The massively popular HBO fantasy series, Game of Thrones, has a very impressive music track, that we rarely find a fan who skips the intro music. However, we have seldom heard of songs from Game of Thrones or the original book series–A Song of Ice and Fire, being produced as songs. That is until now, and Florence Welch of Florence and The Machine took on “Jenny of Oldstones” poem.
“Jenny of Oldstones” song was created for the second episode of the final season (8) of Game of Thrones on HBO. The song sings about the fictional character ‘Jenny of Oldstones’ from the book series.
According to ‘A Wiki of Ice and Fire,’ Jenny was the wife of Duncan Targaryen, the Prince of Dragonflies, the heir to Iron Throne after his father Aegon Targaryen. Jenny was a commoner and as the elder’s disapproval of their marriage grew, Duncan gave up his claims for the throne to be with her.
This new song also marks the final song on the TV series to be done by a band. Florence Welch’s hauntingly beautiful vocals and Ramin Djwadi’s muisc makes this song and instant favourite.
Listen to “Jenny of Oldstones” by Florence and The Machine from Game of Thrones Soundtrack
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The fictional character Jenny does not appear in the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ book series by George R R Martin. However, her name does pop up a few times in several books. The song is built up from scratch based on the seldom appearances of Jenny in the books.
In the book ‘A Storm of Swords,’ Arya meets the ‘Ghost of High Heart,’ a witch who reveals prophecies upon being sung ‘My Jenny’s Song.’ This song is said to contain the line “High in the halls of the kings who are gone, Jenny would dance with her ghosts…” around which this new song has been developed.
Intro
The first lines provide the background to the character of Jenny of Oldstone, whom most of us are quite unaware of. In these lyrics we come to find that a certain ghost had a liking for Jenny. In the tale of Game of Thrones, we learn that Jenny once makes aquaintance with a woods witch who is capable of revealing prophecies.
At the time of this song, we know that Jenny is no longer with the living, as the song states that she is with her ghostly friends. The ones who she found could be her new royal family and the ones she lost could be his commoner folk relatives. But she had one true love-Duncan Targaryen.
Duncan and Jenny spent their lives in Kings Landing till they passed away.
Chorus
The veiling cry of this song is “she never wanted to leave” and this could have several interpretations. In one end of the spectrum, it could refer to the fact that she had to leave her family of common folk behind when she got betrothed to royalty. She never wanted the complexities of the court. On the flip side, Jenny could be talking about leaving Summerhall where she spent most of her life with Duncan. There probably was no reason for her to leave the love and luxury she received within Kings Landing royalty.
Verse 2
In the second verse of “Jenny of Oldstones,” the songwriters sneak in one of the biggest moments of the series–the fall of the Wall. As long as The Wall stood and the Night’s Watch watched over it, folks behind the wall did not bat an eye about the looming threat. However, in the season 7 finale episode, the Night King and his turned dragon blew down the wall and lead his dead army through to the land of the living.
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Full Lyrics to “Jenny of Oldstones” by Florence + The Machine from Game of Thrones