"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground."

July 5, 2011 9:33 AM

A Song of Ice and Fire [SLYT] Game of Thrones Violin Cover. An acoustic and electric violin cover of the main theme song from Game of Thrones. Arranged and performed by Jason Yang. Original song and soundtrack by Ramin Djawadi.
posted by Fizz (55 comments total)

An acoustic guitar version by Ramin Djawadi
posted by Perplexity at 9:38 AM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.

I see what you did there.

Nice video. I love the music in the show.
posted by King Bee at 9:42 AM on July 5, 2011

Pretty cool, though you have to be a real Lannister to afford fancy violin lessons and the time it takes to film yourself playing parts of a song 16 times.
posted by mathowie at 9:43 AM on July 5, 2011 [4 favorites]

I was under the impression that "a Lannister always plays the flute."
posted by nathancaswell at 9:46 AM on July 5, 2011 [3 favorites]

@Perplexity

That cover is not by Ramin Djawadi. As the musician says in his description: "Here's my rendition of the super fantastic main theme from the winner of a tv series that is Game of Thrones, as composed by Ramin Djawadi."
posted by The Thnikkaman at 9:54 AM on July 5, 2011

We're still having the thread for the release of A Dance With Dragons in a week, right? Someone feed my cats.
posted by ersatz at 9:58 AM on July 5, 2011 [3 favorites]

A Lannister would hire someone to play the flute for them, nathancaswell. And they would play this.
posted by Lemurrhea at 9:59 AM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh God, ADWD. I checked online at Chapters to pre-order, but then I'd have to get it shipped - so it would take longer & I'd pay shipping. So I called the local chapters, looking to hold it, but they don't do that over the phone. So my options are either heading up a 2km hill just to reserve the book for next week, or hope that it doesn't sell out. I'm super-worried and might take my lunch break next week to go buy it just in case.

Ooh, or I could call the downtown local bookstore. Brb.
posted by Lemurrhea at 10:02 AM on July 5, 2011

Keep the devil way down in the hole... (down in the hole down in the hole down in the hole down in the hole down in the hole)
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:15 AM on July 5, 2011 [3 favorites]

After watching the show I started in on the books last week while on vacation. I just finished the second.

As long as the third book is a description of people stabbing Joffrey over and over and over for a thousand pages, we're all good.

Also, that cover was fantastically done.

Was the theme composed for the show? Or was it written beforehand? Did George Martin have a role in crafting it at all?
posted by kbanas at 10:16 AM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh crap.

Was that a spoiler? Does that count as a spoiler? Did I spoil something? BAH.
posted by kbanas at 10:17 AM on July 5, 2011

We're still having the thread for the release of A Dance With Dragons in a week, right?

Wait, what? That totally caught me off guard.

Goodbye family, friends, food.
posted by Orange Pamplemousse at 10:17 AM on July 5, 2011

Lemurrhea: if you have a Windows PC (or an iPhone or an iPod Touch), you can get the Kindle edition for $10.
posted by russilwvong at 10:19 AM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

A Dance with Dragons
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:20 AM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Also, does anyone else ever get slightly befuddled by all the families, keeps, territories, lands, heirs, nephews, uncles, cousins, sisters, brothers, knights, and lords? Because sometimes I feel like I need a flow-chart, and I don't want to be stupid but, seriously, it seems dense.
posted by kbanas at 10:20 AM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

kbanas, think of it as training, to get you in shape for reading the Russian novelists.
posted by BrashTech at 10:26 AM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Also, does anyone else ever get slightly befuddled by all the families, keeps, territories, lands, heirs, nephews, uncles, cousins, sisters, brothers, knights, and lords? Because sometimes I feel like I need a flow-chart, and I don't want to be stupid but, seriously, it seems dense.

This might help.
posted by inire at 10:27 AM on July 5, 2011

kbanas, I found the plethora of wiki info available online to be really helpful. Even the official HBO site has lots of stuff on the families and their histories as well as all their members. Even the actual map of the land helped understand the stories.
posted by mathowie at 10:28 AM on July 5, 2011

I can read ADWD in 3 days, right? Because I've got a wedding or something that weekend, and I think the preacher and my fiance might be upset if I skip it.

The violin arrangement is awesome, and fun to watch. Jason Yang has way more patience than I do, though.
posted by specialagentwebb at 10:28 AM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

For keeping up with people, I recommend the Tower of the Hand site, which has articles on most everyone, and let's you set a site wide preference for what books you've read, to eliminate spoilers.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 10:34 AM on July 5, 2011

Oh, that's helpful!

Thanks. I have been going to the Game of Thrones wiki, but I've been spoiled a couple times while rooting around in there so I wanted to keep it to a minimum. It sounds like the "Tower of the Hand" site might work because you can set a preference to eliminate spoilers. That's fantastic.
posted by kbanas at 10:37 AM on July 5, 2011

I opened this thread for the ASOI&F in-jokes, and was moderately satisfied.
posted by thedaniel at 10:40 AM on July 5, 2011

Related: Game of Thrones Theme (8 bit style remix)
posted by sharkfu at 10:40 AM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Just to be clear on the Tower of the Hand, comments might not follow the site-wide preferences (because that would require users being good people or really impressive computer systems), so you may not want to read them. But it is a great resource.

