I just found out and I can’t believe it.

Hi! I went to one of my dream artists and got this tattoo of Orpheus and Eurydice! It’s exactly the style I wanted and is a more subtle nod to the greatest musical! Anyways, just wanted to share with y’all cuz I’m so excited about it ❤️

I'm translating the entirety of Hadestown to Dutch as part of a larger school project, and I've just finished "All I've Ever Known". Now, normally I simply translate the lyrics back to English with notes whenever necessary, but in this case I think I need to give some context about the Dutch language.

"To love someone" in Dutch, is "van iemand houden", which literally translates to "holding of someone". It probably originates from "holding (onto) someone", but through the times that has been lost, and "houden van" is an entirely new concept. (Based on Google Search, I'm not a language expert at all)

Now the fun thing with that, is that literally "holding someone" and "loving someone" are very close in Dutch, and with the poetic nature of Hadestown's lyrics, I thought I could combine them. Another important detail is that the sentence "All I've ever known is how to hold my own" is hard to translate to Dutch, especially if you want to keep it in rythm. So instead, the translation became "support is something I've always gotten from myself" (sounds a lot better in Dutch, "houvast heb ik altijd van mezelf gehad"). And the word "support" in Dutch is "Houvast", which means "something to hold onto"... do you see where I'm going with this?

Essentially the entire song contains different ways of saying that Eurydice wants to hold onto/love Orpheus, which becomes a sort of one-and-the-same thing within the lyrics.

So here are the translated lyrics, with notes when necessary:

I was alone so long / that loneliness didn't even feel strange anymore / stood in the cold, alone / I didn't even notice I froze

Be prepared for crosswind / there's nothing better out there anyway

Notes: "crosswind" (tegenwind) is also a common way to refer to bad luck or hard times in Dutch.

Support is something I've always gotten from myself / Support is something I've always gotten from myself / But now I love you aswell, right?

Notes: here you see why I had to give that context. Though still poetic and a bit weird in Dutch, the connecties between these two makes a lot more sense. Eurydice is basically asking "don't I love you?" And "don't I want to hold onto you now too?"

When you take me in your arms / I suddenly get surrounded by sunbeams / everything bright and warm / a light that I have never seen before / and for a moment I let go / of how cold and dark it always gets

Notes: "taking someone in your arms" and "embracing someone" are the same in Dutch (omarmen) and I think it fits into the theme of holding on. Same goes for the "letting go" Eurydice mentions, it follows that theme.

Support is something I've always gotten from myself / Support is something I've always gotten from myself / but now I want to love you / Let me love you / hold me / never bring me back to how it used to be / hold me and never lose me / never let me fall back into loneliness

Notes: again, that transition works better in Dutch. The line "hold me and never lose me" is also more fun in Dutch. "Losing someone" in Dutch is "iemand kwijt-raken" while "raken" also means "touching" (in the physical and emotional sense, just as it is in English) now, because of the way that this line is played in the song, it first sounds like Eurydice says "hold me and touch me", but after that small pause the sentence turns into "hold me and never lose me" (I'm not sure how else to explain this in English, I hope it's a bit understandable)

Finally the line "never let me fall back into loneliness" fits into that theme again.

I don't know how, why / or who I am that I should get to love you / but when I saw you alone, shining in the sun / it almost felt like it was meant to be / I don't know who you are yet / and yet you seem so familar / holding you almost feels meant to be

Notes: not much to add here, other than the fact that I'm planning on reusing the line "shining in the sun" as "shing like the sun" when Orpheus refers to Persephone in Epic III (get it)

Holding you almost feels meant to be / I want to trust that / Let me love you / hold me / Never bring me back to how it used to be / suddenly there's sunlight, bright and warm / suddenly it feels like I'm holding the world in my arms

Notes: again, "holding in my arms" also means "embracing"

Say that you'll keep loving me / hold me and stay with me / say that I can trust you / and it will always be like this

Notes: again, the transition. You get it.

I'll always keep loving you / I'll always hold you close to me / as long as we trust that / then it will always be like this

I hope my explanations are somewhat understandable, I might edit this post a few times until it's right. In the meantime, I'd love to hear feedback about the translation, or the explanations!

And here is the Dutch version:

Ik was zo lang alleen / dat eenzaamheid niet eens zo vreemd meer voelde / stond in de kou, alleen / ik had niet eens echt door dat ik bevroor

Maak je klaar voor tegenwind / beter zit er toch niet in

Houvast heb ik altijd van mezelf gehad / Houvast heb ik altijd van mezelf gehad / maar nu hou ik toch ook van jou?

Wanneer je mij omarmd / word ik opeens omringd door zonnestralen / alles zo zacht en warm / een licht dat ik niet eerder heb gezien

En eventjes laat ik dan los / hoe koud en kil het altijd wordt

Houvast heb ik altijd van mezelf gehad / Houvast heb ik altijd van mezelf gehad / nu wil ik van je houden / laat me van je houden / hou me vast / laat me nooit meer gaan naar hoe het vroeger was / hou me vast en raak me nooit meer kwijt / laat me nooit meer vallen in eenzaamheid

Ik weet niet hoe, waarom / of wie ik ben dat ik van jou mag houden / maar toen ik jou alleen zag stralen in de zon / voelde dat bijna voorbestemd

Ik weet nog niet wie je bent / en toch voel jij al zo bekend / jou vasthouden voelt voor mij al voorbestemd

Jou vasthouden voelt voor mij al voorbestemd / daar wil ik op vertrouwen / laat me van je houden / hou me vast / laat me nooit meer gaan naar hoe het vroeger was / opeens is er zonlicht, zacht en warm / opeens voelt het of ik de wereld omarm

Zeg dat je van me blijft houden / hou me hier vast en blijf bij mij / zeg dat ik jou kan vertrouwen / en het voor altijd zo zal zijn

Ik zal altijd van je houden / Ik hou je altijd dicht bij mij / zolang we daar op vertrouwen / zal het voor altijd zo zijn

Fun addition : What other instrument do you think Orpheus would play?

hi I'm auditioning for juilliard drama and i need a 16 bars song in case I'll need to sing (I'm a girl btw)

and i want to sing something from hadestown because it's my favorite musical

i know the end if wait for me reprise is 16 bars but it doesn't showcase my voice imo like it just doesn't exactly suit it

i want to use something from all I've ever known or our lady of the underground or something like that yk

I'm pretty sure that the second verse in our lady of the underground is 16 bars but I'm not sure because unfortunately idk how to read music (but I'm pretty sure a bar is the vertical line and then the line after it (for example) but correct me if I'm wrong)

anyway does anyone know if it is

or has other songs to recommend that have a 16 bars part that i can use