Gandalf the White

Gandalf‘s duel with the balrog in the depths of Moria on Durin’s Bridge was a pivotal moment in the narrative of The Lord of the Rings. During the duel, Gandalf sacrificed himself to save the lives of the other members of the fellowship – allowing them to continue escorting the ring bearer on his mission.

We join with the elves in Lothlórien to mourn Gandalf – only to discover later that Gandalf has come back to life! Who can say that’s not to sing  about?

I selected Simon Curtis‘ Superhero provided a fitting tune to celebrate Gandalf’s life and deeds. There’s plenty to celebrate: expelling and degrading Saruman to wrest back control of the White Council, oversighting the martial preparations of Minas Tirith to withstand the Witch-King, and finally inaugurating the ultimate showdown with Sauron’s armies outside the Morannon (Black Gate) of Mordor.

 

Lyrics & Melody

Superhero is a straight rock-song: with plenty of punch and a striking melody.

The repetition of the word “superhero” in the chorus trumpets what the song is all about: the celebration of heroism and heroic deeds. Indeed, it would be hard to discover a modern-day song better-suited to celebrate the exploits of a Tolkienesque hero.

I append the lyrics to Gandalf the White below:

Gandalf the White

V1:

Back from the dead – Gandalf is still alive.
Saying – come on, come on, come on
Come to Isengard!
All the ents were ready for a fight
They had come on, come on, come on
Are going to win it now.
I must do all that has been given me.
With the power that is entrusted me.
Our battle will go down in history
For our posterity. What is our destiny?

Ch:

We can now save Midgard
From the Dark Lord’s power.
He’s gonna take it over.
Is that what you want to see?
Fourth Age beginning
Our hope is in winning.
Will you play your part so
All who see you want to be
Like you a hero
Like you a hero
A mighty hero
They might want to be
Like you a hero
Like you a hero
A mighty hero
So they also could be
So they also could be
So they also could be

V2:

Through the Black Gate, right to the Dark Lord’s face
Challenge: come on, Sauron, show us who you really are!
Without The Ring, you’re no better than the rest –
You’re a shadow of yourself, a debilitated falling-star!
Where’s your might that we should believe in you?
Now we’re here: what is it you will do?
On Mount Doom your power’s deserting you
As Frodo will surely do
Destroy the ring – and you!

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Glorfindel Elf-Lord

In The Lord of the Rings Glorfindel makes his first dramatic appearance to assist Frodo escape the pursuing Black Riders: turning the pursuit back on the pursuers and forcing them into the raging flood-waters of the Bruinen. Due to Glorfindel’s action the bodies of the Black Riders are destroyed and their spirits obliged to flee to Mordor to resume another corporeal guise.

But this is not Glorfindel’s first time on Middle Earth. Centuries ago Lord Glorfindel served the legendary King Turgon in the Hidden City of Gondolin: surviving the sack of of the city to flee with Prince Tuor & Princess Idril into the mountains. When the fleeing Noldori were ambushed traversing the narrow mountain pass Cirith Thoronath (“pass or cleft of the eagles”): Glorfindel engaged in a duel with a balrog who disputed their passage. The duel ended only when both combatants were dead: plummeting over the edge of the mountain still locked in combat.

Glorfindel’s spirit passed into the Hall of Mandos, whereupon he was pardoned: both his self-sacrifice at Cirith Thoronath, and the fact that he took no part in the kinslaying at Alqualondë counting in his favour. Glorfindel returned to Middle Earth, eventually taking up residence with Lord Elrond in Rivendell.

 

Lyrics & Melody

Imagine Dragons‘ Whatever it Takes provides a wonderful tune to commemorate Glorfindel’s  exploits. Whatever it Takes is an unusual song: its verses are sung in double-time, its first bridge in single-time, and its second bridge and chorus in half-time. So many different tempos within a single song!

Whatever it Takes is a good choice for songwriters needed plenty of words to craft a narrative: unusual with the modern music genre as a whole. The chorus repeats the words “whatever it takes” to emphasise the themes of personal courage, endurance and valour: qualities which Glorfindel had in spades.

Glorfindel is, of course, one of a plethora of Tolkien characters with solid hero potential: but as the the story and character of Glorfindel is something of a personal favourite, I choose to honour him in  this song.

I append the lyrics to Glorfindel Returns below:

Glorfindel Returns

V1:

Morgoth came too fast to prepare for this
Living in Midgard is now dangerous
Even Gondolin now had come to this
End is eminent. It’s disastrous.

