Will there be songs in the movies?

Will the characters break into song onscreen as they do in the pages? To some audience members, it may seem corny. Plus, the actors aren't being picked for their musical talents, so they might not be very good at singing. I think it might be best if they cut most of the songs, to move things along a bit and also so that the general audience doesn't get distracted. I think the Elves should sing their songs, but I don't think the hobbits need to sing.

Well, one Hobbit is going to have to get up on a table and sing at some point.......

yep. and hobbits won´t be the same without some "water hot"

Heh, I was actually going to ask that exact question here today... you beat me to it, bmilder :b

I'd say the songs were really one of the kind of things that made Tolkien's works as much of a work of genius as they are... the overall depth being the other big feature.

I cannot visualize having this movie without the tale of Beren and Luthien in the song that Aragorn recites in Fellowship chapter 11... even more so because of how Arwen's role has been expanded. Besides, the primary significance of Aragorn and Arwen's relationship is largely based on the parallelism to the tale of Beren and Luthien, as is noted several times in LOTR.

Perhaps they will be recited as prose, instead of given a melody - I think this would be most effective.

It would be fine with me if they were recited, but I can't imagine Frodo NOT singing on the table....that is what you usually do in pubs....sing.

That one being the exception, of course!

THEY HAD BETTER SING! If the actors are tone-deaf, they can dub someone else's voice. THERE MUST BE SONGS!!!!!!!

..... Elanor has spoken......

TLOTR could never be trully good without "the road goes ever on"

I don't recall where I read this, but supposedly the characters WILL be breaking into song occasionally. Regard that as a rumor until someone can find it as a credible source, but it HAS been reported SOMEWHERE on the Web. For what it's worth.

I can't imagine ze moviez wizout zat sad song zat actually made me cry when Boromir died. It waz ze saddezt part of LOTR for me. If you're wondering, what I like to do when reading LOTR, is to add various melodies zat I've heard in ze pazt to ze songz, whichever melody seemz appropriate. I sang ze Boromir song aloud in my head to an extremely sad tune, and ze effect waz great.
I dearly hope zat zey'll put zat song in ze movie; it goes well wiz it too.

I hope the rumor is true, and I really hope they do the songs justice with the music they put to them

The music they put to them is the part I'd be most worried about.

Ah IronParrot!! A good point you have there.
My feelings exactly... It would be a tragedy if "The Road Goes Ever On" were sang to the tune of "A Spoonful of Sugar". :-D

I trust that PJ will take good care of the music, but I really don't think that all or even most of the songs will be included; IMHO it would be too much of a drag for those of the audience who are not devoted Tolkien fans, as we are.

They have to include Frodo singing in the bar, as it is pivotal to the story (sorta), but seeing as how they cut Tom Bombadil & the Barrow-Wights, you never can be sure what part of the story they're going to mangle next... :-(

Yeah, the general audience wouldn't really go for all those songs. I suspect that the only singers will be the elves, and they can cast them to have good voices, and maybe "The Road Goes Ever On" will be sung at some point. Most of the songs aren't particularly essential to the story, so they'll be the first to go.

Cutting Tom Bombadil kinda kills off a great deal of the songs - but in order of importance and necessity, here's how I'd rank them.

1. The one Frodo sings in the Prancing Pony - absolutely essential.
2. The song as Boromir's remains are sent down the Anduin - I can't see how that would be done without it.
3. Beren and Luthien - if they're expanding on Arwen's role, to ditch this would almost be hypocritical.
4. At least something sung by Treebeard - to leave it out would be, hrm, hasty.

There are many others, but the above are really important, I must say.

I actually think "The Road Goes Ever On" is more important then everything but the Prancing Pony table song, since it holds the story together so well.

Argh! How could I miss that!

The biggest thing to worry about would be that "The Road Goes Ever On" will end up being a duet sung by Elton John and Mariah Carey!!

Right! :lol: