"Jenny of Oldstones", alternatively titled "Jenny's Song", is a
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...
appearing in the
HBO epic fantasy
High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, ...
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
''
Game of Thrones''. It was included in two separate parts in the second episode of the series'
eighth season, "
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
''Tales of Dunk and Egg'' is a series of fantasy novellas by George R. R. Martin, set in the world of his '' A Song of Ice and Fire'' novels. They follow the adventures of "Dunk" (the future Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Duncan the Tall ...
". In the first instance of the song, it was performed during the episode by character
Podrick Payne
George R. R. Martin's '' A Song of Ice and Fire'' saga features a large cast of characters. The series follows three interwoven plotlines: a dynastic war for control of Westeros by several families; the rising threat of the superhuman Others bey ...
, portrayed by Scottish actor
Daniel Portman
Daniel Porter (born 13 February 1992), known professionally as Daniel Portman, is a Scottish actor. He is best known for playing the role of Podrick Payne in the television series '' Game of Thrones'' (2012–2019).
Early life
Portman is the ...
. The song then played during the episode's end credits, performed by British
indie rock
Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...
band
Florence and the Machine.
Florence and the Machine released the song as a single the day after the episode aired, on 22 April 2019. The song was released by HBO and record label
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
.
Background
"Jenny of Oldstones" is an adaptation of a fictional
folk song mentioned in
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
's fantasy novel series ''
A Song of Ice and Fire'', on which ''Game of Thrones'' is based. In the third novel in the series, ''
A Storm of Swords
''A Storm of Swords'' is the third of seven planned novels in ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a fantasy series by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on August 8, 2000, in the United Kingdom, with a United States edition fol ...
'', a mysterious elderly
woods witch nicknamed "the Ghost of High Heart" asks the singer Tom of Sevenstreams to perform "my Jenny's song" as payment for her prophecies. Only one line of the song, "High in the halls of the kings who are gone, Jenny would dance with her ghosts", is quoted in the novel series, appearing in the
epilogue
An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the w ...
chapter of ''A Storm of Swords''.
In the fictional history of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', the titular Jenny of Oldstones was a peasant girl whom the prince Duncan Targaryen gave up his
inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officia ...
to marry.
The television version of the song is a
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fo ...
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
with influences of
Celtic music. The song was written by German composer
Ramin Djawadi
Ramin Djawadi (, fa, رامین جوادی; born 19 July 1974) is an Iranian and German score composer. He is known for his scores for the 2008 Marvel film ''Iron Man'' and the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', for which he was nominated for Gramm ...
, who composed all the
music for ''Game of Thrones''; and screenwriters
D. B. Weiss
Daniel Brett Weiss (; born April 23, 1971) is an American television writer, director, and producer. Along with his collaborator David Benioff, he is best-known as co-creator of ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), the HBO adaptation of George R. ...
and
David Benioff
David Friedman (; born September 25, 1970), known professionally as David Benioff (), is an American writer, director and producer. Along with his collaborator D. B. Weiss, he is best known as co-creator and showrunner of '' Game of Thrones'' (2 ...
, who added more
lyrics
Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...
to the fragment written by Martin in ''A Storm of Swords''. Florence and the Machine's recording of it was produced by American musician
Doveman
Thomas Bartlett (born October 13, 1981), also known as Doveman, is an American pianist, producer, and singer. He has released four solo albums as Doveman, four albums as a member of The Gloaming, duo albums with the composer Nico Muhly and the ...
and Florence and the Machine frontwoman
Florence Welch
Florence Leontine Mary Welch (born 28 August 1986) is an English singer, the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the indie rock band Florence and the Machine. The band's debut studio album, ''Lungs'' (2009), topped the UK Albums Chart and wo ...
. Weiss and Benioff reportedly approached Welch in 2012 to record the song "
The Rains of Castamere
"The Rains of Castamere" is the ninth and penultimate episode of the third season of HBO's medieval fantasy television series '' Game of Thrones'', and the 29th episode of the series. The episode was written by executive producers David Beniof ...
