Gone, I'm Gone Lyrics – Hadestown

Song Overview

“Gone, I’m Gone” is the short confessional where Eurydice stops arguing with her heart and listens to her stomach. On the Hadestown (Original Broadway Cast Recording) it’s Track 16, included in the first digital “character-drop” wave on June 7, 2019.

You can hear the official audio via the OBC playlist and Topic uploads; both trace credits back to the show’s production team.

Review & Highlights

Creation History

The album used a staggered roll-out - a handful of highlights in week one, then character-themed drops through July - and this piece arrived in the very first batch, bridging “When the Chips are Down” to the “Wait for Me” sequence.

Why it lands: The music trims down to bone and nerve so the words cut. Eurydice speaks plainly, then the Fates turn moral debate into a sales pitch. It’s theater that reads like a diary entry. Notice how the lyrics let hunger talk without apology, and then let the chorus answer like a courtroom.

Story in one breath: She loves Orpheus, but she’s cold and starving. The Fates don’t tempt so much as clarify. By the last line, her choice is made, and the plot tips into motion.

Verse 1

Verse 1. Eurydice lays it out: head and heart are no match for an empty gut. Short phrases, soft edges, nothing fancy - like talking to yourself in the dark.

Chorus

Chorus. The Fates drill the question - “What you gonna do when the chips are down?” - until it feels less like judgment and more like weather.

Exchange/Bridge

Exchange/Bridge. They move from observation to doctrine: principles are a full-belly luxury. The band answers with clipped hits, all spine, no gloss.

Final Build

Final Build. She says the quiet part out loud - “I’m already gone.” The engine downshifts, but the decision rings like a gavel.

Song Meaning and Annotations

The song reframes agency: she isn’t dragged underground by fate, she walks.

“‘Gut’ referring to the hunger that Eurydice feels, as well as the ‘gut instinct’ to go to Hadestown.”

Survival instinct and literal hunger fuse here, which is why the admission lands heavy.

Hunger is both plot and theme.

“This is referring to Hermes repeatedly saying ‘Eurydice was a hungry girl.’”

Her need isn’t melodrama - it’s a condition of the world the show sketches, where cold wind chews through romance.

The lyric opposes flesh and feeling without shaming either.

“Eurydice has to think of her physical needs and survival over her need for someone to love.”

That’s the moral geometry of Hadestown: love is holy, but bread is holy too.

The path to Hadestown isn’t glamorous; it’s bureaucracy and grit.

“The ‘official’ route into Hadestown isn’t all that much better... the wall isn’t just there to keep out people who don’t have the right ‘papers’.”

The immigration subtext is hard to miss.

“Already gone” is a psychological exit before the physical one.

“Eurydice... goes back on ‘survival mode’ and focuses on food and shelter and firewood over being Orpheus’ partner.”

If you’ve ever made the practical choice against the pretty one, you know the ache.

The Fates step out of the scene and into the audience’s head.

“They are singing to the audience... These thoughts leave us wondering, ‘what would we do in this situation?’”

It’s not just Eurydice on trial - it’s us.

The rhetoric circles blame only to set it down.

“Wouldn’t you have done the same in her shoes, in her skin?”

That line melts moral certainty faster than any speech.

The show reaches back to Brecht for a hard rule of human behavior.

“Food comes first, then morals.”

Call it folk wisdom or leftist theater - either way, it tracks.

Hunger doesn’t just sway her; it exposes the scaffolding of the story.

“A poem can’t feed you when you’re starving... Eurydice didn’t really have a choice.”

That hits because Orpheus’s art really is beautiful - and still not dinner.

The refrain returns as a mirror.

“What would you do if you were Eurydice?”

The musical keeps asking until the audience stops pretending they’d do better.

Production, instrumentation, tone

Anaïs Mitchell writes; Todd Sickafoose and Michael Chorney’s orchestrations keep it lean; album producers include Todd Sickafoose and David Lai alongside Mitchell across the OBC. The mix stays dry so the words cut through.

About metaphors and symbols

“Chips” means stakes and scraps at once. “Gut” plays double duty as appetite and intuition. The Fates’ sloganizing turns survival into a chorus you can’t un-hear.

Key Facts

• Artists: Eva Noblezada with Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Kay Trinidad (Original Broadway Cast)
• Writer: Anaïs Mitchell
• Producers (OBC era): Todd Sickafoose, David Lai, Anaïs Mitchell
• Release date: June 7, 2019 (first digital drop)
• Album: Hadestown (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
• Label/?: Hadestown Broadway under exclusive license to Sing It Again, LLC
• Track #: 16
• Genre/Style: Broadway folk with chamber-jazz color
• Instruments (session palette): piano/accordion, guitar, bass, drums/percussion, trombone, glockenspiel, strings
• Mood: clear-eyed, spare, resolute
• Language: English
• © Copyrights: 2019 Hadestown Broadway / Sing It Again, LLC

Questions and Answers

Where does “Gone, I’m Gone” sit in the arc?

It follows “When the Chips are Down,” sealing Eurydice’s decision before the “Wait for Me” journey lights up.

Was it part of the early album roll-out?

Yes - it arrived in the June 7, 2019 highlights batch during the tiered digital release.

Is there an official OBC upload?

Yes - it appears on the official YouTube playlist and Topic channels tied to the cast recording.

Who produced the track?

OBC album producers include Todd Sickafoose, David Lai, and Anaïs Mitchell.

Does the album have notable awards?

The cast recording won the 2020 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.

Awards and Chart Positions

Album accolades. The OBC album won the 2020 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album and reached #1 on Billboard Cast Albums, #4 on Independent Albums, and #49 on the Billboard 200.

Chart (Album)	Peak
US Cast Albums	1
US Independent Albums	4
US Billboard 200	49

How to Sing Gone, I’m Gone?

Voice types. Eurydice is typically a mezzo-soprano role with a working range cited around F#3-D5 in production materials; the Fates cover soprano-mezzo-alto colors. Keep Eurydice speechy and intimate; let resonance sit forward rather than wide.

Breath & tempo. Think in 2-bar phrases. The lines want clean onsets and quick releases so the Fates can cut in without stepping on vowels.

Blend for the Fates. Match vowels on “down” and shave vibrato in unisons; add a little spin only on the cadence before the handoff into “Wait for Me.”

Practice sources. The official vocal selections include adjacent numbers if you need show-authenticated keys and accompaniment figures; use them to map phrasing habits you’ll keep here.

Additional Info

For a live contrast to the studio cut, check the cast’s NPR Tiny Desk set where the related number “When the Chips are Down” tightens into a compact folk engine - useful context for pacing “Gone, I’m Gone.”