Orpheus

Album: Amidst the Chaos (2019)
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Songfacts®:

  • The Amidst The Chaos album title is taken from a line from "Orpheus."

    Don't stop trying to find me here amidst the chaos
    Though I know it's blinding, there's a way out


    The track is an anthem of perseverance and strength amidst the disarray amongst the singer. Bareilles explained to HMV.com: "That's another big song for me. It's about learning cope with chaos. Everything feels so destabilized and in flux. It's trying to make sense of that."
  • Bareilles expanded on the song's meaning during an interview with Vanity Fair. She explained it is about learning to cope with the confusion created by "this sort of new chapter in the world, where politically and socially and culturally, it can sort of feel like the world is on fire a lot of the time."
  • The song title references Orpheus, the poet and gifted musician of Greek myth.

    No fear, don't you turn like Orpheus, just stay here

    Orpheus traveled to the underworld to rescue his lover Eurydice, who'd suffered a fatal bite on her heel from a viper. Hades agreed Eurydice could return with him to Earth but there were some conditions: Orpheus had to go first and he could not look behind him until they both had reached the upper world. As he got closer to the surface, Orpheus couldn't wait any longer and fatally turned his head to steal one quick glance. The agreement was broken and Eurydice was swept back to the underworld, this time forever.

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