", although she had turned down their request. Following the release of "Jenny of Oldstones", Welch stated in an interview with ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' that this was during her "wild years", when she was "less focused".
In the episode "
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
''Tales of Dunk and Egg'' is a series of fantasy novellas by George R. R. Martin, set in the world of his '' A Song of Ice and Fire'' novels. They follow the adventures of "Dunk" (the future Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Duncan the Tall ...
", the
studio version of the song by Welch was played over the
closing credits
Closing credits or end credits are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, or at the very end of a ...
. The song was however first heard from the character
Podrick Payne
George R. R. Martin's '' A Song of Ice and Fire'' saga features a large cast of characters. The series follows three interwoven plotlines: a dynastic war for control of Westeros by several families; the rising threat of the superhuman Others bey ...
(played by
Daniel Portman
Daniel Porter (born 13 February 1992), known professionally as Daniel Portman, is a Scottish actor. He is best known for playing the role of Podrick Payne in the television series '' Game of Thrones'' (2012–2019).
Early life
Portman is the ...
), who sang a verse in a sequence reminiscent of the scene in ''
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' when
Pippin
Pippin or Pepin may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Pippin (comics), ''Pippin'' (comics), a children's comic produced from 1966 to 1986
* Pippin (musical), ''Pippin'' (musical), a Broadway musical by Stephen Schwartz loosely based on the life ...
sang "
The Edge of Night
''The Edge of Night'' is an American television mystery crime drama series and soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions.
It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that netwo ...
" before the battle of
Minas Tirith
Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, described as the greatest realm of Man (Middle-earth), Men in the west of Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age. The third volume of ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Return of the ...
. The version sung by Portman is simplified in its harmonies, while the version by Welch is close to how Djawadi originally wrote it with more chord changes.
Commercial performance
"Jenny of Oldstones" debuted at number 75 in the UK and 64 in Ireland.
It was the seventh best-selling digital song the week it was released in the United States. In Belgium, the song did not enter the
Ultratop 50
Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization of ...
or Ultratip 50, but did appear on the Flemish extra tips chart.
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
, provided by
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
.
*
Florence Welch
Florence Leontine Mary Welch (born 28 August 1986) is an English singer, the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the indie rock band Florence and the Machine. The band's debut studio album, ''Lungs'' (2009), topped the UK Albums Chart and wo ...
– lead vocals, music production
*
Doveman
Thomas Bartlett (born October 13, 1981), also known as Doveman, is an American pianist, producer, and singer. He has released four solo albums as Doveman, four albums as a member of The Gloaming, duo albums with the composer Nico Muhly and the ...
– music production, mixing, keyboards, programming
*
Chris Gehringer
Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered recordings such as Gwen Stefani's '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004), Rihanna's '' Loud'' (2010), Lady Gaga's '' Born This Way'' (2011) and Drake' ...
– mastering
*
D. B. Weiss
Daniel Brett Weiss (; born April 23, 1971) is an American television writer, director, and producer. Along with his collaborator David Benioff, he is best-known as co-creator of ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), the HBO adaptation of George R. ...
– composing, songwriting
*
David Benioff
David Friedman (; born September 25, 1970), known professionally as David Benioff (), is an American writer, director and producer. Along with his collaborator D. B. Weiss, he is best known as co-creator and showrunner of '' Game of Thrones'' (2 ...
– composing, songwriting
*
Ramin Djawadi
Ramin Djawadi (, fa, رامین جوادی; born 19 July 1974) is an Iranian and German score composer. He is known for his scores for the 2008 Marvel film ''Iron Man'' and the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', for which he was nominated for Gramm ...
– composing, songwriting
*
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
– composing, songwriting
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
See also
*
Music of ''Game of Thrones''
References
External links
*
{{authority control
2019 songs
2019 singles
Music of Game of Thrones
Florence and the Machine songs
Universal Music Group singles
Songs from television series
Song recordings produced by Doveman
Song recordings produced by Florence Welch