Season 7 has already come to an end but not without delivering another wonderful brand new soundtrack. To be honest, what would Game of Thrones be without its wonderful soundtrack? Ramin Djawadi honestly never disappoints and we’re here to ‘honor’ his work by picking the 25 best music pieces of his work in Game of Thrones. Sounds like an impossible job, isn’t it? Will ‘Light of the Seven’ remain at the first spot this year? Let’s find out.
Jon and Ygritte’s love theme finally makes an entry in our list, opening the top 25. Jon Snow’s love story with Daenerys Targaryen became one of the central storylines of last season. Nevertheless, we were reminded of Jon’s previous relationship with Ygritte. If one listened carefully, you could hear bits of ‘You Know Nothing’ in season 7’s ‘Dragonglass’. Jon may have found love again, we will never forget the scenes he shared with Ygritte on screen. Their moments together were so passionate that Kit Harington (Jon Snow) and Rose Leslie (Ygritte) started a relationship together. They’re still together today. ‘You Know Nothing’ found inspiration in one of Game of Thrones’ most famous catchphrases, spoken by Ygritte (You know nothing, Jon Snow). It’s sad to know that these same words were Ygritte’s final words to her lover.
The first variation on the famous House Stark theme in our list is ‘Winter Has Come’ and captures one of the show’s most important moments, namely the proclamation of the new King in the North. This motivating song made us all go chanting ‘The King in the North’, as Jon Snow finally stepped up his game and got named King, just like his brother Robb in season 1. Now that winter truly has come, the North will need a capable ruler and Jon fits the bill. ‘Winter Has Come’ makes its first appearance in our list on number #24.
The one and only Greyjoy theme loses two spots this year but still manages to remain in the top 25 for three consecutive years. Well done, House Greyjoy. We first hear this theme when Theon Greyjoy decides to fully embrace his inner Greyjoy and to baptize himself in fuction of the Drowned God. Theon had a remarkable ride in season 2 and it may have been his best season in the series. We were happy to hear the Greyjoy theme at last and it’s peculiar in it’s own way. The title ‘What is Dead may Never Die’ refer to the words of House Greyjoy as this song is the personification of House Greyjoy itself. As for season 7, House Greyjoy is still going strong. Theon finally found himself once again and Euron has become one of the most powerful players.
Winterfell has always belonged to House Stark, even though it hasn’t always been ruled by a Stark. In seasons five and six the Boltons took Winterfell and changed the beautiful place for good. Since season 6, House Stark has retaken Winterfell and it belongs to its true owners again. This beautiful rendition of the Stark theme was first played in season 2, during the sack of Winterfell. Bran and Rickon had to flee their home in order to survive. ‘Winterfell’ was played again when Sansa was rebuilding her family’s castle in the snow. In ‘The Winds of Winter’ when Sansa and Jon were standing on the walls of Winterfell, we heard ‘Winterfell’ a last time. We will always be happy if Winterfell is ruled by a Stark. And as the saying goes, there must always be a Stark in Winterfell. I am glad that this rendition still manages to climb one spot this year.
Queen Cersei will not be pleased to find out that her coronation song has lost a considerable amount of places. Last year this version of the Lannister theme entered the list on #13. ‘Hear me Roar’ screams House Lannisters, yet it sounds darker and more powerful. You can even hear ‘Light of the Seven’ in this song as it had a strong effect on the current position of House Lannister. Cersei made a risky move but it paid her off very well last season. Queen Cersei was crowned Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and ‘Hear me Roar’ was absolutely a fitting song to capture the essence of that scene: ‘dark and powerful’. The coronation was, without a doubt, one of the most powerful scenes in Game of Thrones even though few words were said. It was all about the music and the facial expressions. And we must admit, Lena Headey’s facial expressions are always the best.
Two years ago, ‘The Children’ would have ended at the first place of our list. Since last year, this song keeps losing a lot of places and ends at #20 this year. ‘The Children’ contains the typical Stark theme, bits of ‘King in the North’ and Arya’s Faceless theme. The variation of so many different themes is what makes this song so atypical compared to the other Stark songs. ‘The Children’ is the very last song in season 4 and can be heard when Arya leaves Westeros behind to head to Braavos in order to find Jaqen H’ghar.
When Ice falls in love with Fire… We all know this was going to happen at one point in Game of Thrones and the set up to their relationship was beautiful and heartwarming. It’s certainly one of the most honest and tragic relationships on the TV-screen. The moment Viserion died may have broken our hearts, but it has certainly brought together Jon and Dany for good. This hauntingly beautiful theme enters our list on #19.
Daenerys’s first theme in this list is ‘Reign’. A very powerful rendition of the Targaryen theme and the Dragons theme. Daenerys demonstrates her power once again to the slavers and brings fire and blood to Meereen. With full force, she flies on Drogon’s back while Viserion and Rhaegal set themselves free. Then Daenerys decides to burn the slavers’ ships. The whole sequence was badass and one of the best cinematic scenes ever. Reign loses 3 spots this year, but still ends at a well-deserved 18th place.
