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Monster Lyrics Epic: The Musical

Monster Lyrics

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[ODYSSEUS]
How has everything been turned against us?
How did suffering become so endless?
How am I to reunite with my estranged?
Do I need to change?

I'm surrounded by the souls of those I've lost
I'm the only whose line I haven't crossed
What if the greatest threat we'll find across the sea
Is me?

What if I'm the monster?
What if I'm in the wrong?
What if I'm the problem that's been hiding all along?
What if I'm the one who killed you
Every time I caved to guilt?
What if I've been far too kind to foes
But a monster to ourselves?
What if I'm the monster

Is the cyclops struck with guilt when he kills?
Is he up in the middle of the night?
Or does he end my men to avenge his friend
And then sleep knowing he has done him right?

When the witch turns men to pigs to protect her nymphs
Is she going insane?
Or did she learn to be colder when she got older and now she saves them the pain?
When a god comes down and makes a fleet drown
Is he scared that he's doing something wrong?
Or does he keep us in check so we must respect him

And now no one dares to piss him off?
Does a soldier use a wooden horse to kill sleeping Trojans cause he is vile?
Or does he throw away his remorse and save more lives with guile

If I became the monster, and threw that guilt away
Would that make us stronger?
Would it keep our foes at bay?
If I became the monster to everyone but us
And made sure we got home again
Who would care if we're unjust
If I became the

[SOLDIERS]
Monster

[ODYSSEUS]
Oh, ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves

[SOLDIERS]
Monster

[ODYSSEUS]
And deep down I know this well
I lost my best friend
I lost my mentor, my mom
500 men gone, this can't go on
I must get to see Penelope and Telemachus
So if we must sail through dangerous oceans and beaches
I'll go where Poseidon won't reach us
And if I gotta drop another infant from a wall
In an instant so we all don't die
[ODYSSEUS, ALL]
Then I'll become the
Monster
I will deal the blow
And I'll become the
Monster
Like none they've ever known
So what if I'm the
Monster
Lurking deep below
I must become the
Monster
And then we'll make it home

[SOLDIERS]
Monster
Monster lyrics by Jorge Rivera-Herrans
Jorge Rivera-Herrans delivers the pivotal “Monster” lyrics in the official animatic.

Song Overview

Review

Monster is track twenty of EPIC: The Musical, released April 26 2024 and positioned as the Act One closer of The Underworld Saga. The song’s lyrics follow Odysseus as he resigns his lingering mercy and embraces a ruthless survival code. Clocking in at 3 : 38, the piece layers cinematic strings over thunderous drums, threading Rivera-Herrans’s baritone with a 40-voice ensemble that chants his new creed.

  • 48 million+ Spotify streams as of July 2025, making it EPIC’s most-played Act 1 number.
  • Key C minor, 85 BPM in straight 4/4, often doubled to 170 BPM by fan remixers.
  • Underworld Saga single topped the U.S. iTunes Soundtrack chart within 12 hours of release.
  • Frequently referenced on TikTok; the #MonsterChallenge tag has generated 200 M+ views.
Jorge Rivera-Herrans performing Monster
Odysseus’s resolve hardens in the climactic bridge.

Song Meaning and Annotations

I first heard Monster on a rain-smeared train, and the cello ostinato felt like wipers pushing back guilt. Rivera-Herrans opens with soft, almost prayer-like questioning — “How has everything been turned against us?” — then lets the orchestra swell like a moral riptide. Each verse interrogates mythic foes (Cyclops, Circe, Poseidon) only to ricochet the blame back to the singer. By the pre-chorus, Odysseus is staring at his reflection and realizing the Kraken lives in his own chest.

Musically the track wields contrast as a weapon: hushed confessions explode into gang-vocals chanting “Monster,” timpani booms under quiet pizzicato, and a distorted sub-bass grumbles beneath the lyric “lurking deep below,” mimicking the god who rules the sea he vows to out-monster.

Across Act 1, Polites preached “Open Arms,” while Poseidon preached “Ruthlessness.” This song shuts those debates shut. The climactic line “Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves” drags Poseidon’s lesson into Odysseus’s mouth — the moment hero becomes anti-hero.

