|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
dreamflower
Lorien
Aug 31 2015, 8:49pm
Post #1 of 24
(2957 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Why I Believe "The Last Goodbye" is the Perfect Last Song
|
Can't Post
|
|
Every year in August my Tolkien fanfic community runs a non-fiction challenge. Since my subject this year was about a movieverse element, I thought I'd post it here to see what others think of it.
It's an analysis of why I believe the song works so well as a finale to Peter Jackson's series of movies set in Middle-earth. Here it is, (apparently stripped of italics, which I do not seem able to edit back in):
The very first time I heard The Last Goodbye by Billy Boyd sung prior to the release of The Hobbit: the Battle of Five Armies. I was moved to tears. The song was all I could have hoped for as an ending to Peter Jackson's portrayal of Tolkien's Middle-earth through the course of six epic movies.
Of course, there is the element of satisfaction and appropriateness, that the person who portrayed Peregrin Took in The Lord of the Rings is now the one who sings this song. One can imagine Pippin, older and wiser than he was when he followed his cousins and friends into his own adventure paying tribute to the first of his cousins whose Adventure propelled theirs, as well as to the epic journey of which he was a part. There is a feeling about the song that Billy Boyd seems to be channeling Pippin once more.
And of course, it would be in character for Pippin to sing such a song, as he sang "The Edge of Night" in LOTR: The Return of the King (a song which Billy Boyd also composed the music for, to lyrics by Tolkien, slightly adapted). It is hard not to believe that when performing this song, Billy transports himself back to his role of Bilbo's young kin, but from a somewhat older perspective. It certainly feels that way to me.
I love music, but I am no musician, nor even a musical scholar. I cannot comment on the technical aspects of the melody, but I do have some personal observations on the music. There is a gentle wistfulness to the tune, beginning with those opening notes that seem almost like snowflakes, as it gradually leads into that sorrowful first verse. And there are places where some of the phrasing seems to lightly hint at the end song of LOTR: The Return of the King, "Into the West", by Annie Lennox, without losing its own originality. Throughout the song, the music maintains a sense of melancholy nostalgia.
But mostly, it is the lyrics that helps to anchor "The Last Goodbye" into, not just Peter Jackson's version of Middle-earth, but also to that of J.R.R. Tolkien's creation.
I saw the light fade from the sky;
On the wind I heard a sigh;
As the snowflakes cover my fallen brothers,
I will say this last goodbye.
This verse is clearly in Bilbo's POV. It is intensely personal and painful. The battle has ended in a victory won only through heartache and loss. Night is coming, the bitter day is over: "As the snowflakes cover my fallen brothers..." we are reminded that the fighting took place in the cold of winter. I had always known somewhere in the back of my mind that this portion of Bilbo's story took place in winter, but it took the film to show me what that meant in terms of the Battle.
The Dwarves were able to discover the entrance to the halls under the Lonely Mountain on Durin's Day: "when the last moon of Autumn and the sun are in the sky together" on first day of the dwarves' New Year, which was "the first day of the last moon of Autumn on the threshold of Winter." (TH, Chapter III, "A Short Rest"), and several days or perhaps even weeks, took place before the actual Battle of Five Armies took place. Peter Jackson showed us the snow, ice and bitter cold that would have accompanied the conflict.
In the books, the bleakness of a cold winter suits the tragedy of battle's end; while in the film, the landscape becomes a part of the story as snow and ice provide the treacherous footing for the fighters. Most particularly the fight between Thorin and Azog upon the ice actually depends on the weather. To call forth this imagery in the song ties it with these scenes.
With the phrase "...my fallen brothers..." we are made to understand Bilbo's grief: throughout the journey, he's developed a close, almost familial, bond with the Dwarves of Thorin's Company. They are his brothers now, but three of them are fallen, and he will miss them sorely. The snowflakes cover them, which seems to me to hint at the cold of sorrow and grief: both literally and figuratively, his friends are cold and gone.
Then comes the first refrain:
Night is now falling.
So ends this day;
The road is now calling
And I must away.
Over hill and under tree,
Through lands where never light has shone,
By silver streams that run down to the sea.
Followed by the three lines of the next verse:
Under cloud, beneath the stars,
Over snow on winter's morn,
I turn at last to paths that lead home.
Compare this to Tolkien's own version of "Roads Go Ever, Ever On" in the last chapter of The Hobbit:
Roads go ever, ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.
Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known.
