EPIC: The Musical (The Analysis)

JUST A MAN

🎶I look into your eyes and I
Think back to the son of mine
You're as old as he was
When I left for war🎶

To begin with: The intro. It's a motif. You probably won't hear it for a while so you can forget this, but you'll know it when you hear it again.

Also this song is a solo of Ody. You can hear guitar. Nylon guitar, which means emotional Ody.

With these four lines refer to Telemachus, as he was still a small infant when Odysseus left for war. Astyanax reminds Odysseus of that.

🎶Will these actions haunt my days?
Every man I've slain?
Is the price I pay endless pain?🎶

Can't say a lot about this here. Just Odysseus wondering if everything he's done is going to haunt him.

🎶Close your eyes
And spare yourself the view
How could I hurt you?🎶

I think this part is referring to how Odysseus ended up killing Astyanax: Yeeting him off of the walls of Troy. Odysseus wants Astyanax to close his eyes so he won't have to look into the depths of Troy.

Odysseus really doesn't want to kill the baby.

🎶I'm just a man
Who's trying to go home
Even after all the years away from what I've known🎶

'Just a man'. It's the name of the song, but also a motif. It comes back a couple of times, which I will then explain why.

'After all the years away from what I've known' of course refers to how Odysseus has been gone from Ithaca for 10 years already.

If I'm correct, this part also has strings. Odysseus is once again thinking of Penelope, as he thinks of home. (Bro my heart broke when I was listening to it and I suddenly recognized it like that's a great way to start your day hey that rhymes hehe anyways-)

🎶I'm just a man
Who's fighting for his life
Deep down I would trade the world to see my son and wife
I'm just a man...🎶

Only thing I can mention here: Odysseus is willing to trade the world to see his son and wife. That shows in further scenarios in the musical.

🎶But when does a comet become a meteor
When does a candle become a blaze
When does a man become a monster?

When does a ripple become a tidal wave?
When does the reason become the blame?
When does a man become a monster?🎶

The music stops, and then changes as this part comes. The nylon guitar is gone, and it's just a choir being the music now. I don't think this is referring to any divine presence, just so the music can music :).

Apart from that, there is so much I can cover here. Odysseus is making all kinds of comparisons. Candle and blaze, comet and meteor, ripple and tidal wave, reason and blame. All four are just innocent things, waiting to become their 'worse version'. As Odysseus makes the comparison of 'man' and 'monster', we can see that here Odysseus sees 'man' as innocent and 'monster' as worse version. This comes back a couple of times (cough cough).

BUT I'M NOT DONE YET. Odysseus says he's 'just a man'. So he's just some weak thing, how could he possibly do the things only a monster can? Until this point. With 'man' and 'monster' he's referring to himself. He's starting to wonder if he has to become a 'monster' to complete this mission and kill the baby, and to complete his mission overall: Get back to Ithaca.

🎶When does a comet become a meteor
When does a candle
Forgive me
become a blaze
When does a man become a monster?
Forgive me
When does a man become a monster?
Forgive me..
I'm just a man..🎶

Yea ok Astyanax is dead now.

Apart from that, Odysseus repeats the line 'forgive me' thrice. Some people think he's asking Astyanax for forgiveness, others think it's maybe anyone who will think of Ody differently. I think it's Astyanax, as his last seconds are quite literally, flying fast.

(IM SO SORRY FOR THAT JOKE) Forgive me,

Anyways yea the forgive me is also a motif. This whole song is basically a motif💀

A/N: Song numbero 2 done. There wasn't a lot in the music I could cover like how I could in THATI, BUT full speed ahead introduces some new characters so I hope to find some stuff that interests y'all :)