Well, I’m obviously late to my own party here, is it Thursday already?
What, no? It’s Friday?
Shit.
Well it’s still ‘next week’ and so we continue with my series on the Top 5 Songs that inspire my writing, and we’re actually on to one of my favorites.
If my impeccable timing doesn’t win them over my dry humor will.
In all seriousness we’re off to a song that I turn to more often than not when I’m in the mood for some particularly fantasy-inspired or otherwise deviously emotional writing.
I speak of course of the Rains of Castamere.
It’s significant not because of its place necessarily in the novels or the books but because it is, at the moment, one of the more obvious examples of a perfect villainous theme- and there’s something beautiful about that.
We’re all of course familiar enough with the Imperial March of Star Wars fame, but at the very least I wasn’t alive to hear it first play and instill in my that sense of Imperial power, might, and fear. Jaw’s theme is likewise as familiar but less weighty than others.
My generation grew up in the era of the great Disney Villain song, which has now also faded from memory as Disney has decided the pure evil genre of villain has worn out its welcome (they’re wrong, by the by). A familiar theme (Be Prepared is always a classic, although I myself am more a fan of Hellfire) but no longer particularly relevant.
In a similar vein the Davy Jones theme nearly made it onto this list but it has also faded recently.
But the Rains of Castamere, at least among fans of A Song of Ice and Fire, or the show that wilted in its own shadow, is a theme familiar enough for this generation and a fitting example of a villain theme in line with the weight and influence of the others, but at once historic in its place in the books and modern for the themes and seriousness it portrays in the text.
From this first angle, the worldbuilding perspective, the song is a masterpiece. It invokes the history of House Lannister, a major player of the game of thrones, and how it triumphed under the rule of Tywin over its rebellious vassals to become one of the most feared and powerful houses in Westeros. The song plays a joke on the name of House Reyne of Castamere, a former vassal whose rebellion the Lannisters crushed and then immortalized in this song.
“And who are you, the proud Lord said, that I must bow so low? Only a cat of a different coat, that’s all the truth I know.”
The Lannisters have a golden lion in their sigil, whereas the Reynes have a red lion, and thus begins the reasoning of the rebellious lord.
“In a coat of gold, or a coat of red, a lion still has claws. And mine are long and sharp, my Lord, as long and sharp as yours.”
The Reynes reason they’re as powerful as the other lion-themed house, and rise up. The words are not backed by any real claws or muscle, as it turns out, and the song almost sounds bored with the Reyne boast.
“And so he spoke, and so he spoke, that Lord of Castamere…”
The rebellion results in the family’s absolute destruction.
“And now the rains (ha, wordplay) weep o’er his hall, with no one there to hear…”
In another stroke it now serves as a warning against anyone else who’d rise against them, as Jamie Lannister explains in some of the extra features from Game of Thrones alluded: “When disciplining unruly houses, most lords send armies. My father Tywin only had to send a singer.”
If your theme is recognized in-universe as something to be feared, you’ve made it.
That’s the horror of hearing the Rains of Castamere at any festive occasion.
Those who’ve read or seen either of the series will know this implication.
From a second look, related to the first, I think the lyrics of the song provide that same inspiringly chilly vibe that a villainous theme requires. That’s the beauty of things like Disney Villain songs, and perhaps this should be considered something of that nature for an older audience. You get the same kind of boastful exuberance in the first bit of the song that build towards some kind of dramatic, emotional conclusion, but then it’s so wonderfully undercut by the stark (no pun intended) realization at the end that is itself, in muted terms, a wonderful boast.
That’s all the song need do. Here are the stakes, here’s the outcome, and here’s what went down. We’re top… uh… lion, the Lannisters say.
There’s something to be admired in its darkness, and fun in that boast, if you’re a fan of that kind of thing.
In another angle, the composition of the song for the show gave us an easily sung, nearly catchy tune that at once relays the ominous nature of the Rains of Castamere as well as providing fans with a readily accessible way to presenting it to, well, themselves. That last bit may not make a lot of sense but consider humming the tune of the Imperial March near a Star Wars fan, and you get a similar effect. In a show with no limit of fantastic musical numbers (always a fan of the main theme here), Rains of Castamere stands out as something at once haunting, beautiful, and chilling.
For these reasons I feel as though the song earns its place in terms of writing inspiration. It’s a song that plays into the world, literally, and the worldbuilding of the show. A tune that’s familiar for my friends and all the more powerful for it. It’s a villain theme for a new age, and one that, by nature of its setting and purpose, feels almost timeless.
Yes, now the rains weep o’er his hall, and not a soul to hear.