Uploaded April 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
These lyrics are from the source text “Into the West”, sung by Annie Lennox as Galadriel because of her voice showing a maturity felt reflecting Galadriel’s long years in Middle-earth. It was written with thoughts for a friend of Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson’s, Cameron Duncan, who died young of cancer just before the ROTK came out. It is a song of comfort for one who is leaving this world.
“Use Well The Days” is a song of comfort for those who are left behind.
In the ROTK Audio Commentary, Howard Shore comments: “When we started working on Return of the King we made a list of artists, Fran and I did, who we would love to work with, who we thought would be great voice for the film. And it was an important moment because it had to carry the weight of the whole trilogy. So that’s how Annie became involved, and then Fran and I collaborated with her on the writing of the song. She, of course, sang it amazingly, and that’s how that grew.
Writing “Into the West” with Fran, we wanted the song to feel like it belonged in the Shire. It had the simplicity of the Shire. And it was just thinking like that, because the end of the movie is about Frodo, and is about the Shire, and it did end in the Shire. It’s where you’re left, in the last scene. So it’s somewhat Shire/Grey Havens. The song, to me, is Frodo, but there’s a bit of Sam in it as well. And…it was an expression of that, really.
It’s just a great, fun release for me. And I also feel that after all these years, where you’re happy that you finished, that completed this task that you set out for, that there is also a post-partum feeling to it."
These lyrics are from the source text “Into the West”, sung by Annie Lennox as Galadriel because of her voice showing a maturity felt reflecting Galadriel’s long years in Middle-earth. It was written with thoughts for a friend of Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson’s, Cameron Duncan, who died young of cancer just before the ROTK came out. It is a song of comfort for one who is leaving this world.
“Use Well The Days” is a song of comfort for those who are left behind.
In the ROTK Audio Commentary, Howard Shore comments: “When we started working on Return of the King we made a list of artists, Fran and I did, who we would love to work with, who we thought would be great voice for the film. And it was an important moment because it had to carry the weight of the whole trilogy. So that’s how Annie became involved, and then Fran and I collaborated with her on the writing of the song. She, of course, sang it amazingly, and that’s how that grew.
Writing “Into the West” with Fran, we wanted the song to feel like it belonged in the Shire. It had the simplicity of the Shire. And it was just thinking like that, because the end of the movie is about Frodo, and is about the Shire, and it did end in the Shire. It’s where you’re left, in the last scene. So it’s somewhat Shire/Grey Havens. The song, to me, is Frodo, but there’s a bit of Sam in it as well. And…it was an expression of that, really.
It’s just a great, fun release for me. And I also feel that after all these years, where you’re happy that you finished, that completed this task that you set out for, that there is also a post-partum feeling to it."