Noldori are gathered on the city wall
Surrounded by the armies come to see it fall
Some could yet escape. Will I be the one?
I am Glorfindel. I was born for this.

Br1:

I’ve come back
From the Halls of Mandos
To serve along Elrond
From the halls of death I have returned to Midgard
By ship.
Now an elf-lord I rip
Darkness down when I strip
Off disguise revealing I’ve

Chorus:

Whatever it takes
Leading survivors cross the over-run Tumladen plains. I do
Whatever it takes
We will cross, the mountains. You will safety gain.
Whatever it takes
There’s a balrog on the path trying to stop us? I’m ready for
Whatever it takes.
Though I die, build a cairn over my remains.
I do what it takes.

V2:

Riders Black approaching close to Rivendell.
Drive them to the ford, all will yet be well.
Back on Middle Earth I’ve a tale to tell.
I will send the Nine all back into hell.

At the Bruinen the rapid waters rise
Riders cannot cross, although the Witch-King tries
Waters flooding come – every black steed dies
The Nine are unhorsed. Each to Mordor flies.

Br2:

Allegorical. It’s mythological.
It is symbolical. Also parabolical.
When we fight for the Right at whatever the cost
We are recovering a purpose which Today has lost.

For I am Glorfindel. When from the heights I fell
I gave my life in sacrifice to save Tuor & Idril.
Now I’m back. An elf-lord. With the power to be
To send the Nine Riders back flying to their sanctuary.

I will fight against Sauron and against the Black Throne.
When it’s over I’ll depart again for Elvenhome.
[pause]
I do what it takes.

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The White Towers

Three White Towers were built for the Númenorean kings on the western shores of Middle Earth in the days of the ancient northern Kingdom of Arnor. Elostirion was the tallest of the three towers, and it held the only palantir (seeing-stone) that looked westward back across the seas to Tol Eressëa.

Like all things, the towers would be exposed to the depredations of time: and would eventually lie in ruins scattered over the Tower Hills in western Eriador. The poignant image of once-mighty buildings gradually falling into decay is one to capture the imagination – and is how this this song Elostirion came to be written.

 

Lyrics & Melody

Seal‘s Kiss from a Rose is a beautiful song: its first line suggested to me the White Towers described in the Silmarillion. The mental picture I used in re-writing this song is one of large, once-white stones scattered over the forgotten graves of their builders: slowly covered by the creeping growth of wild climbing-roses.

Kiss from a Rose is musically complex: Seal adds extra bars into verse 2 to make the second verse notably longer than the first: also changing the melody in the third and fourth lines. In fact, “verse 2” becomes an extended rhapsody of verse 1: but wait – there’s more! When verse 2 is repeated it is  shortened slightly: so there are in fact two different versions of “verse 2” in the same song. The careful listener will be able to pick up the differences.

Another point of note – and which is immediately obvious to any male vocalist attempting this song – is that the melody soars far above the range for a normal tenor. I sang the melody for Elostirion an octave below the original, then overlaid it with a harmony in a higher register to add musical interest.

I append the lyrics to Elostirion below:

Elostirion

V1:

There used to be a white tower alone by the sea.
Long years it stood, gazing over to Avallónë.
Years it remained. Time scattered its stones on the hill.
But did you know – that when it snows
The winds sigh at large and at night there strange lights can be seen?

Chorus:

When there, the wind will always leave a kiss on a rose on its grave.
So – what is it you do to honour the best and the brave?
Now that the rose is in bloom
A beam lights the gloom on the grave.

V2:

There is only so much one man can begin, or what one man can say.
Years – are succeeded by anguish, by pleasure, by pain.
Still there – the tower lies there that is fallen down upon the hill.
Elostirion is gone forever
But did you know – that when it snows
The winds sigh at large and at night there strange lights can be seen?

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Singing of “Crash and Burn”

One of the most beautiful and tragic stories in the Silmarillion is the rise and fall of Gondolin, the Hidden City established by Turgon. The betrayal of Gondolin to Melkor by Turgon’s own nephew, and the consequent city’s destruction, are narrated in fine epic style: it is with nail-biting intensity that we follow the escape of Tuor and Idril across mountains held by the enemy, to finally make their way south to the last hold-outs of the Noldor in Middle Earth.

So what kind of song would musically capture this story in an interesting and compelling way?

I gave it a shot by reworking the lyrics to Linkin Park‘s Burn it Down – which I thought captures well the reality of the city’s destruction, and the pathos of the fleeing survivors.

 

Matching Tune + Lyrics

The verses in Burn it Down are surprisingly light, instrumental verses: calling to mind the actions and flight of the story’s principal characters, Tuor and Idril.

