly's performance for this one. For most of the queens, I tend to prefer the west end cast - nothing wrong with the Broadway cast, I just prefer the English version - but Samantha is the one exception. Her performance is extremely powerful for this song.
Also, glad to see you clearly understood the horrific nature of the song. I see so many reactors just nod along for most of it, since it is such a catchy tune, not really paying attention to the content, at least until K Howard breaks down near the end, and sometimes not even then. Whether due to your own lived experiences, possibly alongside the warnings you got beforehand. It was appreciated!
She is an INCREDIBLE performer. That was heartbreaking. She felt all the appropriate emotions at all the right moments. The ways she puts on the mask and can see it is fake at times and then her hopefulness. The growing desperation. THIS time it is going to be different. you'll see! The way she visible tries to convince herself it is okay. the moment you can see her heart breaking when she realizes that they only value one part of her and don't really care about anything else. She was a child during all of it. The last part with the betrayal and her resignation that it is never gonna get better made me cry.
14:57 just throwing out here that while it is absolutely not ok to laugh at someone going through something to is traumatic, some of that could just be people like me who laugh on reflex when something gets really intense, dark, or embarrassing without realizing till after. (There’s also a chance it’s someone who went through something similar and sometimes makes jokes about it as a coping mechanism. That is a common trauma response.)
The hands that she’s shrugging off isn’t her rejecting support, although it would be great if it was. It’s her being in denial/trying to dodge the inevitability of those men trying to lay a claim on her.
And then the lights turn back on, and she is all sass again and says "and then i was beheaded"
32:23 most people don’t see that as support. Most people see it as shrugging off warnings from the past, AKA the hands are those of the men who took advantage of her.
As a victim of childhood s/a this version of the song always makes me so emotional, the anger and the desperation and all the emotion is just so overwhelmingly relatable
What is very sad to me: The other queens keep dancing with the same energy as Kath slowly realizes what's up, as if to say, "What? This is so normal, just look at us! You're just overreacting." This is the attitude many people face when talking about abuse.
And then at the very end, they are all gone and she is left alone on stage, crying.
With the first 2 guys it’s “Please me, squeeze me”, then with Henry it’s “Seize me, squeeze me”, and Thomas, “Don’t care if you don’t please me.” 😭 This song always makes me so emotional, and then your very clear, strong, appropriate reactions to what is being said… I had to stop multiple times to clear my tears so I could actually see the video.
This is the first video of yours I've seen. Thank you for being vulnerable with your audience; I'm sure it's helped a lot of people. It's never a survivor's fault, and we need to keep saying it until everyone who has endured that hears it and believes it.
Playtimes over not only referencing her still being a child but also her losing her innocence hurts
What's even more sad is that Thomas Culpepper was rumored to be a serial grape-ist, so when he and Katherine were 'involved', it's more likely that he ass@ulted her and she was blamed for it. The day before she was put in her cell, she ran through the halls of the palace screaming and crying her innocence; and then the night before she was beheaded, she practiced putting her head onto a makeshift chopping block.
Even worse, Henry hired an axeman to behead her, and the axe was dull while the headsman wasn't quite as experienced. The first swing hit her in the back, and then after that, it took countless swings for her head to actually get fully chopped off.
Yes. The sign that the charges against Anne Boleyn were BS was that Henry hired an experienced swordsman to behead her, the “best” option before the invention of a guillotine. Henry made Katherine’s beheading a horror show with a dull ax and inexperienced executioner in part because she was “guilty” aka the charges were true even though that was victim-blaming.
the very last muah ending with a sob instead of an ah if heart breaking, soul shattering
The way the live chat was planing a murder for king Henry with jobs and every thing: I was head scientist @wolfie was head troops @ poke moon was the commander and @ mari was the head of the spy’s
Fun thing: i was just watching Mortius' reaction and, out of curiosity, opened the chat and was greeted with a flook of protective guards. My face was like: 😶
"this choreography's really good :("
made me chuckle
I think the laughter in the audience is caused by people who have had a sudden tonal shift. Their bodies releasing an awkward laugh as the beat and lyrics don't match up.
