Keep Your Friends Close Lyrics – Epic: The Musical

Song Overview

“Keep Your Friends Close” lyrics arrive at the exact midpoint of EPIC: The Musical – The Ocean Saga, and the energy flips from survivor’s guilt to psychological thriller. Released December 25 2023 alongside three companion tracks, the song instantly became a fan-favorite, accumulating ? 46 million Spotify streams by July 2025 and sitting comfortably in the cast’s Top-5 most–played list. The EP itself stormed to No. 1 on the overall US iTunes album chart the day it dropped, a milestone Rivera-Herrans gleefully broadcast in a TikTok celebratory post .

How to sing

• Key & pulse: E-minor at 138 BPM; the verses ride a tense hip-hop shuffle before blooming into Broadway belt-worthy choruses.
• Range demands: Odysseus cruises B2–F?4; Aeolus answers in a playful C3–A4 falsetto; ensemble tags spike to a collective G4.
• Breathing tips: The mantra “Keep your friends close …” repeats on sixteenth-note triplets—anchor breaths every second repetition or the cross-rhythm will floor you.
• Tone colors: Brass-like chest for Odysseus, breathy flute timbre for Aeolus to echo the deity’s signature instrument, and nasal “cartoon choir” for the mischief-loving Winions.
• Stagecraft hint: Accent the line “Sometimes killing is a must” with a micro-pause—audiences invariably gasp, giving you free dramatic headroom.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Where the preceding track “Luck Runs Out” raised doubts, “Keep Your Friends Close” weaponises them. Rivera-Herrans sets Odysseus against the trickster-deity Aeolus in a devil’s bargain: a sealed bag of storm-winds for safe passage, provided it stays shut. It’s Homer’s myth reframed as a psychological escape room.

The production plays three game pieces. First, lilting woodwinds signpost Aeolus’s whimsical omnipotence. Second, a gritty, palm-muted guitar riff shadows Odysseus’s paranoia. Third, the Winions— helium-voiced sprites who whisper “It’s treasure!”— bounce across both channels, literally sowing stereo doubt . Every element asks the same question: Who deserves trust when home is one mistake away?

“I am the wind, twisting and turning; I give the fire enough to stay burning.”

Aeolus’s self-intro functions like a mission statement for the whole EP: natural forces here behave like fickle house-guests—treat them right and they’ll light your hearth; offend them and they’ll torch the house. Rivera-Herrans noted in interviews that the bag represents trauma containment: Odysseus tries to keep the horrors of war zipped up, but fatigue and rumor rip that seam wide open .

Verse Highlights

Verse 1 – The Duel Begins

Odysseus petitions; Aeolus laughs. Musical tension seesaws between minor thirds, hinting things won’t stay polite for long.

Chorus – The Mantra

“Keep your friends close …” arrives with carnival swagger—syncopated snare, group chant, sinister grin.

Dream Bridge

Nine-day vigil morphs into a dream reunion with Penelope and Telemachus. String pads swell, only to be ripped apart by Penelope’s shouted “Wake up!” The abrupt key modulation (E-minor ? G-minor) mirrors Odysseus bolting awake as the bag bursts.

Annotations

Aeolus’s identity switch

Great wind god Aeolus.

Aeolus was historically a male — king of Aeolia, husband, father of six sons and six daughters — yet EPIC re-imagines the wind ruler as a woman, an easy way to freshen the myth while keeping the core role intact.

Polites’s melody lives on

I don’t know if you know this.

The opening two lines mirror the tune of Polites’s words in Open Arms — “I can tell you’re getting nervous, so do yourself a service.” Odysseus is applying Polites’s open-heart credo, exactly as he promised Eurylochus in “Luck Runs Out.”

The storm Poseidon sent

Our path to home is blocked by an impenetrable storm.

A direct nod to Poseidon’s wall of weather. Odysseus’s crew anchored here to bargain with the wind goddess for safe passage.

A small Disney wink

So we at last can go the distance.

Almost certainly a quiet salute to Hercules and its anthem Go the Distance.

Who is Aeolus?

Encyclopaedia Britannica sums it up: controller of every wind, lord of floating Aeolia. EPIC just adds a sparkle of mischief.

The knowing laugh

Aeolus’s “Ha-ha-ha” mirrors young Odysseus’s chuckle when he first met Athena — a cue that she, like his younger self, enjoys trickery for its own sake.

Feeding the flame

I give the fire enough to stay burning.

