"Epic I" lyrics - ANAIS MITCHELL

[HERMES, spoken]
Where'd you get that melody?

[ORPHEUS]
I don't know
It came to me
As if I'd known it all along

[HERMES]

[Spoken:]
You have
It's an old song

[Sung:]
A song of love from long ago
Long-time since I heard it though

[ORPHEUS, spoken]
You've heard that melody before?

[HERMES, spoken]
Sure

[ORPHEUS, spoken]
Tell me more

[HERMES, spoken]
Remember the tale I told you once about the Gods?

[ORPHEUS, spoken]
Which ones?

[HERMES, spoken]
Hades and Persephone
Remember how it used to be
Their love that made the world go round?

[ORPHEUS, spoken]
Yeah, I remember now
But that was long ago

[HERMES, spoken]
Tell it again though

[ORPHEUS]
King of shadows
King of shades
Hades was king of the Underworld
But he fell in love with a beautiful lady
Who walked up above in her mother's green field
He fell in love with Persephone
Who was gathering flowers in the light of the sun
And he took her home to become his queen
Where the sun never shone
On anyone

[HERMES, spoken]
Go on...

[ORPHEUS]
The lady loved him and the kingdom they shared
But without her above, not one flower would grow
So King Hades agreed that for half of each year
She would stay with him there in his world down below
But the other half, she could walk in the sun
And the sun, in turn, burned twice as bright
Which is where the seasons come from
And with them, the cycle
Of the seed and the sickle
And the lives of the people
And the birds in their flight

[HERMES]
Singing...

[ORPHEUS]
La la la la la la la...

[HERMES, spoken]
Down below and up above

[ORPHEUS]
La la la la la la la...

[HERMES, spoken]
In harmony and rhythm

[ORPHEUS]
La la la la la la la...

[HERMES, spoken]
The Gods sang his song of love

[ORPHEUS]
La la la la la la la...

[HERMES]

[Spoken:]
And the world sang it with them

[Sung:]
But that was long ago
Before we were on this road