Soundtrack A Scene

[skip spence]

Another song you might consider for Dain's last stand Groin (why do you call yourself that btw?).

Tom Petty's "I won't back down" (The cover by Johnny Cash might be even better for the occasion)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUvEouWA29o

Well I wont back down, no I wont back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I wont back down

Gonna stand my ground, wont be turned around
And Ill keep this world from draggin me down
Gonna stand my ground and I wont back down

Hey baby, there aint no easy way out
Hey I will stand my ground
And I wont back down.

Well I know whats right, I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin me around
But Ill stand my ground and I wont back down

[Aiwendil]

The "Ainulindale" has always reminded me of Beethoven's 9th symphony for some reason.

[Nogrod]

A Finnish composer Eino Juhani Rautavaara has composed four poems by Federico Garcia Lorca from his Andalucian series into a choir-piece "Suite de Lorca". (Our choir performed it in Cuba last November...)

I think they could make a nice sequence in to the LotR, RotK. Sadly I couldn't find any English translations from the net except the first one so I have just "rough translated" the rest myself (terrible but quick).

Every piece is like one minute long.

Just listen to them here for the feel of it or -as I suggest - read first the ideas & poems one by one before listening as they are in Spanish...

First there is Canción de jinete (The Horseman's Song) clearly depicting Boromir riding to Osgiliath with his company just to die after Denethor's "request".
(this translation is from the net)

Cordoba.
So distant and lonely.
Black little horse, and big moon,
and in my saddlebag olives.
Though the ways are familiar,
at Cordoba I will never arrive.
Across the plain, through the wind,
black little horse, and red moon.
Death keeps staring at me,
down from Cordoba's towers.
Oh, how the way's dragging on!
Oh, so patient my brave little horse!
Oh, that death waits for me,
before Cordoba will ever be reached!
Cordoba.
So distant and lonely.

Then there is El Grito (The Scream) which might both describe the coming back to Minas Tirith of the half-dead Faramir as the lightening of the beacons and the way the fires travel through the land like a cry.

The elliptical scream
passes from a mountain to a mountain.
From these olive-trees a black rainbow will rise
above the blue night.
Ayy!
Like a bow of a violin
the scream gets the long strings
of the wind to shiver
Ayy!
And the people living in caves
come forwards with their lights
Ayy!


The third one is La luna asoma (The Rising Moon) that could be seen as describing both the paths of the dead and the silent moment in the fight in the Pelennor fields when all hope was lost and the dark sails were seen coming in...

When the moon comes fore
the sounds of the bells fade
and the paths,
impenetrable, appear.
When the moon comes fore
the sea floods over the land
and a heart is like an island
in the middle of infinity.
The moon
(under a full moon no one can eat orange things)
The moon
green and icy
The moon comes fore
Hundreds of similar faces
A silver coin weeps in it's hide-out in the purse.

The fourth one is Malaguêna where the battle of the Pelennor fields are in their highest and the end finally comes.

The Death
enters
in and out
of the the taverna.
Through the deep ways of the guitar
the black horses
and the dark folks roam.
And the scent of salt
and female blood
comes from the feverish nardus
of the sea-shore.
The Death
enters
in and out
and out and in.
The death.
Through the deep ways of the guitar
the black horses
and the dark folks roam.
And the scent of salt
and female blood
comes from the feverish nardus
of the sea-shore.
The Death
enters
in and out
and out and in.
Death in the taverna.

[Groin Redbeard]

Originally Posted by skip spence

Another song you might consider for Dain's last stand Groin (why do you call yourself that btw?).

Tom Petty's "I won't back down" (The cover by Johnny Cash might be even better for the occasion)

I'm amazed that someone would even remember that song, I love it! Thanks for brining that up skip, Johnny Cash does an awesome job with the song, but it doesn't seem to fit for the tragic ending that Dain succumbed to. But it would really fit Dain's slaying of the great goblin Azog! Dain he was a very young Dwarf at the time (only 32, while Dwarves reach maturity, or "battle-readiness" at the age of 30), and it was heralded as a magnificent feat.

I call myself Groin because I typed it wrong on the keyboard. It was suppose to be Gróin Redbeard, but I messed up and I don't know how to change it. Incidentally, Gróin was Gimli's grandfather.

[Morthoron]

Hmmm...perhaps Randy Newman's "Short People" would be better for Dain's demise.

[skip spence]

Originally Posted by Groin Redbeard

I'm amazed that someone would even remember that song, I love it! Thanks for brining that up skip, Johnny Cash does an awesome job with the song, but it doesn't seem to fit for the tragic ending that Dain succumbed to. But it would really fit Dain's slaying of the great goblin Azog! Dain he was a very young Dwarf at the time (only 32, while Dwarves reach maturity, or "battle-readiness" at the age of 30), and it was heralded as a magnificent feat.

I call myself Groin because I typed it wrong on the keyboard. It was suppose to be Gróin Redbeard, but I messed up and I don't know how to change it. Incidentally, Gróin was Gimli's grandfather.

