Once Upon a Bard…

Hello people! How are you? And how are your reading going? I really hope that this month is going well! I disappeared for a bit, because of the new puppy (he is the cutest being ever! And I would talk more about him on Sunday’s post, I promise) and it wasn’t planned but I am here again, maybe! So… let’s start!
Today I am here with something a little bit different… Truth be told, I should be writing some reviews, but I am not in the right mood, and since we are celebrating Wyrd and Wonder, and all things fantasy, today I have decided to try to talk to you about… drums roll please… songs that are inspired by fantasy books!

IMAGE CREDITS: Flaming phoenix by Sujono Sujono | Decorative phoenix by Tanantachai Sirival – both from 123RF.com

To be honest, I got the idea from a blog tour, The Bookshelf Symphony Orchestra’s one, in which were presented the album by Austin Farmer, inspired by some of the books that he has read, and so here we are… with a fantasy edition of music inspired by books! I would have loved to leave you the video in this post, but I can’t, so I would let you the links to YouTube.
There are a ton of songs inspired by literature, and I couldn’t post them all, so I have chosen some of them, sometimes I chose it for the song, sometimes for the book that inspired it, but I hope you would enjoy this post!
I would list some of them but, as per usual, there is no particular order to my list, ready??

1. Hand of Sorrow by Within Temptation is a song inspired by The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. I have a long relationship with this trilogy, and it is full of feelings, and it is quite a complicated one. But I loved this series, and above all, I loved its characters. I don’t speak enough of this series, but if you haven’t read it, well… you need to do it, and you need to do it now!
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6ppAOG9k0s
   
   

   

   
2.  The Bard’s Song – The Hobbit by Blind Guardian is, obviously, inspired by The Hobbit. There are a lot of songs that were inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, so I just choose this one, mostly because it was inspired from The Hobbit and not from The Lord of the Rings as the majority of them.
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUJqhfIJKBo
   
   

   
3.  Edema Ruh by Nightwish is inspired by The Name of The Wind. This is one of my favorite books ever, and to me it is forever linked to a song by George Ezra, Do you hear the rain? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbfHe3nd_Lo), because this song came out when I was rereading this book and I listened to it, time and again, while I was reading, and to me this song speaks about Kvothe. But the two, song and books, aren’t linked outside of my mind. While the Nightwish’s song is really inspired by the book. Isn’t it amazing? And since I mentioned that the idea for this post came to me thanks to The Bookshelf Symphony Orchestra, I have to mention that in this album there is a song inspired from this book, so go and check that out, too!
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BfakYUK-0Q
   
4. End of the Universe by S.P.O.C.K. is inspired by The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adam. And I know that this book is not really fantasy, strictly speaking, but we can make an exception for The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, right?????
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGmOOTlCHug
   
5. Moon Over Bourbon Street by Sting is inspired by Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. This was not my favorite book from this author, but it is the one that has the most lasting impression on our culture, or so it seems, and this song is describing a character from that book.
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i_0PkOqLKA
6. Raistlin and the Rose by The Lake of Tears is inspired by the series  Dragonlance  by M. Weis and T. Hickman. This was the series that made me love the fantasy genre, and Raistlin was my favorite character, so I just had to put this song in the list!
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oywjqkBVLg4
   
   

   

   

    

7. The Soulforged by Blind Guardian is inspired not only from the same series, but from the same character. And since, as I have said, Raistlin was my favorite, I have to nominate this song, too! Sorry, not sorry!
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIdzJnbUb5g
8. Ride Into Obsession by Blind Guardian is inspired by The Wheel of the Time by Robert Jordan. It is a massive series, and it is one that I haven’t finished yet. And I won’t finish it for quite some time, too. I fear I would have to reread it from the start and so… it is waiting for the right time, because this is a monumental series, and I am glad to find some music inspired by it!
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDnBkYgxL1I
   
   

   

   

    

   Special Guests:

9.  Beauty and the Beast by Nightwish. This is not inspired by a book, but by a story, but I think this is the right place for it anyway. And this song is my favorite retelling of this story!
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVAOXgNoX-8
10. Jillian by Whithin Temptation is inspired by Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr. I discovered this while I was doing research for this post, and the thing, Jillian is one of my favorite songs by this group, and the book is on my TBR since forever. So I just had to share this new discovery with you all!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOYgWyZ4Qz8
    

To be honest, there are a ton of songs inspired by books, especially fantasy books, but I have chosen some that are inspired by books that I have read. I have to admit that not all the songs are amazing, but I hope you would enjoy this post nonetheless!

Do you know these songs? Or have you other songs inspired by books to recommend? Let me know!!!!

Happy reading!
S.