The Song of Persephone - Red Rising Trilogy-0
The Reaping Song, widely known as The Song of Persephone, is a song of lamentation from Red culture. Because the song openly calls out Gold's subjugation of Reds, the Society banned the song and declared singing it to be a crime punishable by immediate execution.
Guitar tabs can be found here
Other Names[]
- Eo's Song
- The Forbidden Song
- The Vale Song
- The Song of Persephone
Involvement[]
Birth of Ares[]
- 720 PCE
While Fitchner and a troop of associates attempt to rescue Bryn and Sevro from the Board of Quality Control, she escapes with Sevro from the grasps of Arturius au Vardan. Sevro begins to cry and she sings The Reaping song to him as a lullaby. It is unknown if she learned the song on Triton or during her time on Mars.[1]
Darrow's Childhood[]
- ~727 PCE
Darrow first hears the Reaping Song when a woman sings it while her son is being hanged for stealing food. She was hanged as well, and Lykos performed for them The Fading Dirge.[2] He was later taught it along with the Reaping Dance which killed his father.
Birth of Persephone[]
- 736 PCE
Eo and Darrow are caught by the Grays of Lykos on their way out of the mine's bubbleGarden, where they sat together and watched the sunrise. After three days in a cell, the two were dragged into the Lykos Common and publicly whipped for their transgression. When Martian ArchGovernor Nero au Augustus arrived to observe their flogging, Eo sang The Reaping Song as an act of defiance.[3][4]
Following Eo's hanging, the Sons of Ares begin a hacking campaign to spread her song to all the mines and cities of Mars. As a result, her image becomes a symbol of rebellion against the Society, and Eo becomes known by the moniker of Persephone. As a result of her defiance and the Sons' efforts, Eo's song and image spread across the Society, with graffiti of her hanging being painted on Luna and Phobos years after her death.
542nd Class of the Martian Institute[]
- 737 & 738 PCE
Virginia hears Eo's song on the HC, and becomes captivated by the haunting sadness of the song. Darrow overhears her humming it in the locker rooms as he leaves the testing facility for the Institute's entrance exam.[5] At The Institute, she hums it to Darrow as she nurses him back to health after Cassius stabs him and leaves him for dead. As he awakens and continues his recovery, she admits that she can't remember the words. Darrow sings the song to her as she fights off a fever.[6]
The Phobos Address[]
- 743 PCE
Before Darrow's speech to the lowColors of Phobos, Darrow, with the help of Quicksilver's Green hackers, plays the video of Eo singing the Reaping Song and being hanged. Darrow's Speech would later become known as The Phobos Address
The Day of Red Doves[]
- 754 PCE
During the coup against Virginia, the Reaping Song is sung by the rebelling Vox crowd as she is lifted through the crowd to Lilath au Faran.
Lyrics[]
Listen, listen
Remember the wane
Of son's Fury and waving grain
We fell and fell
And danced along
To croon a knell
Of rights and wrongs
And
My son, my son
Remember the burn
When leaves with fire and seasons turned
We fell and fell
And sang a song
To weave a Cell
All autumn long
And
Down in the vale
Hear the reaper swing, the reaper swing
The reaper swing
Down in the vale
Hear the reaper sing
A tale of winter long
My girl, my girl
Remember the chill
When rains froze and snows did kill
We fell and fell
And danced along
Through icy hell
To their winter song
My love, my love
Remember the cries
When winter died for spring skies
They roared and roared
But we grabbed our seed
And sowed a song
Against their greed
My son, my son
Remember the chains
When gold ruled with iron reins
We roared and roared
And twisted and screamed
For ours, a vale
Of better dreams
And
Down in the vale
Hear the reaper swing, the reaper swing
The reaper swing
Down in the vale
Hear the reaper sing
A tale of winter done
Meaning[]
Verse One[]
Verse Two[]
Chorus One[]
Verse Three[]
Verse Four[]
Verse Five[]
Chorus Two[]
In-Universe Singers[]
- Bryn of Cryssos
- Unnamed Red Woman of Lykos
- Eo of Lykos
- Darrow O'Lykos
- Radical Vox Populi Crowd
Official Iterations[]
- By Tim Gerard Reynolds from Chapter 34 of the Audiobook
- This version was at the end of the Red Rising Audiobook and is the only official version of the song.
Fan Covers[]
- The video featured above by Where Daydreamers Go (Promoted by Pierce Brown on social media)
- By Ogrid's
- By Danny Langdon
- By Greta Smidt (Promoted by Pierce Brown on social media)
- By Sam Clark (Promoted by Pierce Brown on social media)
- By Aloysius Wong
- By Mad Reviews
- By Ryan Cowl (Promoted by Pierce Brown on social media)
- By Johnny Wenzel
- By Justing DeLong (Promoted by Pierce Brown on social media)