Way Down Hadestown II – Hadestown Cast (from “Hadestown: The Myth. The Musical. (Original Cast Recording)” soundtrack)
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[Hermes:] Now in Hadestown there was a lot of souls
[Company:] Low, keep your head, keep your head
[Hermes:] Working on the wall with all their might
[Company:] Oh, you gotta keep your head
[Hermes:] You see, they kept their heads down low
[Company:] If you wanna keep your head
[Hermes:] You couldn’t quite see their faces right Oh, but you could hear them singing:
[Company:] Low, keep your head, keep your head
[Hermes:] Swinging their hammers in the cold, hard ground You could hear the sound of the pickaxe a-ringing
[Company:] One! two! if you wanna keep your head
[Hermes & company:] They called it “freedom”
[Eurydice:] I’m free! We’re free! Mr. Hades set us free!
[Fates (company):] Mr. Hades set you free To work yourself into the ground Free to spend eternity In the factory And the warehouse Where the whistles scream And the foreman shouts And you’re punchin’ in And punchin’ in And punchin’ in And you can’t punch out!
You’re way down Hadestown (oh, keep your head, keep your head low) Way down Hadestown (oh, you gotta keep your head low) Way down Hadestown (if you wanna keep your head) Way down under the ground!
[Eurydice:] But I don’t understand… you said this was the promised land!
[Fates:] You sell your soul You get your due! That is all we promised you!
Heard that mighty trumpet sound Crossed the river to the other side Thought you’d lay your burdens down And rest in peace in paradise But there ain’t no rest for your weary soul Hades keeps you toiling
[Hades & Fates:] Shoveling coal in a big black hole to keep his boiler boiling
[Fates (company):] Way down Hadestown (oh, keep your head, keep your head low) Way down Hadestown (oh, you gotta keep your head low) Way down Hadestown (if you wanna keep your head) Way down under the ground!
[Eurydice:] But don’t you see? It’s different with me!
[Fates:] Different than who? they thought they were different too! Down in the river of oblivion You kissed your little life goodbye And Hades laid his hands on you And gave you everlasting life! And everlasting overtime In the mine, the mill, and the machinery Running his old assembly line From Pluto to the Pleiades [Fates (company):] Way down Hadestown (oh, keep your head, keep your head low) Way down Hadestown (oh, you gotta keep your head low) Way down Hadestown (if you wanna keep your head) Way down under the ground!
[Eurydice:] There must be some mistake!
[Fates:] Oh, it was a mistake alright! And now you gotta pay And pay And pay for it, for the rest of your life!
[Hermes:] See, it’s like I said before: a lot can happen behind closed doors Eurydice was a hungry young girl, but she wasn’t hungry anymore What she was, instead, was dead Dead to the world, anyway See, she went behind those doors And signed her life away
[Fates:] Saw that wheel up in the sky Heard the big bell tolling A lot of souls have gotta die To keep the rust belt rolling A lot of spirits gotta break To make the underworld go ’round [Fates & company:] Way down Hadestown Way down under the ground!