(TH, Chapter XIX, "The Last Stage")
In comparing it to the first refrain, we see most strongly the influence of Tolkien's own poetry and songs. Something I noticed in Tolkien's poems is that frequently they are driven by prepositions, especially the "hobbit walking songs".
This is echoed in "The Last Good-bye", with "over", "under", "by" and "through". The song and the character in the song (whether Bilbo, Frodo, Pippin, or just some hobbit on a more homely journey) is propelled forward by these words that take him through a landscape easily imagined: hill and tree, lightless lands (clearly a reference to the darkness of the tunnels and caves), and streams. It reminds us of Tolkien's songs without quoting them exactly.
Then we come to the second refrain:
And though where the road then takes me
I cannot tell.
We came all this way
But now comes the day
To bid you farewell.
This is the point of the song: Bilbo is saying good-bye to those friends whom he has made on his odyssey. The purpose of the Adventure has ended; his friends have their home in the Lonely Mountain back, and it is time for him to go back to the home he has longed for almost ever since he left it.
And yet we see in the next verse what his quest has meant to him:
Many places I have been
Many sorrows I have seen
But I don't regret
Nor will I forget
All who took the road with me
These lines resonate with many layers of meaning: there is the personal meaning to Bilbo, who grew to deep friendship with those who took the road with him, especially those who are lost; there is the meaning that applies to the future, to Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin, who will return changed from their own quest with the memory of many sorrows and of people whom they grew to love, who took the road with them; and finally there is the more general and yet also deeply personal meaning to those who hear the song and can recall their own journeys and those they have loved, and maybe lost, along the way.
To me this verse is the best one of the song, and ties together all the movies, not just The Hobbit but also The Lord of the Rings. In it we can see Bilbo's face as he enters Bag End and says of Thorin "He was my friend", as well as the scene in The Green Dragon, in which the four hobbits toast the memories of their friends in LOTR: Return of the King.
There is another repetition of the first refrain:
Night is now falling
So ends this day
The road is now calling
And I must away
Over hill and under tree
Through lands where never light has shone
By silver streams that run down to the sea
Once again, we are drawn into the wider world of the books by this refrain, and in this repetition we can imagine Bilbo reminding himself that he cannot linger any longer. It brings us to the next verse:
To me, I think of Bilbo taking his deep breath to actually leave his friends behind. Here he is speaking to those friends who still remain, whom he may once more see again if they ever come his way, when "tea is at four".
To these memories I will hold,
With your blessing I will go,
To turn at last to paths that lead home.
And though where the road then takes me,
I cannot tell,
We came all this way
But now comes the day
To bid you farewell.
In the first verse, he bid "good-bye" to his fallen brothers. In this verse, he bids farewell to those surviving friends who are gathered there to fare him well, also. He reminds them he will hold on to all the memories he's made during his time with them, and asks their blessing on his departure.
It would seem the place to end the song, and yet, after a musical bridge, we are brought back to the place where the journey began: sixty years later, when Bilbo prepares a speech for others he's leaving behind:
I bid you all a very fond farewell.
These words are in a slow contemplative voice, they are in a completely different tone reminiscent of the way Bilbo spoke the words at his Birthday Party. We have come full circle, ending where we began in An Unexpected Journey.
Bilbo is going back. At one-hundred and eleven, he's ready to leave the Shire behind once more as he bids farewell to the home he had returned to. Again, I think of this as tying in not only the movies but the books. In the books he did pay one last visit to his friends in Erebor, in the films he didn't quite make it, but it was his intention when he left. Those to whom he's bidding farewell now are not the companions he bid farewell in the earlier part of the song, but those to whom he had come home, all those exasperating relatives who kept knocking on his door, as well as his more beloved kin.
And in these last words we can also go forward to another farewell as Frodo leaves the Shire behind as well, accompanying his beloved Bilbo on "one more adventure" at the Grey Havens. And to me it also reflects the books in the "fond farewell" Sam, Pippin and Merry also made another sixty years after their first journey ended.
Finally, it is a fond farewell to the magnificently imagined re-creation of Middle-earth that Peter Jackson and others had so painstakingly built for us over the course of the years. Others may someday have their own versions, but to this one, it is finished. It's a farewell, for we may come together with friends to see it again; but a visit only and never the bright newness we experienced before.
These observations reflect my own feelings about the song; I confess I cannot get enough of it, and it continues to bring a suspicious moisture to my eyes every time I hear it. I hope my musings on it may give other listeners food for thought.
Some people call it fanfiction. I call it story-internal literary criticism.