That's funny, Mr. Groin. Can't you PM an administrator and ask to have it changed though?

And yeah, I suppose that song is more fitting for Dain's life, not his ending. Then again, his ending wasn't described as tragic, rather triumphant. To paraphrase Gandalf: it was amazing he could still swing his axe with such vigour at his old age (or something like that)...

[Morthoron]

Bêthberry had suggested to me that the band Traffic would be an excellent band to add to our Middle-earth sojourn. Here are some song ideas from the gentle and extraordinarily evocative Steve Windwood (with some added help from Jim Capaldi or Eric Clapton, where applicable).

Frodo falls ill and realizes he can never truly go home:
Blind Faith -- Can't Find My Way Home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN1J5...eature=related

The lyrics are amazingly consistent with LotR:

Come down off your throne and leave your body alone.
Somebody must change.
You are the reason Ive been waiting so long.
Somebody holds the key.

But Im near the end and I just aint got the time
And Im wasted and I cant find my way home.

Sam pines for the barmaid Rosie
Traffic -- John Barleycorn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q4Lv...eature=related

Sam and Frodo travel across the wasteland of Mordor
Traffic -- Forty Thousand Headmen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v12fq...eature=related

Mood piece for a rainy scene
Traffic -- Rainmaker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx6S6...eature=related

Bilbo and Gandalf blow smoke rings
Traffic -- Light Up or Leave Me Alone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tZtJ...eature=related

I've been on a Robin Trower kick recently -- both before and after leaving Procol Harum (god, I love the distortion).

In Minas Morgul
Robin Trower -- Bridge of Sighs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtr9Q...eature=related

The Eagles fight the Nazgul
Robin Trower -- Day of the Eagle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRz1N...eature=related

The Battle Before Minas Tirith
Procol Harum -- Repent Walpurgis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQC7K...eature=related

[Lalwendë]

Talking of smoke rings, how about Ian Broudie's song Smoke Rings?
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=G4Q9OSG_LjA

I'm not usually that fussed on Ian Broudie, but this song would be nice and chilled out for Bilbo and Gandalf to sit and have a smook to. Incidentally, I have no idea about that video, it's the only link I could find to the song!

Here's another good smoking song. John Martyn's Solid Air:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg_Utj4Aljc

And while I'm at it...
Frodo saying goodbye to Sam as he leaves Middle-earth:
John Martyn - May You Never
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LOi_wx...eature=related


I forgot....a while back I was wondering "What did The Music sound like?" and thought about Ligeti. How about this?
The Music
Ligeti - Lux Aeterna
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NgsqLI...eature=related

[Morthoron]

I know it's off-topic, but I note with sadness that Richard Wright, keyboardist of Pink Floyd, died last month at the age of 65. In keeping with his rather reticent, introverted nature, he kept his cancer a secret (and the lack of news regarding his death seems to bear this out). In any case, I discovered an excellent double CD documenting his final concert, playing alongside his Pink Floyd comrade David Gilmour, on Gilmour's 'Live in Gdansk': http://www.davidgilmour.com/gdansk.htm

The first CD mostly covers Gilmour's 2006 solo album 'On an Island'; however, it is on the second CD that both Gilmour and Wright truly shine, and show what a wonderful legacy both men have left for rock music. The song selection is surprising (in a delightful way) and covers tunes that one usually didn't hear in a Floyd concert, particularly Astronomy Domine (from Floyd's 1st album, Pipers at the Gates of Dawn), Fat Old Sun (from Atom Heart Mother) and Echoes (from Meddle). There are also remarkable renditions of Shine on You Crazy Diamond, High Hopes, Wish You Were Here and Comfortably Numb. It is definitely a 'Headphones Only' compilation that will leave any Floyd fan completely satisfied (and the addition of the Baltic Symphony Orchestra adds an excellent extra aural presence).

Sad to say we shall not be seeing any further Pink Floyd reunions as the circle is irrevocably broken. Unheralded and hidden at the heart of Pink Floyd's dense but flowing compositions, Richard Wright was a true innovator, quiet and unassuming, but deserving of accolades. Pink Floyd, like Tolkien, was one of the pillars of my formative years, and in a very different manner than the Professor they influenced my personal journey through life (primarily in a musical sense).

So goodbye, Mr. Wright, wish you were here.

[MatthewM]

Everyone, as big of a rock n' roller as I am, loving most of those bands you listed, Middle-earth just doesn't fit in my opinion with that music. Maybe a couple of chords strung together with a serene feel, but none of those full out songs (although I love a ton of them). It just doesn't work for me. In my opinion, the only way to go with Middle-earth music is classical music. Howard Shore's score was brilliant - and I'm baffled that anybody would think otherwise --- it was perfect for Middle-earth. It's not just because I love the films and are used to them - heavy rock n' roll would have totally ruined the music of LotR.

So, with that, although it's fun to think about, I'm sticking with the classical approach - no other type of music can ever come as close as it does to the heart of Middle-earth.