zoubidouille’s Reviews > Working on a Song: The Lyrics of HADESTOWN > Status Update

ok I'm done!!
sorry for making an update for literally almost every single line/lyric from this book but
1. It's even better with the audiobook because Anais Mitchell sings all the lyrics (even the old versions)
2. I love Hadestown

anyways I read each part about each song twice: once with Anais' singing and the other time while listening to the cast album and WOW.

the lyrics may look lame but they sound right.

We Raise Our Cups :

Company: Some flowers bloom where the green grass grows / Our praise is not for them / But the ones who bloom in the bitter snow / We raise our cups to them / We raise our cups and drink them up / We raise them high and drink them dry
To Orpheus, and all of us.

"We raise our cups to Orpheus not because he succeeds, but because he tries. And the tale begins again... "

OK NOW I'M CRYING BYE

Doubt Comes In :
la fin :')

Orpheus: Where are you now?
Eurydice: Orpheus, you’re shivering / Of cold or fear? / Just keep singing
Orpheus: Doubt comes in and my heart falters / It forgets the songs it sung / Where are you?
Eurydice: Orpheus, hold on / The darkest hour of the darkest night / Comes right before the dawn-

(Orpheus turns)

Eurydice: You’re early.
Orpheus: I missed you.

THE PARALLEL
devastating.

Wait for Me Reprise Intro :

Hermes: A poor boy and a hungry young girl / Walking single file / While the music played / Brother, they looked for all the world / Like they was walking down the aisle / On their wedding day

meanwhile orpheus is just struggling to not look back sorry that's just cruel

(and "ORPHEUS WAS A POOR BOY" ONCE AGAIN)

Epic III (2) :

Orpheus: And I know how it is because he is like me / I know how it is to be left all alone / There’s a hole in his arms where the world used to be / When Persephone is gone

Hades is king of silver and gold / But a king's as lonely as anyone else / He has all of the riches his walls can hold / And in spite of it all, he’s a poor boy himself.


"HE'S A POOR BOY HIMSELF" JUST KILL ME AT THIS POINT

Epic III (1) :
Orpheus: King of diamonds, king of spades / Hades was king of the kingdom of dirt / Miners of mines, diggers of graves / They bowed down to Hades who gave them work / And he bowed down to no one, below or above / Till the arrow of Eros struck him in the heart and / The king of the underworld fell in love.

How Long? :

Persephone: Brother Hermes, I’m a jaded woman / But there’s something in Orpheus' singing / And it feels like spring a-comin’ / To the winter of my soul / Hermes, god of speed / Put your feathers on his feet / Keep him safe and sound / He reminds me of the lover / That I was back before my heart went under / Undercover / Underground

enft même ses early versions elles slay genre I can hear the music

If It's True (5) :
(last one I promise)

Orpheus: If it’s true what they say / If there’s nothing to be done / If there’s no part to be played / If there’s no song to be sung / Take my arms that used to reach out in the dark where she lay / Take this music and the memory of the muse from which it came

Hermes: Persephone heard the poor boy sing / And it broke her heart in two


every version is the best one

If It's True (4) :
(original v1)

Orpheus: If it’s true what they say / If there’s nothing to be done / If there’s no prayer left to pray / If there’s no bridge left to burn / If it’s true what they say / I'll be on my way
//
They can take the sky away / Take the stars out of my eyes / My heart will be a stone / And I’ll throw away the past / And I’ll go away alone...

If It's True (3) :

Orpheus: The ones who deal the cards are the ones who take the tricks / With their hands over their hearts, while we play the game they fix / The ones who speak the word always say it is the last / And no answer will be heard to the question no one asks / So I’m asking if it’s true / I’m asking me and you, (x3) / I believe our answer matters / More than anything they say

you tell 'em orpheus!!