(This post was edited by dreamflower on Aug 31 2015, 8:52pm)
|
|
|
Ilmatar
Rohan
Aug 31 2015, 9:17pm
Post #2 of 24
(2870 views)
Shortcut
|
That was a thorough, moving and beautifully expressed analysis of the song. I especially liked the drawing of parallels and similarities in lyrics with Tolkien's own writing, and the way your thoughts capture the bittersweetness of the wistful farewells and painful losses experienced by Bilbo, who never was the same after his adventure. Thank you for posting!
(This post was edited by Ilmatar on Aug 31 2015, 9:22pm)
|
|
|
Glorfindela
Valinor
Aug 31 2015, 11:05pm
Post #3 of 24
(2801 views)
Shortcut
|
Ten times as eloquent as I could be and expresses so much that I feel about all the ME films.
Thank you.
|
|
|
dreamflower
Lorien
Sep 1 2015, 1:49am
Post #4 of 24
(2743 views)
Shortcut
|
I always look forward to our non-fic challenge, and I've been thinking about that song ever since I heard it. It seemed the perfect topic this year.
Some people call it fanfiction. I call it story-internal literary criticism.
|
|
|
dreamflower
Lorien
Sep 1 2015, 1:52am
Post #5 of 24
(2744 views)
Shortcut
|
It's such a lovely song.
Some people call it fanfiction. I call it story-internal literary criticism.
|
|
|
mo0on-light
The Shire
Sep 1 2015, 8:42am
Post #6 of 24
(2645 views)
Shortcut
|
this song is one of my fav songs is make me cry every time i hear it and make me sad that this song didn't get nomenate for any awards really why the song was so perfect but there is losers didn't nominate this song
|
|
|
Arannir
Valinor
Sep 1 2015, 9:52am
Post #7 of 24
(2625 views)
Shortcut
|
It IS a beautiful song... and listening to it, closing my eyes, Middle-earth really does come alive in front of my inner-eyes :)
"I am afraid it is only too likely to be true what you say about the critics and the public. I am dreading the publication for it will be impossible not to mind what is said. I have exposed my heart to be shot at." J.R.R. Tolkien
We all have our hearts and minds one way or another invested in these books and movies. So we all mind and should show the necessary respect.
|
|
|
dreamflower
Lorien
Sep 1 2015, 12:55pm
Post #8 of 24
(2584 views)
Shortcut
|
It was a real blow to me, almost insulting when a silly song like "Everything is Awesome" was nominated.
Some people call it fanfiction. I call it story-internal literary criticism.
|
|
|
Avandel
Half-elven
Sep 1 2015, 5:19pm
Post #9 of 24
(2520 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Beautifully written although....
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
(*Ducks*)
I'd put myself in that - it would seem? group of folks who don't care for the song, at all - although WAY back there was a thread discussing that as well -
but this is a lovely post.
And, of course, PJ has never called me to ask for advice, either. I just don't understand. 
|
|
|
dreamflower
Lorien
Sep 1 2015, 7:56pm
Post #10 of 24
(2462 views)
Shortcut
|
I didn't expect everyone to agree.
But I am interested in the other discussion. Link?
Some people call it fanfiction. I call it story-internal literary criticism.
|
|
|
NManfredi
Rivendell
Sep 2 2015, 1:20am
Post #11 of 24
(2418 views)
Shortcut
|
The song was all I could have hoped for as an ending to Peter Jackson's portrayal of Tolkien's Middle-earth through the course of six epic movies.
This are my thoughts exactly. This song is one of the greatest Middle-Earth songs from the six films, imo. And I couldn't ask for a better ending song to BOFTA. I think that Billy did a wonderful job in explaining how it felt to visit Middle-Earth once again, and at the same time having to say goodbye to that journey.
"Is it not a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt for so small a thing? So small a thing! And I have seen it only for an instant in the house of Elrond! Could I not have a sight of it again?"
|
|
|
dreamflower
Lorien
Sep 2 2015, 2:06am
Post #12 of 24
(2411 views)
Shortcut
|
I truly felt like he was channeling his character, Pippin, perhaps long after both Frodo and Bilbo left, perhaps sitting in the Thain's library with a copy of the Red Book, thinking fondly of them and of his own adventures.
I don't believe anyone else could have done the job he did with it.
