"Into the West"
Single byAnnie Lennox
from the albumThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (soundtrack)
Released	November 2003
Recorded	New Zealand
Genre	Pop,New age
Length	4:35
Label	Reprise
Songwriters	Annie Lennox,Fran Walsh,Howard Shore[1]
Producer	Howard Shore
Annie Lennox singles chronology
"Pavement Cracks" (2003) "Into the West" (2003) "A Thousand Beautiful Things" (2004)

"Into the West" is a song performed by Scottish singerAnnie Lennox, and theend-credit song of the 2003 filmThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. It was written by Lennox,Return of the King producer and co-writerFran Walsh, and composed and co-written by the film's composerHoward Shore.^[1]

The song plays in full during theclosing credits ofReturn of the King,^[1] although instrumental music from the song (which forms the theme of the Grey Havens) plays at other points during the film itself. “Into the West" was acclaimed by music critics and wonAcademy Award for Best Original Song, theGolden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and theGrammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

The song was later covered byNew Zealand singersYulia Townsend andWill Martin and American singerPeter Hollens. In 2014,Germana cappellaMetal bandvan Canto performed a cover on their fifth studio album,Dawn of the Brave.^[2]

The original song conceived as the closing credits of the 2003 filmThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was "Frodo's Song" (which exists only in mock-up form), which became "Use Well the Days," written byHoward Shore. The song wasFrodo singing toSam as he leftMiddle Earth and includes Frodo’s lament in the middle ofbook 6 chapter 9 “The Grey Havens." DirectorPeter Jackson felt that the song wasn't a good fit as a concluding song for the series, so Shore began to try to write a different closing credits song. As he did,Cameron Duncan, a youngMāori New Zealand filmmaker whose work had impressed Jackson and his team, was dying fromcancer at 16 years old, and his imminent passing inspired Shore, the film writerFran Walsh, and the Scottish singerAnnie Lennox to write "Into the West."^[3] The first public performance of the song was at Duncan's funeral.^[4]

The melody of the song, "The Grey Havens", is one of the musical themes in Shore'smusic for the film, representing the Grey Havens on the western shore of Middle-earth, and the land ofValinor that lies beyond the western sea.^[5] It is used subtly whenGandalf describes the vision of Valinor toPippin inMinas Tirith, and later triumphantly as Sam carries Frodo upMount Doom. It returns in cellos and humming voices during the Grey Havens scenes. The song itself soon follows, with a prominent guitar solo that opens and closes it and continues to accompany the song throughout, and a heartbeat-like motif played bybodhrán drums underneath.

The lyrics by Fran Walsh are based primarily on Legolas's lament at the end of book 6 chapter 4, "The Field of Cormallen" and the parting scene at the Grey Havens and Frodo's experience approaching Eressea and Valinor at the end of book 6 chapter 9 "The Grey Havens".^[5]

The song has multiple versions, in addition to the one used inReturn of the King (with the orchestral ending). Promos were made available in late November 2003. The versions, with their playing times, are:

• the album version – 4:35
• the radio edit – 3:59
• the acoustic edit – 4:05
• the acoustic version – 4:39
• the version without the orchestral ending – 4:34
• the film version with the orchestral ending – 5:48

The song won theAcademy Award forBest Original Song at the76th Academy Awards,^[1] one ofReturn of the King's eleven wins. Lennox also performed the song live at the ceremony. Lennox's performance was one of several introduced byLiv Tyler, who appeared asArwen in the film.

• Annie Lennox – vocals
• John Parricelli – guitar
• Dermot Crehan –hardingfele, fiddle, violin
• Ulrich Herkenhoff – flute

• 2003 songs
• Annie Lennox songs
• Best Original Song Golden Globe–winning songs
• Best Original Song Academy Award–winning songs
• Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media
• The Lord of the Rings (film series) music
• Songs written by Annie Lennox
• Songs with lyrics by Fran Walsh
• Songs written by Howard Shore
• New-age songs
• Reprise Records singles

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from January 2021
• Articles with hAudio microformats