Epic: The Musical Lyrics – All Songs from the Musical

"EPIC: The Musical" – The Musical Guide & Song Meanings

Review

EPIC’s “cut songs” are the show’s ghost scenes. You can feel where they used to sit, like removed stairs in a house you still know by heart. They matter because EPIC is built on propulsion. A sung-through Odyssey only works if each number earns its oxygen. The deleted drafts reveal what Jorge Rivera-Herrans kept fighting for: forward motion, character clarity, and motifs that pull the listener through chaos.

The lyrics in these scraps are often less “finished,” which is the point. You hear the experiment. Sometimes it is plot, sometimes it is tone, sometimes it is a character trying on a voice. A cut verse can be a rehearsal room argument you never witnessed. In EPIC’s case, the argument happened in public, because the project’s making was documented online, with snippets and process clips circulating long before the final saga landed.

Musically, the cut material also shows EPIC’s core technique: character identity through sound. The official series leans on representative instruments and repeating motifs to tell you who is present, who is manipulating events, and when danger is arriving. When a song gets cut, those sonic signposts either vanish or get reassigned. That reassignment is part of the storytelling craft here, not an accident.

How It Was Made

EPIC: The Musical is a nine-part, saga-structured concept musical adapting Homer’s Odyssey, written and produced by Jorge Rivera-Herrans and released across 2022–2024. The project grew through social media, including online casting and an unusually transparent development process, and later became entangled in a rights dispute with an early producer and label partner. Reporting and court records document litigation in 2023 and an expanded dispute in 2024.

Those business pressures shaped the release strategy. The first two sagas were re-recorded and re-released on July 4, 2024, with the earlier versions removed from availability. That kind of industrial friction has an artistic side-effect: you become ruthless about canon. EPIC’s “cut songs” sit on the other side of that line. Some are early-draft placeholders. Some are full ideas that lost the war for pacing. Some are seeds that later reappear as different songs, with different stakes.

Most of the cut material lives as short clips, drafts, or Patreon-era snippets rather than a formally released “B-sides” album. A major fan compilation uploaded in 2024 gathers what had circulated publicly at the time, and newer compilation updates in 2025 reflect additional clips appearing later. Treat these as development artifacts, not definitive tracklists. That uncertainty is baked into the EPIC ecosystem.

Key Tracks & Scenes

These are not the entire set of deleted drafts. They are the cut moments that best explain how EPIC edits itself. Scene placement is inferred when a source explicitly groups the song under a saga or labels its story function.

"Ismarus" (Odysseus, Company)

The Scene:

Post-Troy, the crew hits land with adrenaline still in their muscles. The lighting in most animatic interpretations is harsh and sun-bleached, like victory turning abrasive.

Lyrical Meaning:

This draft points toward a version of Odysseus who fails earlier, faster. It sets up consequence as a habit, not a twist. Cutting it tightens the moral arc by saving certain degradations for later sagas.

"Your Light" (Odysseus, Athena)

The Scene:

A private exchange framed like a vow. In the surviving snippet, the mood reads intimate and steadier than much of EPIC’s battle music, like a lantern held close.

Lyrical Meaning:

“Your Light” feels like an early attempt to make mentorship explicitly romantic or emotionally declarative. EPIC’s final text tends to keep Athena’s bond sharper and more strategic, which makes the eventual fractures hit harder.

"The Lotus Eaters" (Winions / Ensemble)

The Scene:

A glittering trap. The ensemble’s energy turns syrupy, as if joy itself has teeth. The cut placement under the early Troy stretch suggests a longer “temptation” runway.

Lyrical Meaning:

Keeping the Lotus Eaters mostly inside “Open Arms” concentrates the seduction into one song’s dramatic job. The cut number shows an alternate EPIC that would have lingered longer in pleasure, which can dilute danger if you stay too long.

"Footstep" (Odysseus, Company)

The Scene:

A walk toward Polyphemus’ cave, with the air tightening each step. It plays as suspense choreography: bodies moving forward while the score insists they should not.

Lyrical Meaning:

EPIC already uses repeating motifs to foreshadow threat. A full suspense song here risks redundancy. Cutting it forces the Cyclops material to arrive with less warning, which suits horror.

"The Cyclops" (Polyphemus)

The Scene:

Polyphemus speaks before he fully arrives, like a shadow with a voice. The cut draft reads like a villain introduction built to establish rules and territory.

Lyrical Meaning:

The final saga lets “Polyphemus” drop like a boulder. This earlier framing is more theatrical, less sudden. Removing it makes the monster feel less explained and more inevitable.

"Man of the House" (Odysseus)

The Scene:

A flashback number, often staged in fan versions with warmer light and domestic stillness. It is the rare EPIC moment that breathes without sprinting.

Lyrical Meaning:

This song’s job is empathy. It sketches who Odysseus was before he became a survival machine. Cutting it makes the later “monster” turn feel more abrupt, but also more shocking. EPIC chooses shock.

"Aeolus (Cut Song)" (Aeolus, Odysseus, Company)

The Scene:

Aeolus as chaos hostess, spinning weather like a game. In circulating animatic interpretations, the lighting flickers like party strobes inside a storm cloud.

