Songs of our times that remind you of LOTR...

[Thinlómien]

I was listening to Blackmore's Night's Windmills today and I was freaked out by how much it reminds me of Túrin and Nienor.

Here's the song on YouTube and here are the lyrics:

Far from the worn path of reason
Further away from the sane
He battles his shadows and demons
Fighting to light the way

And the dust and the dirt cloud his vision
Onward he rides unafraid
He fights the good fight for good reason
A star that refuses to fade

Still he braves his path…
Windmills only laugh

She was wounded and wild when he found her
He saw her through child’s eyes
She fell for the spell he was under
Each day a brand new surprise

And she watches with strange curiosity
She wants so much to believe
Hoping to break the chains of reality
Dying to set herself free

Though he may appear tattered and broken
His clothes are shabby and bare
Still he glows like the flame of a candle
With passion of one who still cares

There was always a rhyme to the reason
Peering out from tired eyes
The truth finally came in treason
So wrong, but so justified…
So wrong but so justified…
Windmills close their eyes…

Some lines are just... just so fitting it scares me. Some are less fitting and of course the windmills have nothing to do with Narn-i-Hín-Húrin, they're Don Quijote stuff.

Anyway, I like this thread a lot, so people please, post stuff here! And especially if you can post a link so that we can hear the songs...

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

I was listening to Blackmore's Night's Windmills today and I was freaked out by how much it reminds me of Túrin and Nienor.

I don't know why I am amazed that you listen to Blackmore's Night, but I am nonetheless, and pleased! Not to date myself, but I saw Ritchie Blackmore with Deep Purple in 1973 (I am sure I was only an infant!). A great guitarist who has evolved away from rock to embrace more traditional roots.

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

I listened to the song "A Land Without Tall Mountains" by the folk singer Michael Falch and realised that it reminded me of "The Shire"

It is obviously written about Denmark, but I think it fits the shire as well.

"In a land without tall mountains
Where it both rains and snows
I shall live my days
And die when my time comes

In a spot on the world map
That nobody pays any heed
And which can easily disappear
When there is peace no more
My flag has neither stars,
Nor hammer and sickle
It fell down from the sky,
Probably by a mistake

In a land without tall mountains
I will build, I will believe
In a land without tall mountains
I will build, I will live.

And if you come as a foreign
Forget all about old hate
We will start no wars –
And no world peace

For my people posses
Hearts of gold
It is found in flasks
And in the dark mold

This land my grandfather has ploughed in his face sweat
And my mother took my father and got me – out of love.


Obviously the part about the flag is hard to apply to Tolkiens world, but I think that is the only part that does not fit completely. . . Obviously it is not translated directly all of the time.

[Thinlómien]

That fits well indeed, Rune.

Originally Posted by Morth

I don't know why I am amazed that you listen to Blackmore's Night, but I am nonetheless, and pleased! Not to date myself, but I saw Ritchie Blackmore with Deep Purple in 1973 (I am sure I was only an infant!). A great guitarist who has evolved away from rock to embrace more traditional roots.

Well, I'm not a huge fan but I like them nevertheless - I even saw them live this summer when they came to Finland. They are a great live band. Blackmore himself was sick, so he wasn't particularily lively, but he played very well anyway.

[Groin Redbeard]

Wow, Lommy and Rune, those songs are perfect for Tolkien books! Never once did I suspect, through the reading song's lyrics, that they were not intended otherwise. Very nice.

[Groin Redbeard]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

Anyway, I like this thread a lot, so people please, post stuff here! And especially if you can post a link so that we can hear the songs...

Very well, I shall.

This song has for a long time reminded me of Beren and Luthien. The name is Making Memories Of Us by Keith Urban.


Making Memories Of Us lyrics

I'm gonna be here for you baby
I'll be a man of my word
Speak the language in a voice that you have never heard
I wanna sleep with you forever
And I wanna die in your arms
In a cabin by a meadow where the wild bees swarm

And I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you
And I'll earn your trust making memories of us

I wanna honor your mother
I wanna learn from your pa
I wanna steal your attention like a bad outlaw
I wanna stand out in a crowd for you
A man among men
I wanna make your world better than it's ever been

And I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you
And I'll earn your trust making memories of us

We'll follow the rainbow
Wherever the four winds blow
And there'll be a new day
Comin' your way

I'm gonna be here for you from now on
This you know somehow
You've been stretched to the limits but it's alright now
And I'm gonna make you this promise
If there's life after this
I'm gonna be there to meet you with a warm, wet kiss

And I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you
And I'll earn your trust making memories of us
I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you
And I'll win your trust making memories of us

The romantic optimism of the song is probably what reminds of Beren and Luthien. Though, some of the lines of the song remind me of Turin, especially when mentions him "stealing your attention like a bad outlaw."

