"Way Down Hadestown (Reprise)" lyrics - ANAIS MITCHELL

ANAIS MITCHELL
"Way Down Hadestown (Reprise)"
feat. Andre De Shields, Eva Noblezada, Jewelle Blackman, Kay Trinidad & Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer

[FATE, spoken]
The deal is signed?

[EURYDICE, spoken]
Yes

[FATE]
About time
Get on the line

[EURYDICE, spoken]
I did what I had to do

[FATE, spoken]
That's what they did too

[HERMES]
Now in Hadestown there were 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
But you could hear them singing:

[COMPANY]
Low, keep your head, keep your head

[HERMES]
Swinging their hammers in the cold, hard ground
You can hear the sound of the pickaxe ringin'

[COMPANY]
If you wanna keep your head

[HERMES]
And they called it-

[COMPANY]
"Freedom."

[EURYDICE, spoken]
I'm Eurydice
Doesn't anybody hear me?

[FATES]

[Spoken:]
They can hear
But they don't care
No one has a name down here

[Sung:]
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!

[FATES and WORKERS]
And 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! Keep your head low

[EURYDICE, spoken]
Why won't anybody look at me?

[FATES]

[Spoken:]
They can look
But they don't see
You see, it's easier that way
Your eyes will look like that someday

[Sung:]
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
Your place on the assembly line
Replaces all your memories

[FATES and WORKERS]
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! Keep your head low

[EURYDICE, spoken]
What do you mean I'll look like that?

[FATES, spoken]
That's what it looks like to forget

[EURYDICE, spoken]
Forget what?

[FATES, spoken]
Who you are and everything that came before

[EURYDICE, spoken]
I have to go

[FATES, spoken]
Go where?

[EURYDICE, spoken]
Go back!

[FATES, spoken]
Oh?
And where is that?
So what was your name again?
You've already forgot it

[HERMES, spoken]
You 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
You 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 rollin'
A lot of spirits gotta break
To make the underworld go 'round

[FATES and COMPANY]
Way down Hadestown
Way down under the ground!