More Musical Fun: Hadestown

I’m back with some more musicals! 

Do you enjoy Greek myths? Do you like jazz? Do you like tragedies? 

Well look no further than the musical Hadestown. It has all of that and more. I’ve been listening to it non-stop for a few months now, and have pretty much all of it memorized. I love Hadestown. It’s the #1 Broadway show I want to see when Broadway opens up again. So I figured it would be fun to write about this musical that I’ve been blasting anywhere and everywhere.

Thus begins the third installment on the musical blog post series: AKA where I take a break from books and writing to talk about the stories we listen to. 

(All images from here) 

A Brief Recap

Hadestown combines the myth about Orpheus and Eurydice with the myth about Persephone (these names are so hard to pronounce, though!) and Hades with a depression era setting and jazzy music.

The myth about Orpheus and Eurydice is basically about a couple where Eurydice dies, so Orpheus ventures into the underworld to save her. Hades says Orpheus can take her back, but he can’t turn around to see her until they make it to the real world (overworld?) He turns around when he makes it to the overworld, but Eurydice is still in the darkness and she goes back to the underworld.  

Persephone fell in love with Hades but has to stay in the underworld because she ate food there. So she lives there for half the year and she goes back to the overworld for half of the year, making her mother happy and thus creating summer. 

I found out about these myths by turning to my brother’s book of Greek myths in Legos. So if you have a Lego obsessed brother, see if he has that book? Or maybe listen to the songs Epic I, Epic II, and Epic III. Those explain it pretty well. 

Dancing Songs

The Road to Hell- Probably one of the coolest opening songs ever. My brother wants to learn the trombone to play this song. 

Livin’ it up on top – Kitchen dancing! This time I spilled flour all over the floor…

When the Chips are Down- Even more dancing! (And also lets just have some appreciation for the fates!) 

Wait for Me- This is that really inspirational song that I play when I’m not motivated to do things. 

Our Lady of the Underground- This song got stuck in my head for a week. At first, I wasn’t a big fan of it, but then it started to grow on me. It’s so cool that they name the musicians playing, I love it! 

Wait for Me (reprise)- If Wait For Me doesn’t work to motivate me, this is the next song I play. 

Songs for the Feels

Epic II– I like Epic I and Epic III, but I like the second epic the most. I don’t know why, maybe the way it flows into Chant? 

Chant – If you need to do the dishes or pack boxes or do some sort of work, I highly recommend listening to this. I get some weird looks from my siblings, but it’s a very interesting song to listen to. 

Flowers- I don’t like many of Eurydice’s songs that much. But then Flowers got stuck in my head and I started to enjoy it. 

Nothing Changes- I love the fates’ songs so much!

Road to Hell (reprise) – There’s going to be more on this later, but let me just say… wow. 

We Raise our Cups – NO it’s ending! No! No! But seriously, this is an awesome ending. 

It’s A Sad Song

The coolest thing about Hadestown is that it’s so circular. The Road to Hell and the reprise are pretty much the same song, but sung in a different way and with a different perspective. 

Then when it’s done, you have no idea what to do. It’s like when you finish a really good book. You feel slightly numb, returning to the real world now that the story is over. So you have no choice but to press play again and listen to Hadestown again, starting with the upbeat, slightly naive version of The Road To Hell. 

The beginning of the musical starts out with Orpheus showing us how the world can be, not the way it is. He sees everything so full of potential, despite the horrible weather and starvation and such. Then, by the end, he’s seen how cruel the real world is. When he turns around we are hit even more with a cold splash of tragedy. 

 The Road to Hell Reprise starts playing and you suddenly can be naive again. You can see things in a positive light, and maybe it will turn out right again. If you listen to it just one more time, maybe Orpheus won’t turn around. 

Of course, we know it won’t change. But for some reason, we keep telling that story. It’s an ancient myth, told in many ways over many years. Even though we know we’re going to be hit with that punch, we keep coming back. 

And that is my mini, super casual essay about Hadestown. It’s definitely a very different style than some of the other broadway shows, but it’s really fun. If you haven’t listened to it, give it a listen! (Also, like Anastasia, it’s quite clean) For those of you who have listened to it, what is your favorite song? Least favorite song? 

Thanks for reading, I hope you have a great rest of your day! 

-Hannah

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