Into The West
Sometimes a song can provide a good communal cry. Hear that sob resounding across the Internet today? That's the sound of several thousand Tolkien fans hearing Annie Lennox's ROTK theme, "Into The West" for the first time (you can find it over at theonering.net). That's the sound of us getting our first true taste of just exactly how the Grey Havens scenes at the end of ROTK are going to affect us in a month's time.
The song really is lovely- gentle, poignant, and comforting, almost a lullaby in its way. The lyrics and music harken back to the moving songs at the end of the first movie and there are literary references to Frodo's dreams from the book. It's hard to decide on the point of view in the song- at varying times it seems like Galadriel or Bilbo or Sam or the Valar. And, oh, I cried the first time I heard the song and I cried more the second time I heard it, because one can't help but picture the emotions and images that inspired the song and those bittersweet moments at the Havens at the end of "Return of The King".
I felt somewhat justified this morning when Jodi logged in to say she thought the song was beautiful, too. You see, a part of me suspected my judgement couldn't be quite trusted, knowing that Annie Lennox could have sung the phone book and if I was told it was going to play over the Grey Havens I would have wept. Jodi is a bit more rational about all things Tolkien than I am :).
Still, it made me smile this morning when I started to read soggy LJ posts left by fellow Tolkien fans like
jewelsong and baylorsr. conniemarie commented that she loved us for crying over the song at our keyboards just like she did and it's a sentiment I can identify with. Because sometimes when a song finds a community at just the right time and place it's an affirming moment, a group hug, a special empathy. It leaves you sentimental and grateful to those who understand :).
The song really is lovely- gentle, poignant, and comforting, almost a lullaby in its way. The lyrics and music harken back to the moving songs at the end of the first movie and there are literary references to Frodo's dreams from the book. It's hard to decide on the point of view in the song- at varying times it seems like Galadriel or Bilbo or Sam or the Valar. And, oh, I cried the first time I heard the song and I cried more the second time I heard it, because one can't help but picture the emotions and images that inspired the song and those bittersweet moments at the Havens at the end of "Return of The King".
I felt somewhat justified this morning when Jodi logged in to say she thought the song was beautiful, too. You see, a part of me suspected my judgement couldn't be quite trusted, knowing that Annie Lennox could have sung the phone book and if I was told it was going to play over the Grey Havens I would have wept. Jodi is a bit more rational about all things Tolkien than I am :).
Still, it made me smile this morning when I started to read soggy LJ posts left by fellow Tolkien fans like
jewelsong and baylorsr. conniemarie commented that she loved us for crying over the song at our keyboards just like she did and it's a sentiment I can identify with. Because sometimes when a song finds a community at just the right time and place it's an affirming moment, a group hug, a special empathy. It leaves you sentimental and grateful to those who understand :).