The music behind our favorite geeky fandoms are secretly carrying much of the emotional weight. A memorable song will always help pull you back to experience with your favorite work of fiction.
These fantastical tales we love are epic, so naturally they need epic music. Sometimes we need that epic inspiration to get things done in life.
As such, I’ve put together a playlist of songs to get you hyped up and to sustain your inspiration through whatever quest it is that you need to do!
All the songs in this playlist have lyrics.
Here’s all the videos thrown into a YouTube Playlist, for your convenience! Keep scrolling to see what’s in it!
Toss A Coin To Your Witcher – Sonya Belousova & Giona Ostinelli ft. Joey Batey
I don’t know about you, but half of my hype behind the new Witcher series was for Jaskier’s phenomenal ballads. By far the most memorable song has been “Toss A Coin To Your Witcher”, which tells the story of Geralt and Jaskier’s first adventure together.
Legends Never Die (ft. Against The Current) – Riot Music Team
Riot, the developer behind League of Legends, have made awesome, modern sounding hits to promote their events. They released “Legends Never Die” for the World Championship in 2017, and it was a viral hit. It’s a powerful track and great for hyping you up for your next game or workout.
Warrior – The Black Piper & TREN
I know you’re aware of fantasy author Brandon Sanderson. He recently broke all kinds of records on his latest Kickstarter. If you’re a mega fan of his Stormlight Archive series like me, you’re going to love this one. This track is obviously inspired by Kaladin, and has an appropriately epic sound to match. “Warrior” is featured on The Black Piper’s Kaladin album, which is full of other awesome tracks, but is the only song with lyrics on the album.
The Dragonborn Comes – Malukah
The “Dragonborn Comes” is one of a few songs the bards of Skyrim will serenade you with in the various inns and taverns. You can find various versions of this song, but I’ve chosen Malukah’s version. With 25 million views over the 10 years its been on YouTube, it’s hard to argue it’s not one of the best iterations.
I Want To Live – Borislav Slavov
If you’re a fan of D&D and video games, Baldur’s Gate 3 is something you should be very excited about. I pretty much swooned when I heard this song play while mulling around my camp. It seems to be inspired by a potential adventuring companion, Astarion.
If I Had A Heart – Fever Ray
So those you don’t recognize the name, “If I Had A Heart” is the intro song for the History channel’s Vikings. It has a sound that beckons back to a time of exploration and ancient magic. Along with it’s association with Vikings, I think it well deserves it’s spot on this list.
Misty Mountains – Richard Armitage, The Dwarf Cast
I’d be surprised if you didn’t recognize this one. “Misty Mountains” is probably the best thing that came from The Hobbit movies. I don’t want you to think I’m belittling those movies, I like them. I just think this song is that good. It’s super moody, with hearty helping of classic fantasy, which makes it the perfect fit on my list.
Jak o’ the Shadows ft. Michael Alexander (A Memory of Light Version)
Need a folky, pre-battle, tavern song? Mat and the Band of the Red Hand have got you covered. Hopefully we’ll hear something along these lines at some point in the new Wheel of Time series.
Lament of the Highborne ft. Vangie Gunn – Derek Duke and Russell Brower
Once upon a time, like many of us, I was an avid World of Warcraft player. If you were playing back in the days of the Burning Crusade expansion, you might remember this one. As a reward for a fairly typical level retrieval quest, you were totally blind sided by this haunting song. Sylvanas, the undead leader of the Forsaken, sings for you after returning a lore significant locket to her. A pretty visceral and jaw dropping reward when you’re used to farming bore’s for their livers and getting a few silver in return.
Blow Me Away ft. Valora – Breaking Benjamin
Alright, Halo fans should know this one. “Blow Me Away” was written for Halo 2, and you can hear it being played in-game on the level Gravemind. It’s played during a titanic battle between the recently opposing factions of the Covenant. It’s a fairly heavy rock track that fits in well with a game like Halo, giving you an adrenaline booster right when you need it!
Florence + the Machine – Jenny of Oldstones
It’s hard to pick a song from HBO’s Game of Thrones. The indie rock band, Florence + the Machine does an awesome job of bringing this song to life in a fantasy appropriate way. Podrick Payne sings this song in front of a hearth and odd collection of characters in season eight. I won’t go too deep into the song’s meaning, but in a very A Song of Ice and Fire appropriate way, it involves tragedy and Targaryenians.
No Time To Die – Billie Eilish
We’re certainly taking a bigger step into mainstream with this pick, but I believe it has a spot at the table. Billie Eilish and her brother, Finneas O’Connell, made this song for the 2021 James Bond film, “No Time to Die”. The 007 books and films have made huge waves in pop culture throughout the years as works of fiction. Historically, its generally been a bit of an honor for artist’s to get the opportunity to make a “Bond Song”. I think these two did an amazing job with it, and I consider it my new favorite.
Metric – Black Sheep ft. Brie Larson
“And then it was time for Toronto to drown in the sweet sorrow of The Clash at DEMONHEAD!!” This is a song is from Scott Pilgrim vs the World, which unsurprisingly hit a chord with fans. It’s originally by the appropriately Canadian rock band, Metric. In the movie however, the vocals are performed by actress Brie Larson. Both versions are awesome, but we’ll go with the movie version for nostalgia’s sake.
Linked Horizon – Guren No Yumiya
I asked myself, “What’s the most iconic anime opening song?” I don’t think there’s an objectively right answer, but damn if Attack on Titan’s isn’t as close as we’re going to get.
Outlander Main Title (Skye Boat Song) ft. Raya Yarbrough – Bear McCreary
Maybe you were expecting this one, maybe not. It fits right in with a lot of the others on this list. If you’re a fan of the show then there’s no doubt this is where you go when you need to tap into that Scottish highland inspiration.
Lament for Boromir – Colin Rudd
Now, it was hard to decide who did the Lament for Boromir justice the best. I found myself loving the raw edge of this one. It’s just vocals and an acoustic guitar, giving it a campfire feel that you can imagine Aragorn singing pretty easily.
There you have it, Sixteen songs to hype you up! Honestly, there are so many worthy songs for this list. For every geeky movie, video game or show, there’s music to go with it. Feel free to take what works for you from this list and add it to your own! Let me know on our social media pages what you think would be a good addition!
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