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On the road to hell there was a railroad track.
"Aw, come on!" Ethan says with a growing frown, his dance stopping as the mortals around him grow quiet.
And a train coming up from way down below.
"That was not six months!" He scowls, lowering the wine in his hand to glare at the moving train.
Better go and get your suitcase packed, guess it's time to go.
Follow that dollar for a long way down. Far away from the poorhouse door. Either get to hell or to Hadestown. Ain’t no difference anymore!
Way down Hadestown. Way down under the ground.
Hound dog howl and the whistle blow. Train come a-rollin, clickety-clack. Nobody knows where that old train goes. Those who go they don’t come back. They go-
Way down Hadestown. Way down under the ground.
Ethan begins to sing once more, turning back to the mortals he'd surrounded himself with in summer, "Winter’s nigh and summer’s o’er. Hear that high and lonesome sound. Of my husband coming for. To bring me home to Hadestown"
Way down Hadestown. Way down under the ground.
"Down there, it's a bunch of stiffs. Brother, I'll be bored to death. Gonna have to import some stuff. Just to entertain myself," Ethan sings with a grin at the end, already beginning to pack. "Give me morphine in the tin. Give me a crate of the fruit of the vine. Takes a lot of medicine. To make it through the wintertime." The bag begins to be filled as the song continues, Ethan dancing around as he drinks once again.
Way down Hadestown. Way down under the ground.
Everybody dresses in clothes so fine. Everybody’s pockets are weighted down. Everybody's sipping ambrosia wine.
"In a goldmine in Hadestown" A mortal girl sings, easily overlooked as the music goes on.
Way down Hadestown. Way down under the ground.
"Everybody hungry. Everybody tired. Everybody slaves by the sweat of his brow. The wage is nothing and the work is hard. It’s a graveyard in Hadestown" A muses son adds in.
Way down Hadestown. Way down under the ground.
Every little penny in the wishing well. Every little nickel on the drum.
Ethan, in his state, repeats the Fates, "On the drum!"
All them shiny little heads and tails. Where do you think they come from? They come from-
Way down Hadestown. Way down under the ground.
"Mr. Hades is a mean old boss" The muses son begins, "With a silver whistle and a golden scale" The Shepard continues.
"To the king on the chromium throne"
"To the bottom of a Sing Sing cell"
Where the little wheel squeals and the big wheel groans
"And you better forget about your wishing well"
Way down Hadestown. Way down under the ground.
And on the road to hell there was a railroad car. And the car door opened and a man stepped out. Everybody looked and everybody saw. It was the same man they'd been singing about.
Ethan, no longer dancing as he had been before, stares at the opening train car whilst the mortals silence themselves and the music they'd been playing. Frowning as he glares into the sunglasses hiding his husbands eyes. Face flushed from the wine he'd been drinking for oh so long.
A smirk comes to Karls face, golden eyes peeking behind his sunglasses as he flashes his fanged smile at his glaring husband. Uncaring for the mortals backing away from him, and consequently Ethan as well.
Ethan relaxes slightly at the rumble in Karl's voice, the sound distracting him from his anger as a small smile grows. For despite everything he loved this man. His flowers once blooming wilt as hidden thorns make themselves visible whilst he takes Karls hand. Ethan ignores the voice in the back of his mind, the one that sounds so much like the Karl he fell in love with, as it tries to tell him how dull his flowers look these days compared to the way they were before. The wine makes it easy, easy to ignore the pain, and the haze he keeps himself in stays strong.
Mr. Hades is a mighty king. Must be making some mighty big deals. Seems like he owns everything.
"Kind of makes you wonder how it feels"
The silence that follows the mortal girls words is loud. Ethan looking from his spot at Karl's side with a strange look, for he sees something in her that reminds him so much of how he had once been. Karl lowers his sunglasses in interest, ever willing to add a new soul to his roster. Yet the muses son jumps in front of her, breaking the spell.
One, two. A-one, two, three, four
The music starts once more, Ethan and Karl beginning to walk into the train as the song continues.
Way down Hadestown. Way down under the ground. Way down Hadestown. Way down under the ground. Way down under the ground. Way down under the ground
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