Where You Need To Go / Aelous Lyrics – EPIC: Cut Songs

Song Overview

Personal Review

The first spin of Where You Need To Go feels like stepping onto a sky-blue carousel. The Lyrics bounce along a bright swing groove, Aeolus greeting Odysseus with the enthusiasm of a theme-park host. Key takeaways: winds in a bag, home just one west-gust away, and a Greek hero too polite to ask what “ba ba ba ba ba” actually means. One-sentence snapshot: Disney-esque hospitality hides cosmic power as the Keeper of Winds cheerfully promises to blow our wanderer home.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Unlike the foreboding hymns of EPIC’s Vengeance arc, Where You Need To Go plants us in a floating palace of optimism. Aeolus’ welcome riff repeats four times, layering Winion harmonies until the hook becomes an advertising jingle: “Tell me where you’re headed and I’ll get you where you need to go.” The motif mimics a sea-breeze waltz—upbeat, airy, deceptively simple.

Odysseus blinks in surprise when Aeolus lists Trojan-War accolades—proof the hero’s reputation outruns his sails. Aeolus then unveils the famous bag of winds: north, south, east locked tight, west wind left free. Every comic “ba ba ba ba” masks near-apocalyptic stakes; one torn rope could scatter the fleet past the edges of the map. The rhythmic scat syllables mirror gusts and fluttering canvas—a musical onomatopoeia for swirling air.

Notice the lyric “How can I serve the great Odysseus of Ithaca?” Hospitality stands center-stage, echoing Homeric xenia. Yet EPIC lore later twists that virtue when Odysseus’ crew, tempted by curiosity, breaks Aeolus’ single rule—don’t open the bag. The cut song ends before mutiny, giving us a sugar-coated prelude to inevitable chaos.

Aeolus’ gender ambiguity pops up in fan discussions; Rivera-Herrans’ early TikTok drafts showed Aeolus as female, while this cut hews closer to the Odyssey’s male ruler. Such fluid casting underlines wind’s own shapelessness—helpful, fickle, impossible to pin down.

“I put all the winds in a bag / Except for the wind that’ll take you home”

That promise glows with hope yet rings like a warning bell; the line all but begs for sailor curiosity to wreck it.

Verse Highlights

Opening Welcome

Call-and-response between Aeolus and Winions follows a I-vi-IV-V doo-wop progression, bright horns punctuating each “Welcome!”

Wind Lecture Bridge

Sudden half-time groove lets Aeolus rap mild meteorology—north, south, east, west—before snapping back to scat chorus.

Song Credits

• Artist: Jorge Rivera-Herrans
• Composer & Lyricist: Jorge Rivera-Herrans
• Drafted: 2019 (concept demo)
• Leaked Animatic: February 2024 (YouTube)
• Genre: Swing-pop musical theatre
• Language: English
• Album: EPIC: The Musical Cut Songs
• Instruments: brass section, upright bass, jazz kit, clarinets, vocal choir
• Mood: buoyant, playful
• Label: Independent
• Poetic Meter: light trochaic with skat overlaps
• Copyright: © 2019-2025 Jorge Rivera-Herrans

Songs Exploring Themes of Guidance & Temptation

First, “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast. Lumière’s hospitality mirrors Aeolus’ over-the-top greeting; both use show-tune sparkle to cloak cautionary edges—eat enchanted food, open mysterious bags, consequences loom.

Switch to “Friend Like Me” in Disney’s Aladdin. Genie flaunts cosmic power with jazz flair much like Aeolus scat-sings flight-path physics. Each benefactor sets ground rules; breaking them flips wonder to peril.

Finally, Hadestown’s “Wait for Me” twines guidance (Hermes leading Orpheus) with looming danger. Aeolus shows the way home, Hermes shows the way down—two maps, two possible fates, both framed by irresistible melodies.

Questions and Answers

Why was “Where You Need To Go” cut from the final EPIC?

Rivera-Herrans merged its exposition into spoken dialogue to tighten pacing before the darker Act II turn.

Is the “ba ba ba” motif reused?

Yes—snippets of the scat reprise behind storm SFX in “Ruthlessness,” hinting at winds breaking loose.

Does Aeolus return later?

Only in off-stage memory; once the bag bursts, winds fling the palace far from Odysseus’ path.

Any official covers?

No studio release, but barbershop quartets on YouTube have rearranged the chorus in tight harmony.

Could the song appear on the rumored “Cut Saga” EP?

Jorge teased its inclusion in a Patreon Q&A, saying the swing vibe “deserves a brass chart.”

How to Sing?

Range: Tenor lines hover B2-G4; soprano Winions sit D4-B4. Keep vowels tall for scat—“ba” needs open palate, quick diaphragmatic pops. Practice swing eighths with metronome at 132 BPM. Brass stabs demand tight cut-offs; breathe on off-beats. For Aeolus’ wind lecture, lighten tone—smile shapes the sound like a breeze. Finish with a showman’s wink on the final “Goodbye!”