Art Ross - Student Choice 2, "Beat of Her Heart"

Michael Gungor has a song called "Beat of Her Heart" that is an excellent retelling of the Orpheus myth. The song tells the story of a man overcome with love for his wife Eurydice. Eventually another man see Eurydice's beauty and deigns to make her his, regardless of her love for Orpheus. Eurydice, running from her second suitor, trips on a snake and dies from its venom. Immediately Orpheus is overcome with grief and plays such beautiful music that the gods take pity on him and a pathway to Hades opens up before him. Orpheus travels through the Underworld to Hades and convinces him to let Eurydice go; Hades agrees on the condition that he cannot look back to see his wife until both of them are fully out of the Underworld. Orpheus doubts Hades promise and looks to soon, "Just as our eyes met/She faded from sight/That’s when I knew I would never find/The beat of her heart or the song in mine"

I love how Myth is not limited to one medium, I think this song shows how every Myth can be beautiful in many of different ways and it is up to the creator to find a Story's perfect medium whether that is sculpture, song, story, play, etc.

Beat of Her Heart - Gungor

She was a tempest
Her beauty a storm
Oh her eyes they were filled with the sun
She would dance while I played her my songs
The earth stood while she danced alone

He was a tempest
His craving a storm
He lusted her body from deep in the grove
Enraptured or captured
Betrayed or betrothed
She would be his
She’d be his alone

So she ran, oh she ran from the satyr’s chase
She ran for her love and her life
She tread on a snake
Venom replaced both the beat of her heart and the song in mine
The beat of her heart and the song in mine

The music was mourning
A requiem cry
I wept with my songs for the love of my life
It broke all the hearts of the gods in the skies
I played my guitar and the earth opened wide

How I played, oh I played in the underworld
Oh, I played for my love and her life
Oh, I plead with the gods
Give her back
Give a beat to her heart and a song to mine
The beat of her heart and the song in mine

Hades responded, a glint in his eye
I grant you your plea
You may leave with your wife
With one small request
I suggest you obey
You musn’t look back as you walk away

So we ran oh we ran to the dawning light
Oh we ran for our love and our lives
Once again I would hear the sweet sound of the beat of her heart
And the song in mine
The beat of her heart and the song in mine

My mind was a tempest
My doubt was a storm
I turned back to see
If she really had come
Just as our eyes met
She faded from sight
That’s when I knew I would never find
The beat of her heart or the song in mine