Original Cast of Hadestown
Epic III
[ORPHEUS]
Heavy and hard is the heart of the king
King of iron, king of steel
The heart of the king loves everything
Like the hammer loves the nail
But the heart of a man is a simple one
Small and soft, flesh and blood
And all that it loves is a woman
A woman is all that it loves
And 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
But even that hardest of hearts unhardened
Suddenly, when he saw her there
Persephone in her mother’s garden
Sun on her shoulders, wind in her hair
The smell of the flowers she held in her hand
And the pollen that fell from her fingertips
And suddenly Hades was only a man
With a taste of nectar upon his lips, singing:
La la la la la la la…
[COMPANY]
La la la la la la la…
[ORPHEUS]
And what has become of the heart of that man
Now that the man is King?
What has become of the heart of that man
Now that he has everything?
The more he has, the more he holds
The greater the weight of the world on his shoulders
See how he labors beneath that load
Afraid to look up, and afraid to let go
And he keeps his head low, and he keeps his back bending
He grows so afraid that he'll lose what he owns
But what he doesn't know is that what he's defending
Is already gone
Where is the treasure inside your chest?
Where is your pleasure? Where is your youth?
Where is the man with his hat in his hands?
Who stands in the garden with nothing to lose, singing:
La la la la la la la…
[HADES]
La la la la la la la…
[ORPHEUS]
La la la la la la la…
[BOTH]
La la la la la la la…