# Songs about great novels.



## Reaver (Aug 26, 2012)

_*To Tame a Land*_ by Iron Maiden is the only song I'm aware of that is a tribute to a famed novel. Does anyone know of any others?


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## FatCat (Aug 26, 2012)

Led Zeppelin was big into Tolkien, not sure if any specific novel was mentioned. No lie!
Ramble On - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## ShortHair (Aug 27, 2012)

"The Gates of Delirium" by Yes (on _Relayer_) was inspired by _War and Peace_.

Al Stewart, one of the most literate rockers I know of, has several. "The Sirens of Titan" (on _Modern Times_) obviously references the Vonnegut book. "One Stage Before" (on _Year of the Cat_) doesn't directly reference any book but deals with deja vu (or reincarnation or parallel universes or something). "A Man for All Seasons" (on _Time Passages_) draws from the play/movie about Thomas More. And those are only his first three albums.

_Tales of Mystery and Imagination_ by Alan Parsons Project is nothing but music based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. _I Robot_ is more loosely based on the works of Isaac Asimov.

I'm sure I could come up with more, but it's late.


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## Graylorne (Aug 27, 2012)

'Nightfall in Middle Earth' by Blind Guardian is a whole cd all about Tolkien. They've songs about Games of Thrones, Wheel of Time and others as well.

And the Tolkien Ensemble produced a complete series with all Tolkien's poems in song (with Christopher Lee als Treebeard). Very beautiful.

The late (2011) Dutch fantasy author W.J. Maryson produced two concept albums of his books, 'Master Magician' and 'On Goes The Quest'. The only place to find them is on Amazon.


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## CupofJoe (Aug 27, 2012)

As far as I go...
Leonard Nimoy - The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins [FULL VERSION] - best quality - YouTube


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## Steerpike (Aug 27, 2012)

Yeah, Nightfall Over Middle Earth is a great album, and the song "Nightfall" is one of my favorites on it:






The Iron Maiden song is great too, of course


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## Steerpike (Aug 27, 2012)

Also by Blind Guardian, The Wheel of Time:


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## ShortHair (Aug 27, 2012)

Well, I misunderstood. The thread didn't say anything about fantasy, so I went with some of my favorites from the world of art rock.

It may not count as fantasy, but I have to mention _Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds_. Wayne was a member of the Moody Blues, so the work has a classical vibe. Richard Burton reads passages verbatim from the book, and Susan Sarandon makes an appearance. You owe it to yourself to listen to it at least once.

Edit: Also have to mention Rick Wakeman's _Journey to the Center of the Earth_.


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## Butterfly (Aug 27, 2012)

Ooooo.... I've heard this subliminally all my life. Dad keeps playing it at night to get to sleep.

Anyway, It's even much better if you have the chance to see it live on stage. Lots of flame throwers and stuff, and great big mechanical aliens looming overhead.


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## Butterfly (Aug 27, 2012)

Songs though, the only ones I can think of are the theme songs to books that have been turned into film.

Like, The Neverending Story


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## Reaver (Aug 27, 2012)

FatCat said:


> Led Zeppelin was big into Tolkien, not sure if any specific novel was mentioned. No lie!
> Ramble On - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Thank you! I can't believe I forgot these songs.  Especially *The Battle of Evermore*.


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