Thanks russilwvong, but I want the paper copy - in addition to my own desire not to read on my computer screen, I've got a few people to lend the book to when I'm done. You know how it is.
posted by Lemurrhea at 10:44 AM on July 5, 2011

The A Dance With Dragons cover art has been leaked, and I'm pretty excited.
posted by Wolfdog at 10:54 AM on July 5, 2011 [7 favorites]

Game of Thrones Theme (8 bit style remix)

GoT would actually work very well as a Defender of the Crown clone.
posted by Iridic at 11:27 AM on July 5, 2011

The second season of Game of Thrones is going to be called Game of Thrones: Clash of Kings, or GoT CoK
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:32 AM on July 5, 2011

The second season of Game of Thrones is going to be called Game of Thrones: Clash of Kings, or GoT CoK

Spoiler: all the gay sex I've seen in the series was actually played out in season 1, when Loras went down on Renly.

Why ... yes, I do keep track of these things, why do you ask?
posted by me & my monkey at 11:40 AM on July 5, 2011

I'm thinking I'm going to get aDwD for my Kindle iPhone app. I hate reading giant hardcover tomes. They're unwieldy, and I think I'll be better off squinting for a thousand pages.

I wish they'd just release soft cover editions right off the bat. I don't care about price, but who wants to carry and read a thing the size of a shoe box?
posted by jeff-o-matic at 12:12 PM on July 5, 2011

As long as the third book is a description of people stabbing Joffrey over and over and over for a thousand pages, we're all good.

Possible Spoiler for ASOIF

I came to the conclusion somewhere around page 700 of ASOS that ASOIF is a series for emotional masochists. I.e. don't hold your breath waiting for those knives.

Looks like I have another week to read Feast of Crows. To be honest, I haven't heard good things ...

The second season of Game of Thrones is going to be called Game of Thrones: Clash of Kings, or GoT CoK

Great. Now I have to change my Vietnamese porn star name to Kok Leung.
posted by mrgrimm at 12:22 PM on July 5, 2011

Looks like I have another week to read Feast of Crows. To be honest, I haven't heard good things ...

I've not been disappointed by it. Then again, I read all four in a row and was completely engrossed in the story at the time. Perhaps A Feast for Crows was more disappointing for those who had to wait five years for it.
posted by chundo at 12:37 PM on July 5, 2011

Good to know. Thanks. That will bolster my effort. It looks like a lot of odd character chapters and lots of Cercei, which sounds OK to me.
posted by mrgrimm at 1:09 PM on July 5, 2011

That was BEAUTIFUL!

(sorry about the caps, but I just figured out capslock on my phone)!!
posted by Sweetmag at 1:18 PM on July 5, 2011

Reading Feast for Crows now, in a hurry to be all done when ADWD comes out. Its good - it shifts focus and pace a bit, but its definitely good. But I've been reading them back to back so for me its one giant blob of unbelievably entertaining timesuck, really. Speaking of which, I heard of this series for the first time on mefi just a few months ago, and I blame you mefi for all the skipped meals, showers, and beers. And now I blame you for this earworm too. Thanks guys, thanks a lot.

Oh and Cersei - she's up there with Tony Soprano's mom in fictional moms I'll never forget. (don't read too much into that, not a spoiler.)
posted by tempythethird at 1:19 PM on July 5, 2011

Eh, I'm Not A Fan of AFfC, and that's from someone who thinks the first 3 books were easily the best of this sort of fantasy since Tolkien. Without competition. But it's an interregnum. The great majority of the book by page count is from PoVs that we've never seen before. It feels... jarring. There's no feeling of continuity. I feel that it was a serious misstep and I don't have any confidence that Martin can get the story back under control.
posted by Justinian at 2:39 PM on July 5, 2011

Great rendition, but God, so much vibrato. I know it's nitpicky, but sweet Jesus, not every note needs a quarter tone of difference above and below it.
posted by SNWidget at 3:11 PM on July 5, 2011

The Kindle edition's showing up as $14.99 for me.
posted by designbot at 3:35 PM on July 5, 2011

Eh, I'm Not A Fan of AFfC, and that's from someone who thinks the first 3 books were easily the best of this sort of fantasy since Tolkien. Without competition. But it's an interregnum. The great majority of the book by page count is from PoVs that we've never seen before. It feels... jarring. There's no feeling of continuity. I feel that it was a serious misstep and I don't have any confidence that Martin can get the story back under control.

That's been the general consensus from friends.

