Producer: Anaïs Mitchell/David Lai/Todd Sickafoose
Lyrics: Anaïs Mitchell
Music: Anaïs Mitchell
[COMPANY]
Low, keep your head, keep your head low
Oh, you gotta keep your head low
If you wanna keep your head
Oh, you gotta keep your head low
Keep your head, keep your head low
Oh, you gotta keep your head low
If you wanna keep your head
Oh, you gotta keep your head
[PERSEPHONE]
In the coldest time of year
Why is it so hot down here?
Hotter than a crucible
It ain't right and it ain't natural
[HADES]
Lover, you were gone so long
Lover, I was lonesome
So I built a foundry
In the ground beneath your feet
Here, I fashioned things of steel
Oil drums and automobiles
Then I kept that furnace fed
With the fossils of the dead
Lover, when you feel that fire
Think of it as my desire
Think of it as my desire for you!
[ORPHEUS]
La la la la
La la la la la
La la la la
La la la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
[COMPANY, ORPHEUS, EURYDICE, and HERMES]
Low, keep your head, keep your head low La la la la la la la…
Oh, you gotta keep your head low Is it finished?
If you wanna keep your head La la la la la la la…
Oh, you gotta keep your head low Not yet
Keep your head, keep your head low La la la la la la la…
Oh, you gotta keep your head low Is he always like this?
If you wanna keep your head-
[EURYDICE and FATES]
Looking high and looking low
For the food and firewood I know we need to find
And I am keeping one eye on the sky
And try to trust that the song he's working on Oooooh
Is gonna shelter us Oooooh
From the wind, the wind, the wind Oooooh
[PERSEPHONE]
In the darkest time of year
Why is it so bright down here?
Brighter than a carnival
It ain't right and it ain't natural
[HADES]
Lover, you were gone so long
Lover, I was lonesome
So I laid a power grid
In the ground on which you stood
And wasn't it electrifying
When I made the neon shine!
Silver screen, cathode ray
Brighter than the light of day
Lover, when you see that glare
Think of it as my despair
Think of it as my despair for you!
[ORPHEUS]
I can't find the tune
[HERMES, spoken]
Orpheus!
[ORPHEUS]
I can't feel the rhythm
[HERMES, spoken]
Orpheus!
[ORPHEUS]
King Hades is deafened by a river of stone
[HERMES, spoken]
Poor boy working on a song
[ORPHEUS]
And Lady Persephone's blinded by a river of wine
Livin' in an oblivion
[HERMES, spoken]
He did not see the storm coming on
[ORPHEUS and FATES]
His black gold flows Oooooh
In the world down below Oooooh
And her dark clouds roll in the one up above
[HERMES]
Look up!
[COMPANY]
Keep your head low
[ORPHEUS]
And that is the reason we're on this road
And the seasons are wrong
And the wind is so strong
That's why times are so hard
It's because of the gods
The gods have forgotten the song of their love
Singing la la la la la la…
[COMPANY and ORPHEUS]
Low, keep your head, keep your head low
Oh, you gotta keep your head low
If you wanna keep your head La la la la la la la...
Oh, you gotta keep your head low
Keep your head, keep your head low La la la la la la la...
Oh, you gotta keep your head low
If you wanna keep your head- La la la la la la
[EURYDICE]
Lookin' low and lookin' high
[FATES]
There is no food left to find
It's hard enough to feed yourself
Let alone somebody else
[EURYDICE]
I'm trying to believe
That the song he's working on
Is gonna harbor me from
[EURYDICE and FATES]
The wind, the wind, the wind
[HERMES, spoken]
Eurydice was a hungry young girl
[EURYDICE, spoken]
Give that back!
[HERMES, spoken]
She was no stranger to the wind
[EURYDICE, spoken]
It's everything we have!
[HERMES, spoken]
But she had not seen nothing
[EURYDICE]
Orpheus!
[HERMES, spoken]
Like the mighty storm she got caught in
[EURYDICE]
(spoken)
Orpheus!
(sung)
Shelter us!
[HERMES, spoken]
Only took a minute
[EURYDICE]
Harbor me!
[HERMES, spoken]
But the wrath of the gods was in it
[PERSEPHONE]
Every year, it's getting worse
Hadestown, hell on Earth!
Did you think I'd be impressed
With this neon necropolis?
Lover, what have you become
Coal cars and oil drums
Warehouse walls and factory floors
I don't know you anymore
And in the meantime up above
The harvest dies and people starve
Oceans rise and overflow
It ain't right and it ain't natural
[HADES]
Lover, everything I do
I do it for the love of you
If you don't even want my love
I'll give it to someone who does
Someone grateful for her fate
Someone who appreciates
The comforts of a gilded cage
And doesn't try to fly away
The moment Mother Nature calls
Someone who could love these walls
That hold her close and keep her safe
And think of them as my embrace
[ORPHEUS and COMPANY]
Singing: la la la la la la la... Low, keep your head, keep your head low
[EURYDICE]
Shelter us
[HADES]
Think of them as my embrace
[ORPHEUS and COMPANY]
La la la la la la la... Low, keep your head, keep your head-
[EURYDICE]
Harbor me
[HADES]
Think of them as my embrace
Of you
Audio Assistant: Brandon Chevere/Matt Soares/Neal Shaw
Guitar: Michael Chorney
Coordinator: David Lai
Recording: Isaiah Abolin
Drums: Ben Perowsky
Vocals: Afra Hines/Ahmad Simmons/Amber Gray/André De Shields/Eva Noblezada/Jessie Shelton/Jewelle Blackman/John Krause/Kay Trinidad/Khaila Wilcoxon/Kimberly Marable/Patrick Page/Reeve Carney/T. Oliver Reid/Timothy Hughes/Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer
Cello: Marika Hughes
Violin: Dana Lyn
Accordion: Liam Robinson
Bass: Robinson Morse
Supervisor: Craig Balsam/Dale Franzen/Hunter Arnold/Thomas M. Neff/Tom Kirdahy
Mastering Engineer: Alan Douches
Mixing Engineer: Todd Sickafoose