Monster lyric video by Jorge Rivera-Herrans
A still from the lyric video: shadows of fallen sailors echo behind Odysseus.

Verse Highlights

Verse 1

“What if the greatest threat we’ll find across the sea is me?”

Rivera-Herrans sings over only piano and low strings, leaving oceanic space around the question — guilt lapping at the hull.

Interrogative Litany

“Is the cyclops struck with guilt when he kills?”

Percussion snaps to a march, mirroring courtroom gavels as Odysseus cross-examines mythic predators to justify his own turn.

Bridge

“If I became the monster and threw that guilt away, would that make us stronger?”

The harmony modulates briefly to E-flat major — a spotlight of false hope — before plunging back to C minor for the verdict.

Final Refrain

Choir and drumline collide on the five-syllable mantra “I’ll become the monster,” each hit panned like oars against fractured water, sealing his transformation.

Annotations

[ODYSSEUS]

This song opens with the same instrument heard in The Horse and the Infant — a signal of fresh beginnings. There, the sound announced the musical’s dawn; here, it marks Odysseus’s drastic shift, the melody now sharper to match the darker stakes.

How has everything been turned against us?
How did suffering become so endless?

Odysseus laments the mounting tragedy. The second question echoes Just a Man, when he asked, “Is the price I pay endless pain?” — a chilling callback that underscores how far the sorrow has spread.

How am I to reunite with my estranged?

His thoughts fly to Penelope and Telemachus, the wife and son still waiting across the sea.

Do I need to change?

Athena once scolded him for reckless mercy, while Poseidon insisted that ruthlessness is mercy upon oneself. Those lessons now collide in his mind.

I’m surrounded by the souls of those I’ve lost

The underworld confronts him with every life his choices cost. Guilt presses so hard that he finally wonders whether his mercy is the real killer.

I’m the only one whose line I haven’t crossed

He has led men to slaughter, angered gods, blinded Polyphemus, and even fought Athena — yet somehow still calls himself merciful. By claiming the title monster, he vows to stop sparing lives for his own conscience and start ending them for his crew’s survival.

What if the greatest threat we’ll find across the sea
Is me?

Each disaster traces back to his decisions — the cave, the cyclops, the sea. The idea lands with brutal clarity: Odysseus himself might be the doom he fears.

What if I’m the monster?
What if I’m in the wrong?

He weighs whether a leader ruled by guilt is deadlier than one ruled by decisive force.

What if I’m the one who killed you

Many listeners hear him addressing Polites — his fallen “dearest friend.”

Every time I caved to guilt?

Guilt, the opposite of ruthlessness, chained him. Later, he will ask, “If I became the monster and threw that guilt away,” proving the thought sticks.

What if I’ve been far too kind to foes

Ignoring Athena’s order to kill Polyphemus backfired; the cyclops’s cries summoned Poseidon’s wrath.

But a monster to ourselves?

Poseidon’s warning — “Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves” — echoes here.

Is the cyclops struck with guilt when he kills?

Polyphemus murdered several crewmen, Polites among them. Odysseus wonders whether the giant stays awake at night or sleeps satisfied, believing he avenged his “favorite sheep.”

When the witch turns men to pigs to protect her nymphs…

Circe, banished to Aeaea, may have grown colder after strangers once violated her trust. In Done For she sings, “The last time we let strangers live, we faced a heavy loss,” hinting at trauma that drives her brutal spell.

When a god comes down and makes a fleet drown…

Poseidon slaughters hundreds, not merely for vengeance, Odysseus muses, but to keep mortals obedient through fear.

Does a soldier use a wooden horse to kill sleeping Trojans…

He recalls the Trojan Horse — his own masterpiece of “saving more lives with guile.” To safeguard his men now, he may need the same cold resolve.

If I became the monster and threw that guilt away

This is the turning point: he weighs Poseidon’s creed and sees a path to fewer graves — at the cost of his soul.