The biggest climber last year was ‘Mother of Dragons’, which went from #21 tot #6. This year, Khaleesi’s theme doesn’t make it to the top 10 anymore. Still, it earns a respectable place in our top. Daenerys Targaryen manages to free her dragons out of the hands of the Warlocks of Qarth and learns a lesson of two, trust no one. The Mother of Dragons sacks the city and buys a ship for herself and her people to sail to Slaver’s Bay. ‘Mother of Dragons’ has to be one of the most optimistic renditions of Daenerys’s theme, illustrating that she’s back in the game. She definitely was.
Chaos isn’t a pit, chaos is a ladder. It’s weird to live in a world where Petyr Baelish isn’t alive any longer. Back in season 3, this master schemer had such great plans and lines and easily was one of the most fascinating and dark characters in Game of Thrones. From season 6 on Littlefinger’s character became a bit bland and lost its glory. Still, this soundtrack describes Littlefinger best: mysterious, powerful and pragmatic. Petyr’s dialogue with Varys was amazing and this song perfectly accompanied the scene. ‘Chaos is a Ladder’ does lose quite some spots and ends at #16.
A re-entry this year! ‘Dracarys’ has always been one of the most powerful dragon themes in Game of Thrones and installed the basis for later renditions of this epic theme. The scene where ‘Dracarys’ is first used when the dragons show their true strength. Daenerys’s close relationship with Drogon became obvious in this very scene. She uses dragonfire for the first time and hell breaks loose. The scene has grown out to become one of the iconic scenes of Game of Thrones and portrayed Daenerys as the most powerful female character in the series. ‘Dracarys’ is back with a vengeance and ends at #15.
What a rare Game of Thrones song this is, ‘Winter is Here’. This variation on the Main Titles is certainly beautiful but haunting as well and so was the scene where this song appeared in. Winter is King’s Landing. Sure it was wonderful to see snowflakes fall in the capital but we all know this means one thing, that winter is here. We know what winter will bring next season. ‘Winter is Here’ enters this list on #14 this year.
Another splendid song of season 7’s soundtrack and in my opinion the best variation on House Stark’s theme song. This version was used for Arya’s return to Winterfell, which brought tears to my eyes. All of the Stark children are home again and this songs conveys the message perfectly. The song is also used when Sansa and Arya reminisces childhood memories of their father and tell each other they miss him. The two sisters have finally found the way toward each other and now that winter is here they’ll certainly need each other strengths. ‘Home’ enters at #13.
Season 7 brought a lot of great themes and variations and The Spoils of War was another one among them. The episode ‘The Spoils of War’ was certainly the best one in the seventh season and was accompanied with this badass variation of Daenerys’s theme, the Dothraki theme, the Dragon theme and House Lannister’s theme. All of these variations and themes in one song must make up for a huge song! ‘The Spoils of War’ nearly missed the 10 best tracks from the Game of Thrones soundtrack. The best part in my opinion? The very end of Spoils of War part 2 when Jaime decides to save Westeros from the wrath of Daenerys Targaryen. Such an heroic scene and soundtrack.
It’s getting exhausting.. Can we already conclude that Ramin Djawadi’s best work was in season 7? The Army of the Dead is, without a single doubt, the most terrifying song throughout Djawadi’s oeuvre. The song captures one of Game of Thrones’s most iconic scenes: the fall of the Wall. The White Walkers can finally start invading Westeros and we’ll definitely see the consequences of that in season 7. The Night King now rides Viserion and used its powers to tear down the Wall to lead its army south and to increase it. This situation is certainly getting way out of the hand.. We’ll see how Westeros deals with that next season. As for the ‘Army of the Dead’, it makes a promising debut on #11.
And yet another track from the season 7 soundtrack makes it to the top 10. ‘Against all Odds’ accompanied another important and iconic moment in Game of Thrones’s television history. Daenerys saw the threat behind the Wall for the very first time with her one eyes and it was not without losses on both sides. Daenerys might have saved Jon and co. from the dead but also looked right into the eyes of the Night King. This was the first time we saw a truly frightened Daenerys. Against All Odds contains Jon Snow’s heroic theme song, the White Walkers’ theme, The Lord of Light’s theme, Daenerys’s theme and the dragons’ theme, in other word QUITE a lot! The best part of the song is when Daenerys comes to the rescue. The end of ‘Against All Odds’ gets very emotional and sad as it points out to the Night King murdering poor Viserion which leads to Viserion’s tragic death and Daenerys having to flee the scene in order to save her other dragons. ‘Against All Odds’ enters the top 25 at #10.
