5 Songs Based on Game of Thrones

Does anyone still care for Game of Thrones these days? Apparently so, since we're getting House of the Dragon this August, though book fans continue to wonder if The Winds of Winter is ever coming.

Anyway, if you're still along for the ride and feeling like going on a trip down memory lane, here are some songs that you may or may not know have been written for the show and the books.

Karliene - You Live or You Die

Karliene, like most of the other artists in this list, rose to fame on YouTube, notably through her film and TV inspired music with Celtic infusions.

This one's title is a dead giveaway, isn't it? But she's done plenty more. She has an entire YouTube playlist of songs she's written for the books, including one Sansa's Hymn, The Red Woman for Melisandre, A Woman's Game for Cersei, and even a song for the Jonerys shippers out there.

A raven flies from the North to the sea

A dragon whispers her name in the East

A cold iron throne holds a boy

Barely grown

A crown laced in lies

You win or you die

The watcher waits on the northern wall

A daughter picks up a warrior’s sword

A cold iron throne holds a boy

Barely grown

A crown laced in lies

You win or you die

Miracle of Sound - When Winter Comes

Miracle of Sound is an Irish indie musician known for his music inspired by video games, films, and TV shows. One of his early songs, Commander Shepard, is based on the character from the Mass Effect series of the same name, went viral and eventually amassed millions of views, leading to his rapid rise in popularity. In traditional video game style, his albums are named in increasing levels – Level 1, Level 2, and so on.

When Winter Comes is from Level 5, but like Karliene, it's hardly his only Game of Thrones song. He's also written Halfman's Song for Tyrion, Mother of Flame for Dany, No One for Arya, When the Wolves Cry Out for Jon, and Only Us for Cersei and Jaime.

When winter comes

When life is frozen

When the moors they hide away under the snow

Fingers of doom

Will clutch the chosen

All beasts will shiver, from the lion to the crow

Paola Bennet - Timbers and Wind

I actually learned about this fan song through Peter Hollens' cover, where he mentioned that the original version was found on Tumblr. The lyrics are quite descriptive so it's really not for the faint of heart... but if you're a fan of the show or the books or both, you must be used to it by now, right?

Now there once was a time when the northerners sang

Of a king they had crowned, more a boy than a man

More a pup than a wolf, with the cold of the realm in his eyes

He'd broken a vow to the lord of the Twins

Wed a stranger, a beauty, but a promise there'd been

So the Lord Frey demanded a bridegroom as compromise

And the timbers groaned

River wind softly moaned

"For the King in the North doesn't know

How a red wedding goes"

Dominik Omega - Arya's Prayer

This is just one of the slew of songs from Catch the Throne, a two-volume mixtape commissioned by HBO to help promote the series. It featured hip hop artists like Snoop Dogg and Daddy Yankee, as well as music and some voices from the show itself. Volume I was released in 2014 and Volume II followed a year later, prior to the beginning of Season 5.

Watch it all come around as I lay on the ground

Joffrey, Cersei, Ilyn Payne, the Hound

They all think I'm lost but I know where I'm found

I'm the blood in the North when it all comes down

My word is my bond and my bond is my word

Valar Dohaeris, all men must serve

See as a raven flies and time slips by

Valar Morghulis, all men must die

Beth Crowley - Empire

Beth Crowley is a pop singer who rose to fame on YouTube by writing fan songs for books. In 2013 she posted Warrior, inspired by Cassandra Clare's book series The Mortal Instruments, and fans came to recognize it as the books' unofficial anthem, with Clare herself calling the song "lovely." Her book-inspired music includes songs based on series like the Dark Artifices, Divergent, The Lunar Chronicles, The Hunger Games, and Six of Crows, and she later went on to write commissioned custom songs.

She released Empire in 2020, perfectly nailing Season 8's Daenerys. (This is one good thing that came out of that season, at least.)

I'm gonna build me an empire

And it's lonely at the top

But madness and greatness

Can both share a face

And nobody will ever convince me to stop

It's my destiny

I was born to play this game

So fear me or love me

It's all the same