Who would care if we’re unjust?
  • The gods ignore mortal scruples unless sacred laws are broken.
  • Enemies lie dead — unable to condemn.
  • Survivors choose silence over provoking divine wrath.
Oh, ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves

Odysseus abandons Polites’s “Open Arms” ideal and embraces Poseidon’s ruthless mercy.

And deep down I know this well

He has resisted the lesson, but every loss — from Polites to Athena’s withdrawal — proves it true.

I lost my best friend, I lost my mentor, my mom
Five hundred men gone, this can’t go on

Polites fell to Polyphemus, Athena walked away after the cyclops incident, and Odysseus’s mother died of heartbreak. Almost all six hundred crewmen are dead. The spiral must stop.

I must get to see Penelope and Telemachus…

Safe routes no longer matter. He will fight through Scylla, Charybdis — anywhere Poseidon’s arm might be shorter — to reach home.

And if I gotta drop another infant from a wall…

In The Horse and the Infant he begged Zeus to spare Hector’s baby; guilt consumed him afterward. Now he accepts the same brutality if it saves the many.

Then I’ll become the monster

From Just a Man — where he first asked when a man becomes a monster — to this moment, the answer crystallizes: a man becomes a monster the instant he decides survival outweighs innocence.

I will deal the blow

Regret over sparing Polyphemus lingers. Next time, he vows, hesitation dies first.

Like none they’ve ever known

He intends to out-monster every adversary, ensuring they never dare strike.

So what if I’m the monster

The shift is complete. Guilt bends to duty — a leader remade in harsher metal.

Lurking deep below?

Poseidon — the menace under every wave — becomes the model for Odysseus’s new creed.

I must become the monster

Fans joke — “I am the monster, rawr rawr rawr” — yet beneath the meme lies the musical’s pivot: the split between acts. Act Two belongs to this darker captain.

And then we’ll make it home

A bitter promise. He will return to Ithaca — but the “we” dwindles to one.

(Monster) … Penelope … Telemachus

Even if his crew now whispers the word like a warning, Odysseus clings to the names of wife and son — the last anchors of his humanity.

Oh, ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves

Past, present, and prophecy fuse. With Poseidon’s mantra on his lips, Odysseus strides into the second half of his saga, forever changed.

I’ll become the monster

The die is cast. From here on, mercy bows to survival — and the hero reshapes himself into the very danger he once fought.

Song Credits

Scene from Monster by Jorge Rivera-Herrans
The moment Odysseus resolves to “deal the blow.”
  • Featured Vocalists: Jorge Rivera-Herrans & Cast
  • Producer / Composer / Lyricist: Jorge Rivera-Herrans
  • Release Date: April 26 2024
  • Genre: Orchestral Pop / Musical Theatre / Symphonic Rock
  • Length: 3 : 38
  • Label: Winion Entertainment LLC
  • Instruments: string ensemble, French horns, distorted electric guitar, timpani, synth bass, 808 kicks, choir
  • Mood: introspective, menacing, cathartic
  • Track #: 20 on EPIC: The Musical
  • Language: English
  • Poetic Meter: iambic tetrameter fractured by anapaestic bursts
  • Copyright © 2024 Winion Entertainment LLC

Similar Songs Exploring Themes of Guilt, Power, and Transformation

  1. “Ruthlessness” — Poseidon & Cast of EPIC
    Where Monster internalises the creed, “Ruthlessness” preaches it loudly. Poseidon’s booming bass and storm-crash percussion lay the philosophical groundwork Odysseus finally adopts. Both tracks pivot on the refrain “mercy upon ourselves,” yet Monster repurposes the phrase as grim resolution rather than taunt.
  2. “No Longer You” — EPIC: The Musical
    This elegiac waltz precedes Monster, foreshadowing the identity shed in Act 1’s closing minutes. Where “No Longer You” mourns lost humanity, Monster chooses to amputate it. Musically, the two trade motifs: the falling minor third in “No Longer You” returns as the chorus hook in Monster, turning lament into war-cry.
  3. “Hellfire” — Alan Menken (Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
    Frollo’s cathedral confessional parallels Odysseus’s underworld manifesto. Both songs wield Latin-choir counterpoint against solo fury, dramatise moral collapse through key shifts, and end without redemption. If “Hellfire” is obsession masked as piety, Monster is heroism eroding into necessary evil.