The thing that really captivates me about this performance is the lighting and how it mixes with the choreo of the other queens. They are draped in shadow almost the entire time and their faces are specifically obscured whenever they put their hands on Howard. It gives me two distinct impressions, 1. that the men in her life were never genuine with her and always hid their true intentions to get closer to her, and 2. that this was how those men saw Howard, a faceless nobody, pretty enough to be used for their pleasure and then discarded, because she meant nothing to them. She wasn’t a person in their eyes, she was barely more than a shadow.
Also like the specific placement of their hands. At first it’s hands on the shoulders like a controlling parent keeping you in line, then there’s another on the waist from behind, unable to see who’s grabbing you but keeping you pressed against them, facing outwards like a prize to show off but unable to leave, and then they add the ones on the legs, keeping her from running away. All of them focus on hindering movement. They also remind me of puppet strings, which I find interesting as the only part of her without a “string” is her head. The rest of her body is being used against her will but her mind still remains, despite the slowly forming cracks.
I’ve still got more analysis but I’ll post the rest on Tumblr.
Alright so i usually don’t comment on videos but i just *had* to for this one
I loved your reaction to this song. I’ve searched up All You Wanna Do reactions before, but almost all of them were really lackluster and didn’t really dive into the horrible story between the “innocent” and upbeat lyrics. Of course I knew you were going to analyze well, so I’ve been looking forward to this video for a long time. And boy, did this not disappoint. I’ve watched the video to its entirety and I guess I just wanted to say thank you for putting thoughts into the song and figuring out the true message of what K.H. went through.
Keep going strong, Mortius!
25:37 Connection is like a trigger word for her. It makes her realize the cycle is repeating. Everytime she says it you hear the realization and the increased desperation/sadness
sam pauly is FANTASTIC in this song, the role as a whole really. most howards put some kind of emotion into the final chorus but you can see her vulnerability throughout the entire performance - you comment on the masking, for example.
The content you make out of this is the feeling and impact this has for someone who has lived through SA. Those who haven't felt those emotions can understand a small bit by seeing you and how this song affects you. You are teaching others how to feel empathy for the awful things others has gone through.
Her story wasn't over when she lost her head, her story was over when it happened again. I used to think she was so dumb and awful. She was a child who was abused her whole life.
Some people laugh when they're uncomfortable or nervous, or even sad, comedy is a coping mechanism
When I saw this in Toronto, the actress for K.Howard ended this song with this incredible sobbing gasp. It was so full of emotion and the whole theatre was silent for like 10 seconds.
Mhm, yup, that title and thumbnail makes perfect sense…
I've never actually seen the live performance of this either and wow. That hit hard. Like the song alone was still emotionally but that performance was insane
“It’s never the same, but it’s eventually okay”… I’m sobbing! Partly because it’s so true and I am definitely in a place of healing from some past trauma of my own, but in someways I don’t think there will ever be a time when you won’t need that message. We are thankful for you and all you bring, the joyful, happy positive vibes we love, And that deep emotion that you showed in this video. All of it is just as valid and so important! For you… And for all of us! We are going to have good and bad days, sometimes it can hit us out of nowhere, and sometimes everything is great! Trauma is a weird thing, but it will eventually be okay! Thank you!
Whenever I listen to " all you want to do " it reminds me that all of the Queens had traumatic experiences as Henry's wives. It's just that the songs were written in a pop upbeat tone and K.H.'s song is your wake-up call that it wasn't this bubbly catfight ish thing that happened in Court. 6 women had their life ruined
The audience at this show laughed at a lot of the slightly lighter moments. When I saw this show everyone was so stunned at this song they didn’t even clap at the end. The applause happened when she said the line after the lights came up.
Ive never wanted to hug a youtuber as much as i wanted to hug you (or otherwise show comfort in a way that youre open to receiving it) during this video.
