#epic ii

[dontyouknowemma-itsyou]

his loneliness moves in him, crude and black

[jackwolfelvr]

OH MY GOD THIS IS REVOLUTIONARY

[shit-people-probably-didnt-say]

In Epic II Orpheus says Hades ‘thinks of his wife in the arms of the sun and jealousy fuels him… with doubt that his lover will ever come back’

So you know what Hades does?

Builds a foundry beneath Hadestown so its warm

Lays a power grid so Hadestown is bright

Bro is trying to compete with the SUN. No amount of lights or warmth replaces sunlight

[swimreadrepeat]

guys so like yk how Jack posted the vid of them singing epic i.

well. it kinda shows the hand position on the guitar better than a lot of the boots that are around.

and I KNOW one of yall can figure out (or already knows) how to play that and will share it for the class right 🙏

(please guys it’s so hard to find guitar tuts that actually use the same positioning as the actors playing Orpheus. like im sure it’s a similar chord that makes a similar noise but ain’t no way not a single one of you actually wants to teach how THEY’RE doing it? is there actually NO DEMAND for that?? I can tell it’s not the right chords bc they [orpheuses] all have the capo on like 6 and yall are way up on frets 2-3)

[mylovelypantomime]

my favorite <3

[dayas]

To everyone who did not get to see Jack Wolfe’s Orpheus live but still wants to experience his Epic II, the video he posted to YT is literally probably the closest sonically to the show that wasn’t actual audio taken from the show. Just imagine the ‘Styx’ in ‘the river Styx is a river of stones’ as a little more punchy and powerful bc in the video he pulls back but during the performance he sentttt ittttt with the riff on stones and it was well and truly life changing.

[lady-ethne]

I’m not sure if this is a hot take but I was listening to Hadestown today and like… Epic I is really boring. It’s easily the worst song in the whole album, especially after listening to Epic II and Epic III. Like I do not blame Orpheus at all for hyper-fixating on fixing it, I would too if that was my first draft 😭

[amatalefay]

Favorite cut Hadestown Epic(s) lyrics that AREN'T the "Persephone in her mother's garden" verses?

Digging/dredging/dragging the depths of the earth/To turn its insides out

He bowed to no one, below or above/Til the arrow of Eros struck him in the heart

The earth warmed over in the dead of winter/Stillborn spring lay cold beneath

Like stones in a row/As stone by stone/Row by row/The river rose up

He scrapes the sky and scars the earth/And he comes down heavy and hard on us

And the sun rose and fell in his chest as he held her

'Cause a lover's desire is a mutiny/A lover's desire is a wilderness

Trying to fill/The hole that his lover has left in his arms/With silver and gold

Voting ended onFeb 24, 2023

Full context for each beneath the cut, because the poll options have character limits and the Epics are LONG:

King of diamonds, king of spades / Hades was king of a kingdom of dirt / Miners of mines, diggers of graves / They bowed down to Hades who gave them work / And they bowed down to Hades who made them sweat/Who paid them their wages and set them about / Digging / And dredging / And dragging the depths of the earth / To turn its insides out (Vermont, Concept Album, NYTW)

And he bowed down to no one, below or above / 'Til the arrow of Eros struck him in the heart / And the king of the underworld fell in love / With a woman who walked in a garden (London)

And the earth warmed over in the dead of winter / The stillborn spring lay cold beneath / Summer gave a stormy sermon / Autumn walked in its wake like a wreath / And the people moved like weather patterns / Looking for shelter, looking for warmth / Helter-skelter, the four winds scattered / The scavengers over the ravaged earth (Vermont)

And a million feet that fell in line / And stepped in time with Hades' step / And a million minds that were just one mind / Like stones in a row / As stone by stone / Row by row / The river rose up (Concept Album, NYTW)

Hades is king of the scythe and the sword / He covers the world in the color of rust / He scrapes the sky and scars the earth / And he comes down heavy and hard on us (Concept Album, NYTW)

And the sun rose and fell in his chest as he held her / He felt the earth moving without and within / And there were no words for the way that he felt / So he opened his mouth and he started to sing (London)

The heart of the king is a tinderbox / That he has to keep under lock and key / That it not catch fire inside of his chest / 'Cause a lover's desire is a mutiny / A lover's desire is a wilderness (Vermont)

In the dark of the mine, he is trying to fill / The hole that his lover has left in his arms / With the silver and gold / He can have and hold / Not half, but whole / All to himself (Broadway previews, with some lines from Vermont)

(Source: Anaïs Mitchell, Working on a Song)