How Long? - Patrick Page, Hadestown Original Broadway Company, Anaïs Mitchell

Hades, my husband, Hades, my light

Hades, my darkness

If you had heard how he sang tonight

You’d pity poor Orpheus!

All of his sorrow won’t fit in his chest

It just burns like a fire in the pit of his chest

And his heart is a bird on a spit in his chest

How long, how long, how long?

How long?

Just as long as Hades is King

Nothing comes of wishing on stars

And nothing comes of the songs people sing

However sorry they are

Give them a piece and they’ll take it all

Show them the crack and they’ll tear down the wall

Lend them an ear and the Kingdom will fall

The Kingdom will fall for a song

What does he care for the logic of kings?

The laws of your underworld?

It is only for love that he sings!

He sings for the love of a girl!

You and your pity don’t fit in my bed

You just burn like a fire in the pit of my bed

And I turn like a bird on a spit in my bed

How long, how long, how long?

How long?

Just as long as I am your wife

It’s true the earth must die

But then the earth comes back to life

And the sun just goes on rising

And how does the sun even fit in the sky?

It just burns like a fire in the pit of the sky

And the earth is a bird on a spit in the sky

How long, how long, how long?