[Morthoron]

The song 'Afterglow' by Genesis (from the excellent album 'Wind and Wuthering' prior to the band becoming crassly commercial) has a very reverent, Middle-earthlike feel, and could be applied to Beren's search for Luthien, or even Frodo's final departure:

Like the dust that settles all around me
I must find a new home
The ways and holes that used to give me shelter
Are all as one to me now

But I, I would search everywhere
Just to hear your call
And walk upon stranger roads than this one
In a world I used to know before
I miss you more

Than the sun reflecting off my pillow
Bringing the warmth of new life
And the sounds that echoed all around me
I caught a glimpse of in the night
But now, now I've lost everything
I give to you my soul
The meaning of all that I believed before
Escapes me in this world of none, no thing, no one

And I would search everywhere
Just to hear your call
And walk upon stranger roads than this one
I a world I used to know before
For now I've lost everything
I give to you my soul
The meaning of all that I believed before
Escapes me in this world of none
I miss you more

[Morthoron]

I was just listening to The Who's Love, Reign O'er Me, and thought that an epic love story such as Earendel and Elwing's deserved a love song of epic proportion, and this Who song certainly has an epic feel:

Only love can make it rain,
The way the beach is kissed by the sea.
Only love can make it rain,
Like the sweat of lovers laying in the fields.

Love, Reign o'er me.
Love, Reign o'er me, Rain on me.

On the dry and dusty road,
The nights we spend apart alone.
I need to get back home to cool, cool rain.
I can't sleep and I lay and I think,
The night is hot and black as ink.
Oh God, I need a drink of cool, cool rain.

Only love can bring the rain,
That makes you yearn to the sky.
Only love can bring the rain,
That falls like tears from on high.

Love, Reign o'er me.
Love, Reign o'er me, on me.
Love...

Here is the studio rendition, with a song-ending shriek by Roger Daltrey that is perhaps one of the greatest in the annals of rock:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKBATzh9q1g

[Tilion the Wayward]

While I was reading the books recently I was always looking for music to listen to whilst reading.

Enya - Boadicea
As has been said, Enya creates the perfect atmosphere for reading LOTR. One night while on vacation I was having trouble adjusting to the time change. I had been reading Fellowship at the time & so I put on my collection of Enya as it fit my mood & desire for sleep. I must have entered a 1/2 dream, 1/2 awake state b/c as I was listening to the celtish music of Enya, images of kingdoms & mountains & medieval hordes flowed through my brain, images I hadn't before been exposed to. This song in particular made me think of a vast impenetrable fortress such as Minas Tirith (though I hadn't yet read that far).

Lisa Gerrard - Devotion
From the album of the name The Silver Tree, no less. A haunting, ethereal piece that makes me think of leaving ME for the Grey Havens.

Hans Zimmer - Now We Are Free (yes I know it is from Gladiator)
This song easily conjures images of Elves singing either in Ithilien at the celebration for Frodo & Sam, or in their respective homes of Lothlorien or Rivendell after the destruction of the Ring. It is joyful but yet somber, given all that has been destroyed or will be leaving Middle Earth.

"Now We Are Free"

[Originally performed by Lisa Gerrard & Hans Zimmer]

Anol shalom
Anol sheh lay konnud de ne um (shaddai)
Flavum
Nom de leesh
Ham de nam um das
La um de
Flavne...

We de ze zu bu
We de sooo a ru
Un va-a pesh a lay
Un vi-i bee
Un da la pech ni sa
(Aaahh)
Un di-i lay na day
Un ma la pech a nay
mee di nu ku

[x4]
La la da pa da le na da na
Ve va da pa da le na la dumda

Anol shalom
Anol sheh ley kon-nud de ne um.
Flavum.
Flavum.
M-ai shondol-lee
Flavu... {Live on...}
Lof flesh lay
Nof ne
Nom de lis
Ham de num um dass
La um de
Flavne..
Flay
Shom de nomm
Ma-lun des
Dwondi.
Dwwoondi
Alas sharum du koos
Shaley koot-tum

[THE Ka]

Originally Posted by Tilion

Enya - Boadicea

Ooh! Love that one.

I have to agree about Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard. Both amazing, especially Gerrard's work on the This Mortal Coil albums. Nice choices.

Not quite a work in its own, but whenever I snatch enough time to play Fable, I love listening to the Temple of Light score by Russel Shaw. It's beautiful but in an errie way and always reminds me a bit of Lothlorien, especially that Shaw let the harp echo it adds to the mood.
... Yes I know, I'm a big dork, but I can't help it. I love the game series.

~ Ka