Questions and Answers

Where does “Monster” sit in the overall show?
It closes Act 1, immediately after “No Longer You,” marking Odysseus’s irrevocable mindset shift before the Thunder Saga begins.
How many streams does the track have?
48 million + on Spotify as of July 2025.
What key and tempo drive the song?
C minor at 85 BPM, with percussion accents that feel like a doubled 170 BPM pulse in the chorus.
Are there notable cover versions?
Yes — vocalist TrevZed released a studio cover in May 2024 that re-imagines the bridge with metalcore growls, while dozens of piano tutorials populate YouTube.
Why does the choir echo “monster” after every refrain?
Rivera-Herrans has said in livestreams that the echo represents Odysseus’s crew reflecting his change in real time — both horrified and bound to follow.

Awards and Chart Positions

The Underworld Saga EP — which houses “Monster” — shot to #1 on the U.S. iTunes Soundtrack chart within half a day of release and helped propel EPIC to three consecutive weeks atop the U.S. Cast Album list that spring. While no formal awards have yet been bestowed, the track’s explosive TikTok presence and rapid Spotify climb have positioned it as a sleeper contender for upcoming BroadwayWorld fan honors.

How to sing

The Odysseus line spans roughly G2 – C5. Start warm-ups in chest resonance, then bridge to light mix for the climactic “I’ll become the monster” belts around A?4. Breath is everything: mark mini-breaths after “guilt” and “foes” to keep the triplet phrases from collapsing. Place consonants forward — the 85 BPM tempo leaves little room for sloppy plosives, and the choir relies on crisp /t/ in “monster” to cut through strings. Rehearse slowly at 70 BPM, then bring it up to tempo with a metronome accenting beat three to emulate the track’s heartbeat-like pulse.

Fan and Media Reactions

“The second that timpani drops under ‘What if I’m the monster?’ my bones rattle — peak villain-origin energy.”— TikTok user @happyhouseplant_
“Rivera-Herrans just Hiroshima’d the concept of a ‘hero song.’ I need therapy.”— Guardian tech feature comment
“Tried to sing this at karaoke; now I owe the bar a new mic.”— YouTube user in karaoke upload
“Act 1 ends and I’m chanting ‘ruthlessness is mercy’ at my laptop like it’s gospel.”— Reddit thread on hot takes
“The choir echo feels like your own crew judging you — brilliant and horrifying.”— TikTok creator @lyricsarias

Music video


Epic: The Musical Lyrics: Song List

  1. The Troy Saga
  2. The Horse and the Infant
  3. Just A Man
  4. Full Speed Ahead
  5. Open Arms
  6. Warrior of the Mind
  7. The Cyclops Saga
  8. Polyphemus
  9. Survive
  10. Remember Them
  11. My Goodbye
  12. The Ocean Saga
  13. Storm
  14. Luck Runs Out
  15. Keep Your Friends Close
  16. Ruthlessness
  17. The Circe Saga
  18. Puppeteer
  19. Wouldn't You Like
  20. Done For
  21. There Are Other Ways
  22. The Underworld Saga
  23. The Underworld
  24. No Longer You
  25. Monster
  26. The Thunder Saga
  27. Suffering
  28. Different Beast
  29. Scylla
  30. Mutiny
  31. Thunder Bringer
  32. The Wisdom Saga
  33. Legendary
  34. Little Wolf
  35. We’d Be Fine
  36. Love in Paradise
  37. God Games
  38. The Vengeance Saga
  39. Not Sorry For Loving You
  40. Dangerous
  41. Charybdis
  42. Get in the Water
  43. 600 Strike
  44. The Ithaca Saga
  45. The Challenge
  46. Hold Them Down
  47. Odysseus
  48. I Can’t Help But Wonder
  49. Would You Fall In Love With Me Again

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