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Hercynian
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Post Never ceases to amaze. . . .
on: July 05, 2013 05:57
I never cease to be amazed at the fan base the LotR/Tolkien has on YouTube. This http://youtu.be/LC3yxiinWCU vid is typical. Someone nicely spliced together some choice LotR film music. There are hundreds of Tolkien- and Euro-fairy mystical-themed YouTube videos. Wow. I know I'm all alone here "worrying" about the sociological implications of all this. But still . . . wow.

Addendum: One interesting insight for me is how in my childhood (b. 1956) there was all but NO mention of anything EFM or medieval-themed fantasy. We got "fairy tales" as such from old books; otherwise, Big Media had given us only those regrettable Disney films. But then suddenly Jackson's films, which seemed to tap a great underground reservoir of EFM/Tolkien. Just before that, the Tolkien Ensemble had begun their epic recordings. And the rest is history. If I can't interest you in the freakish social-psychology of this whole phenomenon (and where you stand with it), maybe just the historical irony of all this other-century Euro fantasy upwelling in the teeth of our 21st century modernism might amaze you.

[Edited on 07/06/2013 by Hercynian]
LinweSingollo
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on: July 06, 2013 05:00
That's a nice collection of Howard Shore's music, of whom I'm a huge fan, but - and I say this with all respect - I'm not quite sure I'm getting what the wow factor is or what your point is. Further, I usually make an effort to not read comments on YouTube mainly because they disintegrate into the usual tiresome internet arguments of politics and religion and the subsequent name-calling, Tolkien fan-base or no. Now as to the Euro-fairy mystical-theme - I have to admit I'm not seeing the sociological implications or why I ought to be "worrying" about it. I came to at least a nodding aquaintance of EFM at some point during my young life( b. 1957), if I understand correctly what you mean by such literature, so maybe I just don't get why this is a phenomenon. I always thought it existed, albeit quietly underground. But I stand ready to be corrected or enlightened further.

As a side note, this discussion needs to stay centered on the music in the films, otherwise I'll need to move it to another forum.

[Edited on 07/06/2013 by LinweSingollo]
"To the Hobbits. May they outlast the Sarumans and see spring again in the trees." J.R.R. Tolkien
Hercynian
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on: July 07, 2013 06:38
I'm not a professional sociologist, but yes, when you find hundreds of Tolkien/EFM music vids on YouTube it's pretty unique, especially when it runs counter to what commercial Big Media is promoting. It's groundswell. It's bottom-up. I really think this came out of the woodwork, out of left field, so to speak. Which makes me marvel, i.e., I can't just take it for granted. But then if you think I'm reading too much into it. . . .
tarcolan
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on: July 07, 2013 02:41
I did a bit of research on youtube and found 1.4 million LOTR music links and about the same for elf music. Harry Potter threw up 2.2 million, Star Wars 3.5 and elephant music 2.4. However the winner is cat music with 11 million so it wins paws down. Isn't the Internet wonderful? Whatever you want to find you'll find.
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LinweSingollo
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on: July 07, 2013 05:29
Well...I'm no sociologist either, but in light of Tarcolan's quick research I'd have to say in this particular instance, Hercynian, you may be reading a bit too much into it, other than a whole lot of people loving haunting elf-music. Not that I'm not happy to see a million plus folks sharing the same excellent taste in music as I do. However, I'm a bit of a cynic, so....
According to the rather alarming statistics above (enough to give one pause *cough*), one could assume we're a nation of fanatical cat-worshippers. And I can't begin to fathom elephant music. Really, tarc? Elephant music? (btw, oughtn't that to be oliphaunt music?) I'll have to check into that. Seems I've been missing out.
"To the Hobbits. May they outlast the Sarumans and see spring again in the trees." J.R.R. Tolkien
Hercynian
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on: July 07, 2013 10:22
I have a friend who is quite the "realist." He insists that we should not see connections that are not there or just coincidental. Yes, I probably am reading too much into things over at YouTube, likewise deviantart.com where you can see all manner of Tolkien-themed artwork. deviantart.com probably has far more pictures of kittens and race cars than Elves?

And yet I cannot explain, for example, what possessed Casper Reiff et al with the Tolkien Ensemble to come out with their wonderful CDs starting in 1997. Maybe the analogy of the mushroom is in order -- this great underground mycelium was always there, only popping up a visible mushroom occasionally.
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