I'm sad to see this end, as well. I would love to find a new discussion that could engage people as well as this one has.
Onto the track.
I was not as pleased with this track as many others were. You're free to kind of skip over the next few paragraphs if you like.
What I've loved about the soundtrack music never seem to be present in the end of the movies songs. I'm a huge fan of Enya's but I thought her writing fell short on both Aniron and May it Be. I can sing along with both of them and be 'happy' (hey.. just singing makes me happy) but I don't get that same feeling as I do from the rest of the soundtrack. I do enjoy But in Dreams more than May It Be. I also enjoy Gollum's Song quite a bit since it contains all kinds of wonderful Gollumness in Emiliana's voice. But on to Into the West.
I struggle with a number of issues. The voice is confusing... that is, 'who is talking?' (And the triad have confirmed that it's Galadriel) It's a question oft asked and I think it's due mainly to (ahem...) poor writing. (Back to May It Be.. that song makes no sense to me in parts) As much as I love the movies, there are parts were I feel the PJ imposed his own stuff in a way that (for me) did not improve anything... was counter to the book... and actually lessened my enjoyment of the movies. I will defend his right to do so, but I don't personally enjoy or approve of those decisions. I think that's what happened with this song. I thing their whole relationship with Cameron directed them enormously. Again, it's not that I blame them or disapprove... it's just that this song doesn't work for me. And, in a way, I don't even think it was written for me.. the Tolkien fan. I think it was something they needed to do for themselves.
I don't know if it would have worked better for an end of the movie song, but I like both the message and the melody of Use Well the Days better. I think Into the West is a song meant to comfort that person crossing over. Use Well the Days is meant to comfort those left behind.
Although I enjoyed Annie's singing on the CD well enough, I saw her sing live on numerous tv shows around the time of the Oscars and I never heard her sing it well. (Again... my opinion... I'm comfortable with people disagreeing) In fact, I kind of think Scarlet Tide was robbed and I think Alison Krause greatly outsung Annie Lennox. (I will admit that the music from Cold Mountain is a huge favorite of mine and I find Scarlet Tide is a haunting, beautiful song.)
Be that as it may, like it or not, the music represents more than just notes or melody. It represents my whole intense relationship to the movies, the music and the book/story. Into the West came out even before the soundtrack CD which itself predated the movies. I listened for the first time and came to that quiet ending that just faded away. I knew then, that that fading was a perfect embodiedment of the fading of the Elves, the fading of Frodo, the fading of the books... Frodo leaves Sam and the story leaves us and we are left behind. That fading... it did it for me. I wrote this back 2 some years ago...
I listened to the last moments of the CD in the car as I drove up to home. I sat there in tears and realized that at some point, I will hear those notes and it will all be over. Over! No more theatrical showings. No more news on filming. No more speculations or spoilers. No more new scenes of my long-haired Elves.
PJ, I take back every criticism I ever voiced. I don't care that Imrahil wasn't in there. I don't care that Faramir has flaws. I don't care that you killed Haldir. Keep Middle-earth coming. I love the books and I always will. But those images are so dear to me and for me, the two... your images and Tolkien's words... are tied together inextricably.
Excuse me I need a tissue....
So, Into the West isn't a total wash for me. It's part of the movie. Like flaws in family members, I take the good with the bad.
Endings are a big focus for me. They have been personally for some time and this story is all about endings. I find it interesting that there are a number of musical endings. One is the soundtrack cd with it's fade away ending. Then there is Sam back at Bag Shot row (clip provided in an earlier post) with the green door closing and us on the outside and the words "The End" (meaning, I think, "GO HOME" as Tracy Ullman used to say.). Then there is the different ending at the end of the Theatrical Credits which is a little less fadey than the CD. Then... there's the ending of the music as it's heard on the ROTK Fan Credits. This music is heartbreakingly beautiful and I wonder how many people have paid attention to it. I now have my travel copy of ROTK with this music tacked onto the end. This is my final moments for the soundtrack.
I went through an intense period of writing about Tolkien in an online class (Barnes and Noble University) and a few forums... now defunct. I don't have the energy to do much of that now, but I still can find the energy to talk about the soundtrack. I've enjoyed having the opportunity to do some of that here. Thank you to Encaitare for shepherding us. Thanks to the rest of you for accepting me. (And putting up with my long winded emotional responses.) I will miss coming here and I would like to see more opportunity for a soundtrack discussion of some kind (how many have the Complete Recordings... she says with a hopeful look in her eye).
Ta,
Magpie