Lyrical Meaning:

EPIC’s released Ocean material already balances wonder against distrust. A cut Aeolus number suggests a version with more overt mischief before the bag becomes tragic. Trimming the “fun” can make the betrayal feel colder.

"I Wanna Be a Legend" (Telemachus)

The Scene:

Ithaca, before the suitors become an action problem. A young man tries on heroism the way you try on your father’s coat.

Lyrical Meaning:

Fan documentation describes this as an ancestor draft to “Legendary.” Even as hearsay, the idea scans: EPIC refines Telemachus by sharpening his desire into a cleaner dramatic engine.

Live Updates 2025–2026

As of January 23, 2026, EPIC’s saga run is complete, with the final Ithaca installment released on December 25, 2024. The “what now” is format expansion. Billboard reported that Atlantic Records partnered with Rivera-Herrans for an ultra-limited vinyl box set in September 2025. The official EPIC store product page for the 9-LP Mega Box describes it as a pre-order expected to ship in March 2026, and the storefront has functioned as the hub for ongoing drops and restocks.

The bigger strategic question is adaptation. A Guardian feature on TikTok musicals described EPIC’s social-first production model and quoted Rivera-Herrans on using clues through motifs, while also reporting that he was in talks for screen and game ideas tied to the property. None of that equals a confirmed Broadway or West End timeline. It does confirm intent: EPIC is being positioned as a world that can jump mediums.

For the cut songs specifically, 2025 brought a new wave of fan compilations reflecting additional snippets and drafts that had surfaced. If you are tracking “canon,” treat the official playlists, official channel releases, and storefront announcements as the stable spine. Everything else is a fascinating, unstable appendix.

Notes & Trivia

• EPIC is structured as nine “sagas,” released across 2022–2024, and written and produced by Rivera-Herrans.
• The Troy Saga and Cyclops Saga were re-recorded and re-released on July 4, 2024, with the earlier versions removed from availability.
• Public reporting and court dockets document a legal dispute over rights to EPIC recordings in 2023, with additional litigation coverage in 2024.
• One large fan compilation video in 2024 groups cut material by saga and includes “Ismarus,” “Your Light,” “The Lotus Eaters,” “The Cyclopes,” and “Man of the House.”
• EPIC’s analysis discourse often centers on leitmotifs and instrument identifiers for characters, a technique described in overview coverage of the project.
• Atlantic’s 2025 partnership for vinyl pushed EPIC further into “physical collectible” territory, with the official store listing the 9-LP Mega Box as a limited pre-order expected to ship March 2026.

Reception

EPIC’s critical story is unusual because it is both DIY and mainstream-facing. It built its audience through clips, auditions, and fan-made animatics, then converted that attention into charting releases and label-scale physical product. Even many of the earnest reviews focus less on “Is this a good show” and more on “What does it mean that a show can be made like this.”

“We’re figuring out cool ways of doing storytelling as we do this.”

“Check out the very limited-edition deal…”

“A music producer… filed suit… seeking a ruling that it owns the copyright…”

Quick Facts

• Title: EPIC: The Musical
• Year: 2022–2024 (saga releases); 2024 is the key year for re-recordings and late-saga launches
• Type: Sung-through concept musical, released as saga albums
• Composer / Lyricist / Producer: Jorge Rivera-Herrans
• Project model: Social-first development and casting, with auditions and process clips shared online
• Label / commerce hub: Winion Entertainment (independent); later vinyl partnership reported with Atlantic Records
• Selected notable cut placements (draft-era): “Ismarus,” “Your Light,” “The Lotus Eaters” (early Troy-era grouping); “The Cyclops,” “Footstep” (Cyclops-era drafts); “Man of the House” (flashback draft); Aeolus cut material (Ocean-era drafts)
• Availability: Official concept releases via streaming and official playlists; cut songs largely circulate as snippets and draft clips rather than official public albums
• 2025–2026 physical status: 9-LP Mega Box listed as pre-order with expected March 2026 shipping on the official store

Frequently Asked Questions

Are the “cut songs” part of the official EPIC tracklist?

No. They are drafts, deleted numbers, or early versions that did not make the released sagas. Most exist as short clips rather than full public releases.

Where do fans find EPIC cut song clips?

Common sources include the creator’s snippet ecosystem, fan compilations that gather publicly circulating clips, and fan documentation pages that track drafts and revisions.

Do any cut songs become later songs in EPIC?

Sometimes ideas migrate. Fan documentation suggests certain early concepts were repurposed into later canon songs. Treat these links as development notes unless confirmed by official commentary.

Why would EPIC cut a flashback like “Man of the House”?

Because EPIC prioritizes momentum. A flashback can deepen empathy, but it can also slow the narrative engine in a sung-through format.

Is EPIC heading to the stage?

There is no confirmed Broadway or West End production schedule. A major profile reported talks about future adaptations across mediums, but nothing replaces an announced production contract.

What is the most reliable place for official EPIC release news in 2025–2026?

The official EPIC web store and official release announcements tied to reported partners are the most stable references for physical drops and timelines.

Key Contributors

Sources: The Guardian; Billboard; Bloomberg Law; CourtListener; Wikipedia; Official EPIC store (epicthemusical.com); Spotify official EPIC playlist; YouTube compilation pages; EpicTheMusical Wiki (fan documentation).