Songs From the Musical Oklahoma! Specifically, it

¶ … songs from the musical "Oklahoma!" Specifically, it will include an analysis of "I'm Just a Girl who can't Say No." How does the song transition from the text? What does the song do for the musical? What does the words and music reveal about the character?

OKLAHOMA!

I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say No" is one of the most humorous songs in the musical "Oklahoma!" In it, Ado Annie, a kind of sad character who does not seem to have much chance of catching a man, talks about how she cannot say "no" to kisses and romance. "Other girls are coy an' hard to catch / But other girls ain't havin' any fun! / Ev'ry time I lose a wrastlin' match / I have a funny feelin' that I won!" (Oklahoma!). Annie recognizes that she may not be the most attractive of the girls, but she is a little more adventuresome, and so, she probably will have more fun in the end. Of course, she wants to get married just like the other girls, but she is more forward, so she has more problems catching a guy. When she sings to Ali Hakim, the traveling peddler, in his buggy, she is letting him know she is ready for romance, but not necessarily with him. She is really trying to make her boyfriend Will jealous, and it works, because she ends up marrying Will, so she becomes a girl who can say "yes."

The song moves Annie and Ali into his buggy for a romantic ride, and help set the stage for jealousy in the girls. Laurey is going to the box social with someone other than her boyfriend Curly, and Annie decides to go with Ali because her boyfriend, Will, cannot afford to get married, because he spent the fifty dollars he was saving on presents. Laurey is trying to make Curly jealous, and Annie is doing the same thing to Will, and so her song helps make it clear the girls are trying to get the boys to marry them. Annie does not really want Ali, but her father almost forces him to marry her after their buggy ride, because he knows what kind of a girl Annie is: "I'm just a girl who cain't say 'no' / I'm in a terrible fix! / I always say 'Come on, let's go' just when I aughta say 'Nix'" (Oklahoma!).

This song is funny, and is a light point in the musical, before the depressing scene with Jud and Curly, and the song "Poor Jud is Dead." The song is also unforgettable because the lyrics are catchy, and so is the tune. After you see this movie, some of the songs seem to stay in your mind, and this is one of them. It also really gets across the message that Annie is scheming and wants to get her way, no matter what. She knows her father will take offense at her being with Ali, and she hopes that ultimately, she will get Will, who she really wants. She seems silly and kind of dumb, but really she is not, and this song really shows that.