The chorus, on the other hand, is much heavier musically than the verses: and much better adapted to communicate the universal destruction being visited upon the city-state of Gondolin.

I include the full lyrics to Fall of Gondolin below.

Fall of Gondolin

V1:

Gondolin was betrayed
As firestorms burned through the sky.
Memories never fade.
Safety no-one nowhere can find.

Br1:

And they came to this turn
For Tuor and Idril know.

Chorus:

What Turgon built up
The Dark Lord breaks down.
What Turgon built up –
He’ll burn it down –
He can’t wait to burn it to the ground.

V2:

Maeglin was there in the end
As the flames leapt into the sky.
But he was overthrown.
Time to say farewell and goodbye.

Br2:

Tuor came to this turn
Escaping the burning glow.
Idril and Eärendil
Must flee Gondolin and go.

Chorus:

Rap 1:

Maeglin prince was raised up high
Turgon believed – but he lived a lie.
He was nephew, Turgon his king.
Yet unfaithful when he kissed his ring.
Though raised up he would cast them down
Hoped betrayal would gain a crown.
But then he fell. He could not discern
All was over when Gondolin burns.

Br 1:

And they came to this turn
For Tuor and Idril know.

Chorus:

Rap 2:

Turgon’s dead. Gondolin falls.
No safety in hidden walls.

Outro:

The Dark Lord will burn it to the ground.

Rap 3:

Noldor fled. Now Morgoth’s won.
All Midgard is overrun.

Outro:

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The Flight of the Noldor

The inspiration for this song comes, in part, from the beautifully worded plaint of Galadriel (Galadriel’s Song of Eldamar) in the LOTR:

I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew,
Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew.
…
But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me,
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?

Galadriel, princess of the Noldor, was the youngest child of Finarfin and the only child of Finarfin to survive the crossing to Middle Earth. At one point she would have shared the initial Noldor enthusiasm of coming into a kingdom of her own to reign over in Middle Earth. But the millennia slowly pass, and the strength of the First-Born diminish, and Galadriel yet sorrows for the loss of Eldamar; longing to return to Aman, the Blessed Land of the Undying.

Galadriel, then, expresses the conflicted feelings of the Eldar: she loves Middle Earth, she loves Eldamar from which she remains exiled. These are the sentiments that I attempted to capture in the lyrics (see below).

But there’s more: for why did the Noldor leave Aman in the first place? From the Silmarillion we know the central part played by The Oath of Fëanor – which was sworn by the greatest High King of the Noldor who epitomises the Noldori at both their best and worst. Galadriel was Fëanor’s close kin (his half-niece): she experienced his betrayal of her people firsthand, as she too endured with them their trek across the Helcaraxë. Galadriel, of all people, would retain no illusions about the capacity of the elves to excel in both good and evil.

An oldie, but a goodie

Tasman Archer‘s Sleeping Satellite is an older song with a memorable, plaintive tune that still carries pathos with modern listeners. The tune itself is straight-forward and performed with a clear vocal lead.

The original lyrics referred to the early Luna missions: but could easily be reworked to evoke the Noldori affection for Varda or Elbereth, the Star-Queen of the Valar. Archer’s original lyrics, interestingly, also include a repeatedly stressing the word “blame” in the chorus: which formed the perfect lyrical hook for introducing cause of all the Noldori tribulations on Middle Earth: the Oath of Fëanor.

I include the full lyrics to Galadriel Remembers below.

Galadriel Remembers

Chorus:

I blame you – on this moonlit sky
For the dreams that die,
While the Noldor strive.
O Varda! On this moonlit night,
Still I wonder why,
Did my people die?
And I blame the Oath of Fëanor.

V1:

Did we leave Middle Earth too soon?
Never gave us a chance
For the elves to remain who were fain
To build kingdoms and their renown enhance?
Too late we try –
Now cities laid waste and our honour defaced
On a foolish adventure.

Chorus:

V2:

In the swan ships by sea we advanced.
But we came too soon.
Angband strength was too great. And we got there too late.
We arrived by the full moon.
I wonder why
All the lives sacrificed. Far too high was the price.
Gone – our greatest treasure!

Chorus:

[Instrumental]

V3:

In Lothlórien forest we dwell.
Dark enemies are nigh.
We patrol our border, so nearby to Mordor
And the Mirkwood. This we spy.
Elbereth O why?
On we wend. Will our exile end?
Can we stop this failed adventure?

Chorus:

Outro:

Oh – yeah. x2
And I blame the Oath of Fëanor.

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