Released 2002 Recorded Aigle Studios, Dublin Length 4:19 | Format CD single Genre New age Label WEA | |
"May It Be" is a song by Irish recording artist Enya. It was composed by Enya and Roma Ryan for Peter Jackson's 2001 film The Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring. The song entered the German Singles Chart at number one in 2002 and was performed by Enya at the 74th Academy Awards. "May It Be" was acclaimed from music critics and received nominations for Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, Academy Award for Best Original Song and Grammy Award nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
Contents
Composition
Director Peter Jackson approached Enya, asking if she would be interested in writing a song for The Lord of the Rings. Thrilled at the prospect, Enya headed to New Zealand to see the preliminary edits of the film.
Enya worked on the song with Nicky Ryan, her producer, and Roma Ryan, her lyricist. Nicky produced Enya's vocals and arranged the music while Roma wrote the lyrics. They recorded the song through Enya's contract with Warner Music in the Ryans' Dublin studio, Aigle Studio. The vocals were recorded in "Aigle Studios", Enya's Studio near Dublin and the orchestration was recorded in London, directed by Howard Shore and performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Compositionally, the piece is simple, featuring a backdrop of choir and strings.
“I wanted Enya’s voice,” says Shore. “She wrote and I orchestrated, so it’s a seamless sound. Her singing grows right out of the choral music and the orchestra.”
Lyrics
The lyrics of this theme song include English words, as well as words in the fictional Elvish language, Quenya, created by J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien began writing this High-Elven language in 1915 at the age of 23. Quenya went through many revisions before it finally appeared in the books. Tolkien's son Christopher said that for his father Quenya was "language as he wanted it, the language of his heart." Tolkien himself said of Quenya, "Actually it might be said to be composed on a Latin basis with two other ingredients that happen to give me 'phonaesthetic' pleasure: Finnish and Greek. It is however less consonantal than any of the three. This language is High-elven or in its own terms Quenya."
Enya also performed the song '"Aníron" for The Lord of the Rings, which is sung in Tolkien's Elvish language, Sindarin. While Enya wrote music, Roma Ryan studied the languages and wrote the lyrics in English and Quenya.
Two lines in "May It Be" contain phrases written in Quenya. The first, Mornië utúlië, translates to "Darkness has come." Mornië alantië translates as "Darkness has fallen." Each line repeats twice in the song. The remaining song lyrics are written in English. They are intermingled with the Quenya lyrics, as in the second stanza; "Mornië utúlië, believe and you will find your way; Mornië alantië, a promise lives within you now."
Critical reception and awards
"May It Be" received universal acclaim from music critics. It was nominated for the 2002 Academy Award for Best Original Song, but lost to Randy Newman's "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters, Inc.
"May It Be" won the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Song and the 2002 Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Song.
"May It Be" was also nominated for the 2002 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, but lost to "Until" from Kate & Leopold.
The song received a 2003 Grammy Award nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
Performance
Enya performed her song at the Academy Awards on March 24, 2002. She was "absolutely" excited about the performance. For her it was the "first time to be nominated, and to get to perform, it's just wonderful, absolutely wonderful."
Albums and singles
Enya's "May It Be" has been featured on various albums. On November 20, 2001 it was released on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack, along with composer Howard Shore's original score "The Road Goes Ever On (Part 2)".
"May It Be" came out as a single in 2002 along with two other of Enya's songs; "Isobella" and "The First of Autumn". "May It Be" entered the German Singles Chart at number one. It was Enya's second consecutive single to do so, following her song "Only Time".
In 2005, "May it Be" was released as part of the compilation The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: The Complete Recordings. This time, the version of the song was identical as featured in the movie's ending titles.
Enya also included "May It Be" on her 2009 album, The Very Best of Enya.
Music video
Directed by Peter Nydrle, Enya's 2002 music video for "May It Be" features clips from the film as well as Enya singing the song. The music video runs for 3 minutes and 32 seconds.
Covers
Many other artists have covered the song since Enya's original recording. Tara Scammell did so on 2004 album Music from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy by the Prague Symphony Orchestra, which consists of songs from all three movies. Celtic Woman performed "May It Be" on their 2005 self-titled album. Lisa Kelly of Celtic Woman included it on her 2006 album, Lisa. Hayley Westenra recorded it in 2005 on her second international album, Odyssey. It was also covered in 2006 by Lex van Someren for Christmas Every Day and Angelis for their self-titled album. It was sung on Cecelia’s 2007 album, Amazing Grace. Sofia Källgren featured it on her 2008 album, Cinema Paradiso. Other artists who have covered it include Uruk-hai, and Kiri Te Kanawa. It was performed on January 14, 2012 by Faroese artist Eivør Pálsdóttir as part of the celebration of Margrethe II's 40th anniversary as Queen of Denmark.