Last year, the Tower made the top 10. This year the song loses two places.. I’m a bit sad about this. One of the most beautiful and important scenes throughout the history of Game of Thrones should have earned a better place. The best part of the song is when we hear the build-up to Jon Snow’s close-up. He may have never seen his mother, not knowing who she actually is, but the viewers know that she cared a lot about her baby. She would’ve been so proud of him now. When I first heard the song, I had goosebumps and I’m sure many will agree with me. ‘The Tower’ ends at #9 this year and I keep hoping for a better place next year.
Finally a song from the very first season! ‘Goodbye Brother’ has been the soundtrack for a lot of iconic scenes in Game of Thrones and mostly they involved Jon Snow. We first heard this track when Jon says goodbye to his favourite sister, Arya and when he’s about to say goodbye to Bran. The next time we hear this track is when he dies.. Not a pleasant scene, but this song will always remind us of that very scene. On a more optimistic note, this song has been re-used when Sansa and Jon first hug each other after so many years. I am sure we’ll hear ‘Goodbye Brother’ one more time before the show ends. The questions is when.. The song wins one spot this year and ends at #8.
I am very very glad to see this song ending so high on this list. ‘Dragonstone’ is easily one of Daenerys’s best renditions of her theme. The return to her family home should be emotional (hence the quieter part from 1:05 to 2:20) followed by a majestic, grandiose variation of House Targaryen’s theme. The homecoming of the ‘last’ Targaryen should have been treated as a majestic moment and the soundtrack definitely provided the right vibes. ‘Dragonstone’ enters this list very high, namely at #7.
Finally! Finally the iconic main titles enters our list. It has taken 3 years to have people understand that this song belongs in the top 10 at least and it does make an impressive debut by entering the list at #6. The top 6 is opened by the song we hear the most when we watch Game of Thrones. We never grow tired of it. Surely, it will be a sad day when we hear this song for the very last time in the season finale of season 8 but let’s not think of that already. We all fell in love with ‘Main Titles’ since the second we’ve heard it and it describes the show perfectly with only one word: ‘epic’.
I remember hearing this song for the first time and I was absolutely thrilled. The infamous ‘Mhysa’ scene might have been a bit awkward for some, the accompanying soundtrack touched my soul. The choir together with Daenerys’s theme was one of the best choices Djawadi had made so far and used it more often it since then. Daenerys liberated thousands of slaves and provided a better life for then. Such an inspirational character deserves inspirational music and Mhysa is the only choice here. Too bad ‘Mhysa’ loses only one spots this year and but still belongs to the best five. I love it.
Last year, the Winds of Winter made an amazing debut, entering the list immediately on the 2nd spot. This year, the Winds of Winter had to give back one spot but still manages to remain among the three best songs of the official Game of Thrones soundtrack by R.Djawadi. The song contains a variation of the Greyjoy theme and Daenerys’s theme. The choir that can be heard in the background is amazing as well. ‘The Winds of Winter’ is used during the very last scene of season 6 when Daenerys sails toward Westeros together with her new allies. It was a scene we strongly looked forward to and it didn’t disappoint.
It’s no surprise to see the Rains of Castamere ending so high. It doesn’t lose one spot compared to last year. The Lannisters are still going strong in our list, receiving a respectable 3th place. The song has been covered by the National and Sigur Rós throughout the series, but my favourite renditions remain ‘A Lannister Always Pays Its Debts’ and ‘A Lion’s Legacy’. Still, I’m very happy to see the Rains of Castamere still standing among the three best songs of the soundtrack. Yes, now the rains weep o’er his halls and not a soul to hear…
We ended season 7’s with the show’s most important revelation, Jon Snow’s status as heir to the Iron Throne. This very (!) important scene showed us the long-awaited wedding scene between Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. We also learnt about the true name of Jon Snow being Aegon Targaryen and we finally got to see the epic boatsex scene ourselves. ’Truth’ may be one of the most emotional scores in the history of television and brought Ice and Fire closer than ever. This Daenerys/Jon theme may be one of the most romantic and beautiful themes the show has ever made so far. The highest entry this years belongs definitely to ‘Truth’, which makes a shockingly high debut right at #2.
Of course this masterpiece won’t just give up its first place. It’s a rare bird since it’s the only song in the official soundtrack that features the piano. The sequence itself made up for one of Game of Thrones best moments both in direction and acting. ’The Light of the Seven’ remains the most popular song in Game of Thrones as it’s being streamed more than 30 million times on Spotify and is being used for more purposes of marketing (remember the epic season 7 trailer version). Ramin Djawadi’s soundtrack elevated the massive scene to a level the show hadn’t seen yet. This year, ‘Light of the Seven’ remains at the highest spot according to Game of Thrones fans.
Thanks!
Thanks for those who have voted. I hope to see you back next year!
Special thanks to:
– Subreddits ‘Free Folk’, ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Asoiaf’
Top 25 playlist
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