Lyrics of 'How Long?' by Hadestown Cast

[Persephone]
What are you afraid of?

[Hades]
What?

[Persephone]
He's just a boy in love

[Hades]
Have a drink, why don't you?

[Persephone]
No, I've had enough
He loves that girl, Hades

[Hades]
Well that's too bad

[Persephone]
He has the kind of love for her that you and I once had

[Hades]
The girl means nothing to me

[Persephone]
I know, but she means everything to him

[Hades]
So?

[Persephone]
Let her go
Hades my husband, Hades my light, Hades my darkness
If you had heard how he sang tonight you'd pity poor Orpheus

All of the 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 they'll take it all
Show them a crack 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 must go on rising

[Hades and 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?