YOU ARE HERE: zharth.net / Zharth's Music Log / Week 163 (High Fantasy)
(Originally finalized on October 16, 2025)
Preface: Sometimes doing these themes feels like chiseling a statue (lovingly, yes - but also painstakingly) from a block of unrefined stone, and other times it hits me like a strike of lightning. I didn't think "songs inspired by Tolkien's Lord of the Rings" was a strong enough subject for a theme (especially because half of them are by Led Zeppelin) - and anyway, I've already spent a few of them on other themes with overlapping subjects. But all of a sudden I felt inspired, and with a few new discoveries, quickly found that I could put together a satisfying set of songs if I stretched the rules just a little bit.
Monday: Led Zeppelin - Ramble On [Led Zeppelin II, 1969]
Comments: It's no secret that Robert Plant was a fan of Tolkien. He named his dog Strider, and included references to The Lord of the Rings in many of Led Zeppelin's songs. The best is The Battle of Evermore, which I shared in The Enchanted World. But this is the most popular - an autumn ballad that evokes a palpable sense of wanderlust. "'Twas in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair. But Gollum, and the evil one, crept up and slipped away with her."
Tuesday: Rush - Rivendell [Fly By Night, 1975]
Comments: When I shared The Necromancer for my Witchcraft and Wizardry theme, I thought it was just describing a generic evil sorceror. As it turns out, it was actually inspired by Sauron from Lord of the Rings (who, at one time, was known as "The Necromancer"). Luckily, Rush has another song inspired by Tolkien's epic fantasy - this gentle lullaby named for one of the elves' most prominent habitations during the Third Age. "Elfin songs and endless nights; sweet wine and soft relaxing lights. Time will never touch you here, in this enchanted place."
Wednesday: Genesis - Stagnation [Trespass, 1970]
Comments: Whatever this says about me, I don't listen to very much Genesis, on account of their music not having enough loud screaming electric rock 'n' roll guitars to hold my interest. (Although it continues the vibe from our last song quite nicely). So it was only recently that I learned that this song was inspired by Lord of the Rings. While it doesn't name drop the character like Ramble On did, the lyrics fit Gollum and his subterranean lake to a T. "I wait forever beside the silent mirror, and fish for bitter minnows amongst the weeds and slimy water."
Thursday: Camel - Nimrodel/The Procession/The White Rider [Mirage, 1974]
Comments: Apparently, even now it's not too late for me to discover entirely new bands from the '70s! Not to be confused with the cigarette brand, Camel was a progressive rock band from England. Their sophomore album, Mirage, was released in 1974, and helped them to garner a cult following. Nimrodel was an elven maiden who lived in the golden forest of Lothlorien - the elves' other prominent habitation in Middle-earth - and gave her name to a nearby river. But this song's lyrics definitely describe the wizard Gandalf. "Once he wore grey. He fell and slipped away from everybody's sight. The wizard of them all came back from his fall - this time wearing white."
Friday: Joe Walsh - The Confessor [The Confessor, 1985]
Comments: Breaking away from the Lord of the Rings now, it was after reading the first book in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind (first published nine years after this song came out), that I listened to this song (a title track!) and noticed a striking similarity to a concept from the book. Namely, that there is a special type of person, called a "confessor", who has the power to look someone in the eyes and draw the truth out of them. "You can't hide from the eyes of the confessor. Don't you even try. In the eyes of the confessor, you cannot tell a lie."
Saturday: Journey - Wheel In The Sky [Infinity, 1978]
Comments: I'm taking some liberties to include this song, because it's a great song and I haven't had an opportunity to share it on this music log yet. From the first album the band recorded with new vocalist Steve Perry, it marks the turning point between their jazz rock fusion beginnings, and their more popular sell-out era. Although I'm not aware of it having any connection to any fantasy novels, I do find the concept of time being guided by a wheel in the sky reminiscent of a similar concept in the popular Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, which I've recently started rereading. "The wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'. I don't know where I'll be tomorrow."
Sunday: Black Sabbath - Behind The Wall Of Sleep [Black Sabbath, 1970]
Comments: In another near miss, Black Sabbath actually has a song inspired by Lord of the Rings, and it's even on the same album as this one! It's The Wizard, and I already shared it for my Witchcraft and Wizardry theme. But that just gives me this opportunity to pivot from fantasy to horror, and introduce this song named for a story by H.P. Lovecraft, about the hidden dangers that lurk deep in the dreaming realm, beyond where most people wander at night. "Feel your spirit rise with the breeze. See your body falling to its knees. Sleeping wall of remorse turns your body to a corpse."
Honorable Mention: Metallica - The Thing That Should Not Be [Master of Puppets, 1986]
Comments: I hear that if you venture into the realm of heavy metal, you can find a whole world of music inspired by Tolkien's works - especially the darker imagery. But, taking a lesson from the dwarven mines of Moria, Metallica is as deep as I'll delve in that direction. And, as we learned in Nineteen Eighty Four, they're a band that prefers the cosmic horror of H.P. Lovecraft to your stereotypical scenes of swords and sorcery, as demonstrated by this song from their celebrated album Master of Puppets. "Not dead which eternal lie. Stranger eons, death may die."