12.02.2022 - 18:23Rating: 10
First of all: I fucking love this album. I really do. My favorite song on it is Morthond.
Now, I have read the lyrics here for Morthond and I've searched the internet for other variants of the lyrics, but no matter which ones I read, I simply cannot understand the chorus and since I currently don't have a copy of this album (embarrassing, I know), I have no idea if the booklet even has any lyrics at all. I've ordered a fresh copy, but it'll probably take a week until I get it.
Anyway, assuming the booklet doesn't have lyrics (since they're all taken from Tolkien anyway), I was wondering how the fuck people have been able to tell what exactly they're singing there.
For those who don't know, the lyrics are taken from Tolkien's "Song of the Mounds of Mundsburg" which was in LotR, written by some unknown poet about the siege of Gondor and the battle on the Pelennor Fields (you've all seen the movies, right? Because SPOILERS if you haven't). Here are the lyrics from the book (I highlighted the bits that are supposed to be in the song):
We heard of the horns in the hills ringing,
the swords shining in the South-kingdom,
Steeds went striding to the Stoningland
as wind in the morning. War was kindled.
There Théoden fell, Thengling mighty,
to his golden halls and green pastures
in the Northern fields never returning,
high lord of the host. Harding and Guthláf,
Dúnhere and Déorwine, doughty Grimbold,
Herefara and Herubrand, Horn and Fastred,
fought and fell there in a far country:
in the Mounds of Mundburg under mould they lie
with their league-fellows, lords of Gondor.
Neither Hirluin the Fair to the hills by the sea,
nor Forlong the old to the flowering vales
ever, to Arnach, to his own country
returned in triumph; nor the tall bowmen,
Derufin and Duilin, to their dark waters,
meres of Morthond under mountain-shadows.
Death in the morning and at day's ending
lords took and lowly. Long now they sleep
under grass in Gondor by the Great River
Grey now as tears, gleaming silver,
red then it rolled, roaring water:
foam dyed with blood flamed at sunset;
as beacons mountains burned at evening;
red fell the dew in Rammas Echor.
The verses sound like they've been changed in minor ways for the song. "War was kindled" sounds more like "war was there". "Roaring water" sounds more like "clearest water" (at least I can definitely here an "s" in there), even though that makes no sense (since it's supposed to describe the river water being red with blood after the battle). And "as beacons" (not "bacon", dammit) may have become "as flowers" or "as towers" (if you remember LotR, this might be a reference to the scene where they light the beacons in towers built on mountaintops to ask Theoden for help in the upcoming battle). Maybe someone with better hearing than me (I'm 50% impaired on both ears) can confirm or deny these claims.
Now as for the chorus... man, the motherfucking chorus. I *know* that every website claims the chorus starts with "[something-something], dark waters, [meres of?] Morthond". Are people actually *hearing* this or do they just assume that's what they're singing? Sure, the song is called "Morthond", so obviously the line with "dark waters" and "Morthond" must be in there somewhere, right?
Frankly, from what I can understand (which is not much), the first time the chorus comes on, the pacing of the words and syllables sound more like the lyrics start at "Theoden fell" and end at "in the Northern fields, never returning" (I think, not sure tho). Then there's the short instrumental bit with the keyboard coming on and the lyrics continue. Do they continue at "Harding and Guthlaf" and end at "Herufara and Herubrand" (or at "Horn and Fastred, fought and fell"; hard to say how many "ands", "ofs" and "thes" are actually being pronounced and how many of them are swallowed up in the rest of the words)? Does the second chorus then use (some of) the rest of the lyrics, including the Morthond line? Does the second chorus start at "in the mounds of Mundsburg"? No fucking clue
Sorry for this rant, but like I said, I really, really love this album and I'm particularly fond of this song, Plus I love Tolkien's Middle-Earth books.
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That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die.