These Five Songs Will Make All Your LOTR Dreams Come to Life

This piece of trivia may sound weird to some, but as soon as The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) hit bookstores in the mid-1950s, it became a significant influence on a wide variety of musical genres. There’s no denying how popular they’ve gotten, and it’s safe to say the story has become a pop culture phenomenon. Beginning in the late 1960s, lyrical references to Gandalf, Gollum, and other LOTR figures were commonplace across a wide range of musical styles, and this trend persisted throughout the decades that followed.

These days, some might look at people strangely if they suddenly start belting out songs about this epic story, but here are five songs about it that might sound oddly familiar once the tune begins playing.

1. Joni Mitchell Sang About It

The lyric “Fear is like a wilderland” from Joni Mitchell’s 1969 song “I Think I Understand” alludes to Tolkien’s Wilderland, the northern part of Middle-earth where the forest of Mirkwood is located. Mitchell introduced the song during the 1969 Mississippi River Festival, when she explained the phrase’s origin, saying it was an ode to the enchantress Galadriel. Mitchell was so inspired by Tolkien's fables that she wrote him letters and later called her music publishing firm ‘Gandalf Publishing.’

2. Camel Honored Gandalf Through a Song

The progressive rock band Camel retold the story of Gandalf's change from grey to white in a three-part, nine-minute epic on their 1974 album Mirage. Like many other fans, Andy Latimer, the singer, devoured the books and immersed himself in everything about it. So, it didn’t take long before he penned a song for the greatest wizard ever, Gandalf the Grey.

He figured taking it on a whole new level would work too, so Latimer made an album inspired by yet another book titled The Snow Goose authored by Paul Gallico. After receiving legal threats from Gallico, the band renamed their 1975 album from The Snow Goose to Music Inspired by The Snow Goose.

3. Bilbo Baggins Had His Own Ballad

In 1966, Leonard Nimoy released Mr. Spock’s Music From Outer Space, an album comprised entirely of songs about space that he sang in costume as his Star Trek persona. During the filming of 1968’s Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy, he tried something new. One side still focused on Spock, while the flip contained classic songs covered by other artists, such as Tim Hardin's “If I Were a Carpenter.” 

On the flip side was “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins,” a silly recounting of Bilbo's adventures in The Hobbit. In an interview in 2003, Nimoy revealed that the stories always had some sort of charm to them. He had a grand time reading the books, so why not make a song about it? Nimoy even went the extra mile and shot a music video for dear old Bilbo.

4. Frodo Got His Fair Share of Attention

The members of Flight of the Conchords, Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, made it quite evident that their Tolkien-inspired piece was for comic relief, whereas Leonard Nimoy left it up to listeners to judge. The song “Frodo, Don't Wear the Ring” parodies not just Frodo’s journey to Mordor but also the many musical styles that have been affected by Tolkien’s works, from folk to heavy metal. 

The tune was used in “The Actor,” an episode of the duo's HBO series, and it has also been played during live shows. Although McKenzie did not win a singing role, he did appear in several of Jackson's LOTR films.

5. Enya Might as Well Be a Middle-Earth Character

As a result of her work on the soundtrack for Peter Jackson's 2001 film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the name Enya will always be associated with the world of Middle Earth. She also sang “Anron,” the theme song for the movie’s power couple Arwen and Aragorn, which can be heard during the Council of Elrond. Another one of Enya’s tracks, “May It Be,” which was nominated for an Academy Award, plays throughout the finale.

However, the Irish singer's relationship with Tolkien transcends even that music by around ten years. She wrote the instrumental composition “Lothlórien” for her 1991 album Shepherd Moons in ode of Galadriel’s ethereal kingdom. Both she and her lyricist, Roma Ryan, are reported to be wildly ardent fans of Tolkien’s trilogy, so much so that her record label inquired whether she would like to be part of Jackson's films!

Of course, there are several more songs that aren’t on our list that also reference Tolkien’s incredible storytelling prowess. But we’d like to think the ones mentioned here take the cake for getting the fans’ nod of approval. Wouldn’t you agree?