When The Chips Are Down Lyrics – Hadestown

Song Overview

“When the Chips are Down” is the sharp pivot where the Fates sell survival and Eurydice listens. On the Hadestown (Original Broadway Cast Recording) it lands as Track 15, first issued in the album’s initial digital drop on June 7, 2019, as part of a staggered rollout.

The number has lived beyond the cast album: there’s an official Broadway music video, an NPR Tiny Desk rendition, and a Saturday Sessions take that shows how the groove tightens in different rooms.

Review & Highlights

Creation History

The cast album unfolded in weekly “character drops,” with this track arriving in the very first wave on June 7, 2019. The strategy kept fans inside the story as the show settled on Broadway.

What it sounds like: clipped advice over a hustling folk-jazz pocket. Strings scrape, the groove grins, and the Fates chant like a street team for self-interest. The hook repeats until it feels like an ultimatum.

What it’s about: austerity politics as pep talk. The Fates tell Eurydice to save herself, and the chorus pins her between hunger and pride. The studio cut is tight; live versions flex the rhythm and bite harder on the rhymes.

Verse 1

Verse 1. Life isn’t fair, say the Fates, so take what you can. The arrangement mirrors the message: short lines, quick hits, no sweetness.

Chorus

Chorus. The question drills down - “What you gonna do when the chips are down?” - as if repetition itself could change her mind.

Exchange/Bridge

Exchange/Bridge. The language turns predatory - “Aim for the heart, shoot to kill” - and the band punches accents like warning shots.

Final Build

Final Build. The last refrain stacks harmonies and cynicism, closing the trap right before Eurydice falls through it into Hadestown.

Song Meaning and Annotations

The idiom frames the entire scene as triage. When survival is the brief, morality becomes flexible.

“‘When the chips are down’ is an idiom that means ‘when a very serious and difficult situation arises’.”

The Fates build a case for radical self-reliance.

“Help yourself.”

They weaponize a pun to steer her decision.

“To hell with the rest”

Love is measured against hunger and found lacking.

“Even the one who loves you best.”

Plans crumble under pressure; that’s the point.

“You can have an idea of what you will do... but when that situation comes, you will likely do something very different.”

The stakes are spelled out in hunter’s language.

“Aim for the heart... Shoot to kill.”

The score also flips scripture to sketch Hadestown’s ethic.

“And the first shall be first, and the last shall be last.”

Faith gets framed as a liability.

“Cast your eyes to heaven, you get a knife in the back.”

The verdict lands without triumph.

“Nobody’s righteous... Nobody’s innocent... Now that the chips are down.”

Production, instrumentation, style

Anaïs Mitchell writes; Todd Sickafoose and Michael Chorney’s orchestrations give the Fates their slinky engine; the OBC producers are Mitchell, Sickafoose, and David Lai. The studio cut keeps the bones lean so the message carries.

About metaphors and symbols

“Chips” reads like both poker stakes and ration crumbs. The Fates’ chorus feels like a storefront slogan - simple, catchy, a little cruel - while coins and tickets in the surrounding scenes turn choice into transaction.

Key Facts

• Artists: Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Kay Trinidad, with Eva Noblezada as Eurydice (Original Broadway Cast)
• Writer: Anaïs Mitchell
• Producers (OBC track/album): Anaïs Mitchell, Todd Sickafoose, David Lai
• Release date: June 7, 2019 - first digital drop of the OBC album
• Album: Hadestown (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
• Label: Sing It Again Records (under Hadestown Broadway/SAI)
• Notable performances: Official Broadway music video; NPR Tiny Desk; CBS Saturday Sessions
• Mood & style: folk-jazz shuffle, tight harmonies, sermon-as-sales-pitch

Questions and Answers

Where does this song sit in the story?

Right after Hades tempts Eurydice, the Fates crowd in and argue for self-preservation, steering her toward Hadestown.

Is there an official video?

Yes - the production released a Broadway music video centered on the Fates.

Did the cast perform it outside the show?

They did, including NPR Tiny Desk and CBS Saturday Sessions.

How was the album released?

In staged digital “character drops” across June and July 2019, with this track in the first batch.

Who produced the recording?

Anaïs Mitchell, Todd Sickafoose, and David Lai produced the OBC album.

Awards and Chart Positions

Major awards context. The Broadway production won 8 Tony Awards in 2019 including Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Orchestrations; the cast album later won the 2020 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.

How to Sing When the Chips are Down?

Voice types & ranges. Eurydice is typically a mezzo-soprano with range roughly F#3-D5; the Fates are arranged across soprano-mezzo-alto colors in most productions, with Teen Edition materials noting transpositions and adjusted features for younger voices. Use mix and tight blend over sheer belt.

Breath & articulation. Keep phrases short and percussive. Consonants drive the groove, especially on the chorus tag “down.”

Ensemble blend. For the Fates, aim for matched vowels and minimal vibrato on unison hooks; add spin only on releases. If you’re staging the trio, stack parts so the softest timbre sits on the tune.

Piano figure. The vamp can be simplified without losing intent; official vocal selections include the song for reference and key.

Additional Info

The official Broadway channel’s music video condenses the scene into a stylized three-minute burst, while NPR’s Tiny Desk run-through leans into the acoustic folk roots. A live clip from Live from Here with Chris Thile shows the trio’s lines locking like gears.

The OBC album’s physical editions arrived that November on CD and vinyl after the digital rollout, with credits confirming David Lai, Todd Sickafoose, and Anaïs Mitchell as producers.