One thing you missed a little bit with the chorus changes is that she went from saying “please me squeeze me” to “seize me squeeze me” that one always hit me hard
Watching your reaction was intense, painful at times, but so interesting. Thank you for giving so much of yourself and your vulnerability. Take care of yourself.
On an unrelated note, the lyrics changes from "mate" to "friend" caught me off guard.
Sad fact: when they were repairing the church where she is burried, her grave was one of the graves that was opened. All the graves next to her still had bones, but because she was so young when she died, her bones were completely dissolved
So, my comment is more in reaction to your reaction. You’re uncomfortable, as you should be. It’s meant to sound fun and upbeat, but it really isn’t. And I’m so sorry that this brought up so much past trauma. I really wanted to reach through my screen and hug you (consensually of course). And I’m so glad you were able to look past it and still talk about the musicality of it. And the lyrics are brilliantly written that the audience can know what they mean, yet still laugh at it. Again, a testament to the delivery and writing style of the lyricist. That last chorus is rough, but so beautifully done. The emotions are very conflicting for sure. “Her story wasn’t over when she lost her head. Her story was over when it happened again. And it always happens again.” I cried when you said that. Again, I wanted to reach through and hug you. Your vulnerability in this is noted and, in the best way possible, appreciated. Thank you for sharing this. Now, let’s all have a group therapy session to decompress and unpack all of these conflicted emotions.
I'm a recent subscriber. Hamilton brought me here, but then I saw this video. Just seeing how this storyline impacted you in real time, and seeing you reliving your own trauma while trying to process it...
Thank you for being you. You don't have to explain or apologize. There are many of us here who have been to hell and back. Sometimes you become cold. I've had friends say that when I tell them about my trauma, I talk about it like it happened to someone else and not me. Self-preservation we think, because we don't ever want to be vulnerable again, that's how to avoid being hurt. That's one of the worst things about trauma, the loss of innocence and the loss of the ability to allow yourself to be vulnerable. Your reaction really resonated with me. I love your channel. You open yourself up, and people are drawn to that quality. Don't ever change. You've got a fan for life here!
I'd love it if you'd react to some Tori Amos songs, I think you'd really get into and appreciate her work. You could start with Winter, Live at Montreaux, 1992. There are two different nights, pick the one where she's wearing the blue shirt. Yes, many people have reacted to this version, and there's a reason for that! Tori has gotten me through so many rough times.
As a musical theatre performer, I'm loving all your Broadway musical content! Keep it coming, and thank you for everything you do.
💕
It almost feels mean to say I'm looking forward to this, given that I already kinda want to give your past self a hug. It's a LOT but so powerful
I'm so sorry you relate to this song at all (and everyone else included as well). Just wanted to add this here to say you're not alone and sending every positive thing your way.
And notice that henry doesnt "please" her...
neither Harry nor Thomas, they both seize her :(
I was not expecting to cry at work today. I'm doing a training class, and I'm just bawling.
Mortius, your obvious personal connection to the topic just broke me.
This is, hands down, the best version of this song. The others are also great, but the actresses don't delve as deeply into the abuse aspect, they keep the song light and "fun". Good choice to react to this version.
Why was this reaction more heartbreaking than the song😭😭
PS: Mortius, you are loved❤️❤️ and this reaction was definitely one of my favorite “all you wanna do” reactions!!
I hope everyone who has experience anything like this knows that they are loved and that it will eventually get better❤️❤️
My favourite detail of this song is how in the last two choruses, you can hear sirens in the background. She’s starting to wake up to the danger but powerless to stop it because of the time she’s in. 😢
We saw Pauly in Chicago for the US premiere and when Pauly finished All You Wanna Do, there was no immediate applause. Just an audience in a state of shock and empathy - which spoke the audience's appreciation louder than any applause.
"Its never the same but its eventually ok" hits so hard, ive never been truge stuff like this but i am dealing with my own stuff and those words hit me so hard that i am still thinking about it even tho i watched the video the day it released
also, like - the final 'play time's over', the realization that she was going to die (you can almost hear 'henry' there saying it instead of her, it means something different now) just *hits* like a gut punch.