Some people call it fanfiction. I call it story-internal literary criticism.
|
|
|
NManfredi
Rivendell
Sep 2 2015, 2:23am
Post #13 of 24
(2407 views)
Shortcut
|
He is a phenomenal artist indeed and I also feel like he put his heart on the lyrics. And I'm really glad it was him who wrote it and performed it. Now we have two songs by Pippin! hahaha
"Is it not a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt for so small a thing? So small a thing! And I have seen it only for an instant in the house of Elrond! Could I not have a sight of it again?"
(This post was edited by NManfredi on Sep 2 2015, 2:24am)
|
|
|
Avandel
Half-elven
Sep 2 2015, 7:26am
Post #14 of 24
(2392 views)
Shortcut
|
On a tablet which is hard to do links with, but for now it was the thread when the song was first released - it was pretty long as I recall. Will try to find it.
Hó , Það sé ég föður minn
Hó , Það sé ég móður mína, og Hó, Það sé ég bræður mínir og systur mínar
Hó , Það sé ég mitt fólk aftur í byrjun
Hó, gera Þeir kalla til mín, og bjóða mér að taka minn stað meðal þeirra í sölum Valhallar
Hvar hugrakkir mun lifa að eilífu
|
|
|
CathrineB
Rohan
Sep 2 2015, 9:04am
Post #15 of 24
(2380 views)
Shortcut
|
It's a great song. Easily my favorite credit song along with 'Into the West' maybe with an extra plus with the fact that I can actually hear the song when I'm outside 
But anyway yes I love it so much. A massive step up from DoS credit song which I really needed. I never noticed the similarties to Tolkien's own text so that was fun to see 
It's a very emotional song. It tugs at your hearstrings though. Def. the song to listen to when you feel emotional
|
|
|
dreamflower
Lorien
Sep 2 2015, 2:51pm
Post #16 of 24
(2348 views)
Shortcut
|
I appreciate it.
Some people call it fanfiction. I call it story-internal literary criticism.
|
|
|
dreamflower
Lorien
Sep 2 2015, 2:54pm
Post #17 of 24
(2340 views)
Shortcut
|
It's very easy to imagine the feelings and emotions of the characters of the song.
Another plus is that it is the first of the credit songs that I can actually sing when it is not playing. The words and melody are very user-friendly.
Some people call it fanfiction. I call it story-internal literary criticism.
|
|
|
dreamflower
Lorien
Sep 3 2015, 12:33am
Post #19 of 24
(2277 views)
Shortcut
|
I know it was a bit of work to dig those out. I appreciate it.
Fascinating to read people's initial reactions, good or bad, to the song when it first came out.
Apparently there are a LOT of people who recorded their reactions to the song's release video, and then posted those on YouTube. Most of them were bawling by the song's end.
Some people call it fanfiction. I call it story-internal literary criticism.
|
|
|
Avandel
Half-elven
Sep 3 2015, 5:48am
Post #20 of 24
(2251 views)
Shortcut
|
I only remembered the first one I mentioned, I had not realized there were a fair number - that is a great thing about TORn, you can relive everything you missed.
|
|
|
dormouse
Half-elven
Sep 3 2015, 7:07am
Post #21 of 24
(2248 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Bit late, but thanks for this....
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
...it's a lovely, sensitive post, beautifully expressed, and I agree with you. I don't think they could have come up with a better song or a more appropriate singer. I loved it from the first, but it was an especial joy to me to see it accompanied by character drawings in the style of RotK - just what I was hoping for.
|
|
|
dreamflower
Lorien
Sep 3 2015, 11:51am
Post #22 of 24
(2229 views)
Shortcut
|
When first viewing in the theater was that at the first note, people got up ang began streaming out in front of me, which was disappointing.
Thankfully I saw it again a few days later, and was able to fully enjoy the whole sequence. (I'm the sort of person who has always watched the credits, years before movie-makers started putting little treats in them.)
Some people call it fanfiction. I call it story-internal literary criticism.
|
|
|
Loresilme
Valinor
Sep 7 2015, 2:02am
Post #23 of 24
(2106 views)
Shortcut
|
I'm late to the discussion and can't say any more than has already been said so well by other posters.
Beautifully written and I really appreciated the analysis and linking of all the lyrics to the story.
Thanks .
|
|
|
dreamflower
Lorien
Sep 7 2015, 2:56am
Post #24 of 24
(2098 views)
Shortcut
|
I am glad that you enjoyed the analysis.
I listened to the song frequently, and as I did, I began to realize just how relevant it was to the story. As good as most of the songs in the films have been, THIS one seemed to really be a part of the story.
Some people call it fanfiction. I call it story-internal literary criticism.
|
|
|
|
|
