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Almost two years ago (right?) when I went to see FOTR, I was...well, I was totally excited to see anything of LOTR put on screen even if it was bad. After all, I'd seen Bakshi and lived. At the very least I knew Sean Astin wasn't a potato. Naturally I was beside myself when it was as good as it was.
But even then I was putting it out of my mind. The thing I knew was coming but didn't want to think about. It was years away! A lifetime! It would never happen! But now it's almost upon me. It's coming. It's:
Stories can take so much out of you. At least they can me. I get so into the high of loving the story I'm willing to risk being upset when it has to end. I hate endings. The only thing I hate more than endings are sequels that try to take the ending away. Nothing is worse than that. Don't tell me what happens after the true end of the story, thank you.
LOTR is all about endings--as Frodo says, he doesn't go to find a treasure but to lose one. It's the bad guy that's trying to keep things static. It's not often you find a fantasy story where the good guys are essentially trying to hustle magic out of the world instead of hold on to it. It's the perfect ending, unfortunately it's the kind of ending that is sort of private and painful.
Yes, I've been wailing along with Into the West all day. I really really love the three songs that were chosen for these movies. First, I love how simple they all are (which may seem a little un-Tolkien, but my feeling is why try to do faux-Tolkien? Much better to stick with plain hobbit-speech). They all sound like songs Sam might sing to Elanor or Pippin to Faramir. (Sidenote: how excited am I to see that Billy Boyd sings a song on the ROTK soundtrack--WEEEEE!)
Second, I love how they seemed to choose singers because they had unique, quirky voices. Enya has that surrealist, fairy-like sound, Emiliana Torrini sounds like a child raised by the Crypt Keeper and Annie Lennox's voice is strong but haunting at the same time. Best of all, all of them sound like women naturally singing. I'm sure they've all had vocal training because it's a bad idea to be a professional singer without learning how to keep your voice in shape but they don't sound at all legit or trained. They're not wowing you with their range or power but their actual, unworldly voices. You can kind of imagine Enya singing to herself in a courtyard, Emiliana singing over a campfire and Annie knocking them dead in the mead hall.
Thirdly, and most importantly, if there's one thing that proves how much PJ&Co. get this story, all the songs are about home. May it Be speaks of being "far from home," Gollum's Song says "you are lost--you can never go home," and Into the West finally promises that "the ships have come to carry you home." Home means any number of things in the story--The Shire, Valinor, Tol Eressa, but mostly just all the feelings that word carries with it. When the hobbits want to go home, they don't just want to go home geographically speaking. At the end of their lives, they seem to again feel this pull to "go home," which by then means they want to be by the others' sides, no matter where that may be.
See, these guys must have gotten these songs right because the one where the hero finally goes home is the one that makes you cry.
But even then I was putting it out of my mind. The thing I knew was coming but didn't want to think about. It was years away! A lifetime! It would never happen! But now it's almost upon me. It's coming. It's:
Stories can take so much out of you. At least they can me. I get so into the high of loving the story I'm willing to risk being upset when it has to end. I hate endings. The only thing I hate more than endings are sequels that try to take the ending away. Nothing is worse than that. Don't tell me what happens after the true end of the story, thank you.
LOTR is all about endings--as Frodo says, he doesn't go to find a treasure but to lose one. It's the bad guy that's trying to keep things static. It's not often you find a fantasy story where the good guys are essentially trying to hustle magic out of the world instead of hold on to it. It's the perfect ending, unfortunately it's the kind of ending that is sort of private and painful.
Yes, I've been wailing along with Into the West all day. I really really love the three songs that were chosen for these movies. First, I love how simple they all are (which may seem a little un-Tolkien, but my feeling is why try to do faux-Tolkien? Much better to stick with plain hobbit-speech). They all sound like songs Sam might sing to Elanor or Pippin to Faramir. (Sidenote: how excited am I to see that Billy Boyd sings a song on the ROTK soundtrack--WEEEEE!)
Second, I love how they seemed to choose singers because they had unique, quirky voices. Enya has that surrealist, fairy-like sound, Emiliana Torrini sounds like a child raised by the Crypt Keeper and Annie Lennox's voice is strong but haunting at the same time. Best of all, all of them sound like women naturally singing. I'm sure they've all had vocal training because it's a bad idea to be a professional singer without learning how to keep your voice in shape but they don't sound at all legit or trained. They're not wowing you with their range or power but their actual, unworldly voices. You can kind of imagine Enya singing to herself in a courtyard, Emiliana singing over a campfire and Annie knocking them dead in the mead hall.
Thirdly, and most importantly, if there's one thing that proves how much PJ&Co. get this story, all the songs are about home. May it Be speaks of being "far from home," Gollum's Song says "you are lost--you can never go home," and Into the West finally promises that "the ships have come to carry you home." Home means any number of things in the story--The Shire, Valinor, Tol Eressa, but mostly just all the feelings that word carries with it. When the hobbits want to go home, they don't just want to go home geographically speaking. At the end of their lives, they seem to again feel this pull to "go home," which by then means they want to be by the others' sides, no matter where that may be.
See, these guys must have gotten these songs right because the one where the hero finally goes home is the one that makes you cry.