Foreshadows sending Winions to whisper that the bag hides treasure, fanning suspicion until it roars.

Lives as a godly game

Let’s play a game.

The gods treat human fate as sport — a theme later hammered home in “Ruthlessness,” “Puppeteer,” “Thunder Bringer,” and “God Games.”

What is inside the bag?

In Homer, Aeolus stuffs every unfavorable breeze inside, leaving only the helpful west wind. EPIC simplifies: all storm winds are trapped — easier for a song and clearer for the plot.

“Do not open” — the fatal rule

These exact words echo back in “Ruthlessness,” when Odysseus finally snaps:

All I gotta do is open this bag.

Odysseus smells a trap

Sounds too easy, what’s the catch?

Classic Odyssean skepticism — the same instinct that spotted the smoke-less fire in “Full Speed Ahead.”

Winions defined

The name fuses “wind” and “minions.” Fuzzy little helpers, yes, but loyal only to Aeolus.

The laugh returns

Aeolus laughs again when Odysseus probes for the catch — proof she is toying with him and that his once razor-sharp wit may be dulling.

Keep your friends close…

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

This refrain foreshadows the classic myth outcome: crewmen pry the bag open, winds explode, and the ships whoosh straight back to Aeolia.

“What?” — the iconic Jorge beat

What?

Jorge Rivera-Herrans slips in his trademark, slightly stunned “What?” — and, seconds later, betrayal unfolds.

The ends and the means

’Cause the end always justifies the means.

Another divine push toward the ruthless creed that will soon reshape Odysseus.

Friends into foes

Friends turn to foes and rivalries, so…

We already know where this leads: Eurylochus’s future mutiny.

Trust no one

Never really know who you can trust.

The Winions chant it, and Odysseus will learn it the brutal way.

Perimedes and Elpenor — the inseparable duo

Jay’s July livestream confirmed they are best friends. Luke Holt voices Perimedes (and Zeus), Ayron Alexander voices Elpenor.

Winions adored

One fan’s verdict: “Best creatures in the series — fuzzy gummy bears.” Hard to dispute.

Planting the “treasure” rumor

It’s treasure.

The Winions deliberately bait the crew, turning a simple task into a true test of loyalty.

Pandora’s echo

See how this bag is closed? That’s how it’s supposed to be.

Pandora’s Box all over again — curiosity unleashing chaos.

Storm inside — no excuses

Unlike Homer’s sailors, these men know the bag holds a storm, yet greed still wins.

“We’ll try” — respect slipping

The lukewarm promise shows the rumor has already weakened discipline.

Danger is Nearby motif

The harp signals danger only once the crew eye the bag, underlining that they — not the winds — are the threat.

Odysseus’s nine-day vigil

For nine days, I’ve stayed wide awake.

Humans usually hallucinate after three or four sleepless days. Odysseus soldiers through nine, kept up by raw paranoia — and a dream of home finally lulls him.

So close to Ithaca

In both Homer and EPIC, the bag pops just as Ithaca hovers on the horizon.

The father he never was

It has been at least twelve years since Troy; Telemachus is nearly grown. Odysseus aches to make up lost time — an ache that will later override crew loyalty.

Penelope and Telemachus — or Athena and Polites?

Because of limited cast overlap, the same voices can read as either set of loved ones, symbolizing all that Odysseus yearns for and mourns.

The softer child’s voice

Telemachus speaks more gently than Penelope because Odysseus does not truly know his son’s voice; he left when the boy was a baby and must imagine it.

Eyes, heart, soul — all heavy

His eyelids sag with exhaustion, his heart with homesickness and grief, his soul with Polites-shaped guilt.

A double meaning

Just keep your eyes open.

Penelope urges him to stay literally awake and metaphorically alert to betrayal.

“So much has changed, but I’m the same”

Odysseus thinks he is unchanged; later he admits the journey has turned him from man to monster.

From hope to pure survival

The refrain “Keep your eyes open” first honors Polites — keep friends close. By the end it is simply a command to stay conscious, foreshadowing the moment Odysseus chooses himself over his men.

Wake-up call

Wake up, wake up — they’re opening the bag!

Penelope’s voice embodies how close Ithaca was — visible, then snatched away in one catastrophic instant.

The drawn-out “No-o-o”

Odysseus’s anguished refusal stretches long past the single word, underscoring his heartbreak.

Betrayed by his own crew

The line “Keep your friends close…” returns, proving his men — once friends — have effectively become enemies.