Based on the first book and then the second, I started to get the eerie feeling that GGRM has no idea how to end a story and that any ending is going to be massively unsatisfying. I suppose that ending will come in ~2021, if it comes at all ...
posted by mrgrimm at 4:00 PM on July 5, 2011

So, as you probably figured, I bought all four books and I'm going the "info dump" route as I've consumed about 2,000 pages of it in the past two weeks. So, as someone who just finished the second book, I have a question, and I can't find the answer on the wikis, and it's really bothering me, and I want to ask, but even if I wrap it in a spoiler tag I'm frightened I might ruin it for someone. It relates to what I was talking about earlier - keeping track of all the houses and alliances and such - and trying to understand why someone does something. Do you think if I put a warning in it would be sufficient to ask? Or is there anyone who volunteers to try to answer via MeMail? :)
posted by kbanas at 4:21 PM on July 5, 2011

kbanas, I know that people have asked on AskMe before, with the spoilery parts after the jump. If you want to MeMail me, I can try to answer any questions, although it's been a while since I read the first two.
posted by specialagentwebb at 4:58 PM on July 5, 2011

kbanas, I've re-read all 4 of them in the past month, feel free to message me if you want. Or, yeah, AskMe is probably better than here offhand.
posted by Lemurrhea at 6:13 PM on July 5, 2011

Search results for game of thrones ukulele
No video results for “game of thrones ukulele”

Yeah, let's see how long that lasts.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 6:35 PM on July 5, 2011

The last book disappointed me even though I listened to them all in audiobook format back to back. Loved the first three, bored by the fourth. Too many new, less interesting characters and too little John, Arya, and Tyrion.
posted by Thoughtcrime at 7:03 PM on July 5, 2011

I also have been reading all the books one after the other since I heard about it here a few months ago and its been really an amazing read. I watched the HBO season 1 first, then started reading the books. I wasn't really fond of the 2nd book so much and I'm on the third one now.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how HBO will bring all the things north of the Wall to life. Should be great.
posted by dealing away at 8:10 PM on July 5, 2011

kbanas, I'm also happy to field questions if you'd like to memail me.
posted by coriolisdave at 9:04 PM on July 5, 2011

I'm really looking forward to seeing how HBO will bring all the things north of the Wall to life. Should be great.

Oh that's easy. Tits. Lots and lots of dirty, chilly tits. And giant's cock.
posted by coriolisdave at 9:05 PM on July 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Weren't books four and five planned as one book, but he split them because of how long it was taking to finish? Or am I thinking of something else? I thought I remembered reading that's why book four was different, because of a lot of the familiar character stories were pushed into the about to be released book five, but I've only read the first three so I might be wrong.
posted by imabanana at 11:02 PM on July 5, 2011

Weren't books four and five planned as one book, but he split them because of how long it was taking to finish?

That's right. A Feast for Crows : A Dance with Dragons :: Sonic 3 : Sonic and Knuckles
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:34 AM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

I want to ask, but even if I wrap it in a spoiler tag I'm frightened I might ruin it for someone.

That's what decoding is for. Just use a code and tell people what it is. ROT13 is easy (and already built into my browser).

I just finished Book 3, and it continues to be good. I can see the Tolkein comparison as in "high fantasy epic" but the similarities are not many, in my opinion (though I think Book 3 is where the songs start ...

trying to understand why someone does something

Gold, power, sex, or some combination of the three.

Game of Thrones Theme (8 bit style remix)

GoT would actually work very well as a Defender of the Crown clone.

This 8-bit version reminds me of Final Fantasy. I think it's the background beat.
posted by mrgrimm at 8:35 AM on July 6, 2011

*Tolkien* - an error I will make forever
posted by mrgrimm at 8:36 AM on July 6, 2011

I can see the Tolkein comparison as in "high fantasy epic" but the similarities are not many

Sure, because Martin is responding to many of the "third artists" texts published in the last 50 years. But that makes it no less part of the genre Tolkien, Donaldson, and Brooks spawned.

Also, ADwD is showing up in the USA now. Usually at supermarkets and other non-bookstores which sell books. Makes sense, the stockroom guys don't know and don't care about "book embargos" and the like so they're probably just shoving it on the shelves as soon at it arrives.
posted by Justinian at 1:54 PM on July 6, 2011

The violin cover was pause-with-food-halfway-to-my-mouth impressive. The acoustic guitar version? Makes me long to see GoT redone as an epic fantasy western.

(Or at least a Deadwood crossover. Fuck yeah.)
posted by sophistrie at 2:50 PM on July 6, 2011

Just figured I'd toss this 8-bit version into the ring. It's made in a tracker that actually plays legitimate NES music and employs some of the stylistic tricks of the domain.
posted by stance at 6:27 PM on July 6, 2011

But that makes it no less part of the genre Tolkien, Donaldson, and Brooks spawned.

Sure, but I find their approach and style to be very different (though I've only read the Hobbit and LOTR and long ago at that). I'm sure Tolkien is better than I remember, but it seems like melodrama looking back on it (well written melodrama, but melodrama nonetheless). Tolkien seemed to very much focus on the principle characters, whereas in ASOIAF, even Eddison Tollet and Osmund (or Osfeld or Osbyrb) Kettleback are realized...
posted by mrgrimm at 11:15 AM on July 7, 2011

Damn It Feels Good to be a Lannister
posted by homunculus at 2:09 PM on July 19, 2011