How Long? [2010]

[PERSEPHONE]

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?

[HADES]

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

[PERSEPHONE]

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!

[HADES]

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?

[PERSEPHONE]

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

[HADES & PERSEPHONE]

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?

• Artist:Hadestown (Musical)
• Album:Hadestown