The storm unleashed

The storm winds explode, flinging the fleet toward the Laestrygonian giants — giants who, in Homer, smash eleven of twelve ships.

Full speed — but the wrong way

A sardonic echo of “Full Speed Ahead”: then it meant racing to Ithaca, now it means being blasted away from it.

Was Odysseus really non-compliant?

I said to keep the bag closed, but you weren’t compliant.

Odysseus guarded the bag for days; a god does not need sleep. Still, Aeolus pins the failure on him.

Land of the Giants

The cannibal Laestrygonians await. In Homer they obliterate nearly every ship.

“Help me close the bag”

Odysseus sees the bag as a tool even now; Eurylochus’s resigned reply shows morale is shattered.

Spare wind for later

He will weaponize the leftover gusts against Poseidon in “Ruthlessness.”

Pomp and menace

Odysseus of Ithaca — do you know who I am?

Pursued Cyclops vengeance distilled into one chilling question: Poseidon speaks softly, and that makes it worse.

Quiet threat

Poseidon’s low voice promises revenge when Odysseus least expects it. Terror delivered in a whisper.

Song Credits

• Featured voices: Jorge Rivera-Herrans (Odysseus) · Kira Stone (Penelope) · MICO (Aeolus) · Armando Julián (Eurylochus) · Steven Rodriguez (Telemachus) · Anna Lea (Winion leader) · EPIC ensemble
• Producer / Composer / Lyricist: Jorge Rivera-Herrans
• Release Date: December 25 2023
• Genre: Symphonic-rock musical; alt-pop theatre
• Length: 4 min 08 sec
• Instrumentation: Flute, piccolo, electric guitar, war-drum toms, synth risers, male/female gang vocals
• Label: Winion Entertainment LLC
• Mood: Playful menace; ticking-clock suspense
• Track order: #12 on full concept album, #3 inside The Ocean Saga narrative
• Language: English
• Poetic meter: Trochaic quatrains married to rap-style internal rhyme
• Copyright: © 2023 Winion Entertainment LLC

Similar Songs Exploring Temptation & Betrayal

1. “Poor Unfortunate Souls” – The Little Mermaid (Alan Menken)

   Both tracks couch dark deals in jaunty rhythms. Ursula and Aeolus weaponise playful melodies to hide catastrophic fine print.

2. “The Bag’s in the River” – Hadestown (Anaïs Mitchell)

   Hades’s bribe to Orpheus mirrors Aeolus’s bargain—offer of safe passage in exchange for impossible restraint.

3. “Friend Like Me” – Aladdin (Menken/Ashman)

   Genie’s show-stopping bravado pre-echoes Aeolus’s self-advertisement. Swap benevolence for chaos and you have Rivera-Herrans’s twist.

Questions and Answers

Does Aeolus ever appear again?

Yes—his flute motif resurfaces in “Thunder Bringer” as an aural cameo, implying the god watches Odysseus spiral .

What’s trapped inside the bag?

All cardinal winds, including the deadly Anemoi Thuellai—Rivera-Herrans confirmed this on a January 2024 TikTok AMA .

Why do the Winions sound like Minions?

The creator intentionally pitched them up two semitones and added goblin screech layers, citing “Looney Tunes meets Greek myth” vibes .

Is the line “Sometimes killing is a must” literal?

It’s Aeolus’s hyperbole, but also foreshadowing: Odysseus’s next saga (Thunder Bringer) forces him to weigh mercy against survival.

Any standout fan covers?

Melodic Demon’s 2024 SoundCloud cover drew 50 K plays and rave comments about its four-part harmonies .

Awards and Chart Positions

• The Ocean Saga EP peaked at No. 1 across all genres on US iTunes (Dec 25 2023) .
• “Keep Your Friends Close” ranks second among EPIC songs on Spotify with 46.2 M streams as of July 2025 .

Fan and Media Reactions

“The Winions’ chant is so villain-coded—gave me literal goosebumps.” u/mikripetra, Reddit

“My heart dropped when Penelope screamed ‘WAKE UP!’ Even knowing the myth.” u/FairlyObviousOwl, Reddit thread “oh sh!t moments”

“Animatic of this song lives rent-free in my brain. Those split screens—chef’s kiss.” @_mircsy_, TikTok

“Rivera-Herrans just turned Homer into a trust-fall horror story.” CurtainCallBway review, Dec 27 2023

“Penelope’s phantom duet might be the saddest 20 seconds in modern musical theatre.” @musicannalea, TikTok