Reviews - Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown

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428 reviews for:

Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown

Anaïs Mitchell

4.53 AVERAGE

sadie_g's review against another edition

5.0

informative inspiring fast-paced

Really enjoyed seeing the process of each of these songs and how some of the lyrics changed over time! I love this musical so much, so this was just so interesting to get more information on it.

andrew_matteson's review

4.5

informative inspiring fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: N/A

This was lovely! What an insightful deep dive into the lyrics and creation of one of my favorite ever shows. I wish there were a way to read the book in chronological order rather than in show order, to hear all the different versions and how they fit together. I really loved the descriptions of the poetry, and I found the way she wrote and rewrote and rewrote certain songs to be so inspiring. There were some moments that only came together right under the wire that are some of my favorite lines in the show! The audiobook for this was awesome, I can't really imagine reading it with my eyes, you'd miss out on all the music!!

tiger_lily21's review against another edition

3.5

inspiring slow-paced

mollyn44's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Deeply insightful, touching, and artistic. Hadestown is one of my favorite pieces of art and I will definitely be revisiting this book. It's fascinating to read lyrics and ideas that are, objectively, beautiful, yet did not make it to the Broadway version of the show. You can see the various incarnations of the show, intent behind the story and characters, and why some of those beautiful lines may have been cut to serve the story in its Broadway form. I also love the idea that maybe the Broadway version is not necessarily the "final" version, merely a form that this story took after many other forms which were each good in their own right. Anais Mitchell alludes to this growing and changing in both her notes and in Hadestown itself.