Annie Lennox : 100 BEAUTIFUL SONGS

Number 20 : Into The West by Annie Lennox from The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King Soundtrack in 2003

Grammy winner. Golden Globe winner. Oscar winner. “Into the West,” the song that wraps up Peter Jackson’s epic “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, is as epic and sweeping as might have been expected considering it’s from the brilliant minds of Howard Shore, Fran Walsh and Annie Lennox.

The song was released, at least promotionally, in both orchestral and acoustic versions, and several unofficial remixes took the song into ethereal realms of beauty.

Top 15 voters

John DesJardins1
Mark Taylor3
Jaume Brunet4
Steve Gayler4
Alexander Barton8
Cameron Carr8
Daniel T. Davis9
Wolfgang Nomi11
Matt Lee Newby13
Sverre Espeland14
Clem Stambaugh15
Rex Saldana16
Gabriel De Luca17
Jason Phelps19
Grace Gomez20
Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
The night is falling
You have come to journey’s end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore
Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see
All of your fears will pass away
Safe in my arms
You’re only sleeping
What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come to carry you home
And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
All Souls pass
Hope fades
Into the world of night
Through shadows falling
Out of memory and time
Don’t say
We have come now to the end
White shores are calling
You and I will meet again
And you’ll be here in my arms
Just sleeping
And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
Grey ships pass
Into the West

And, we hit the Top 20! Coming in at #20, is what many might consider Annie’s greatest crowning achievement. “Into The West,” from the soundtrack to ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King’ won not only an Oscar Award, but also a Grammy Award and Golden Globe Award, making it one of Annie’s highest awarded songs in her catalogue. The beautiful song itself was written by Lennox, in collaboration with Fran Walsh, and the film’s composer, Howard Shore.

The song resonates to many, exploring the themes of end, death, and journey. In fact, a look at the comments shown at the bottom of the SongFacts link, helps show, not only the power of this stunning piece of work, but of music in general.
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/annie-lennox/into-the-west 

– Dan Mueller

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