The Bard's Song (In the Forest)

I know Middle Earth incredibly well, but I don't think that this is specifically one of its tales. It is saying that even though you may be forgotten by people the tales of your deeds will be sung by the bards for all eternity. And when people hear the songs of your deeds they may not have known you but the memory of you will be with them always.

The song itself is actually based around the concept album that it appears in, Somewhere Far Beyond. Every song on the album is about a character who finds themself in a different world. Time What Is Time, for example, is about a man who finds himself in the Blade Runneresque setting.

The Bard Song: In The Forest, is about each character from the songs on the album coming together for a meeting themselves. You can see them all on the front cover of the album. Clever, huh?

It's a song about the bard's life... Each day finds them in a new place, where no one knows who they are. All they know is the songs the bards sing and the worlds they are taken to by them. When it's all said and done the bards pack up and moves on, no one to ever know their name, only the stories they brought with them. It's about how they did it all for the music and the stories. And the bard's songs will remain. In my thoughts and in my dreams. =)

I most definitely agree with Catawhompus. ‘No one should ask you for the name of the one who tells the story’ might say that those bards didn’t long for fame or glory. On the one hand they’d love to settle down at one place: ‘When hours have gone by I'll close my eyes. In a world far away we may meet again’ on the other hand they enjoy traveling aroung, being a stranger and entertaining people ‘Tomorrow will take it away. The fear of today it will be gone. Due to our magic songs’ If you love this song listen to the live version of it. The crowd sings almost the entire song. Absolutely incredible! Truly one of Germany’s finest.

I think that the lyric of this GREAT song is linked with the lyric of "Imaginations From the Other Side": IFTOS is about fables and great stories in which sadly the speaker can't involve himself anymore, as he has grown too much; while The Bard's Song - In the Forest is about the great Bards who sang about that stories ( and Tolkien is involved for sure )

I think that the lyric of this GREAT song is linked with the lyric of "Imaginations From the Other Side": IFTOS is about fables and great stories in which sadly the speaker can't involve himself anymore, as he has grown too much; while The Bard's Song - In the Forest is about the great Bards who sang about that stories ( and Tolkien is involved for sure )

Both songs are abot Tolkien's book "The Hobbit". "In the forest" is about King Bard of Esgaroth, who slew a dragon named Smaug, and then became king. The other song, named "The Hobbit", is about Bilbo Baggins who is the main character in Tolkien's mentioned book.

I had a change of perspective with this song today as it was in my car and I had a pet die lastnight. I can't speak for the band's intention with this song, but I think interpretation can go beyond a song for the sake of romanticizing the historical legacy of the bard or representing a specific story.

It's really a very moving depiction of a final farewell - quite likely from a deathbed. There are numerous allusions to concepts of ending, finality, mortality, and erosion of memory.

Here's a few lines that really seem to point to a death theme, in my opinion.

"When hours have gone by, I'll close my eyes." Recognizing the time that's behind them, and admitting that their time has peacefully come.

"In a world far away, we may meet again. But now hear my song, about the dawn of the night. Let's sing the bard's song." Comforting the audience with the notion that death is a new beginning (dawn of the night), and requesting that we sing with them to ease their passing while paying a romantic tribute to the moment.

"Tommorrow will take us away Far from home No-one will ever know our names But the bard's song will remain" Time will change everything, all memories will fade, and we can't possibly know what lies ahead ("far from home" being symbolic of the unknown beyond). I think "the bard's song" is a metaphor for death itself.

"Tommorrow will take it away The fear of today It will be gone Due to our magic song" The bard's song (death) will lift all our burdens.

"There's only one song Left in my mind" The narrator is finished with their life. Perhaps they see their past as a collection of tales, and death is the only song left for them.

"Now the bard songs are over And it's time to leave" Obvious.

"Noone should ask You for the name Of the one Who tells the story" We all face death, we're all commemorated in some fashion, and death is a momentous occassion for all of us. Perhaps asking who tells the story (who is god? why does he let us die? what does he has in store for us? etc.) only bogs down our lives. The narrator is asking the audience to leave all that out of it. It's his moment. His death. He knows what he faces is a mystery, and he's just going to move forward gracefully. No stumbling over blind attempts to appeal to the unknown for entrance to whatever possible afterlife and such.

"Tomorrow all will be known And You're not alone So don't be afraid In the dark and cold 'Cause the bards' songs will remain They all will remain" We'll all know the truth eventually. Don't sweat it. We all go there so you're not alone. "The dark and cold" is another metaphor for the unknown, which is where all of us are in our final moments. We don't know what lies ahead. Whatever it is, we all face it eventually so there's no use being afraid.

My interpretation can't account for the whole song, but I've had it turning over in my head all day anyway. I sang it whenever I was in the car today to pay tribute to the passing of Ninja, my sugar glider.

hmm......of Old is told the Tales of the Bards of Esgaroth.....roughly the area of the Lonely Mountain and Lake Town..Dale, etc. If anyone has read 'The Hobbit', then you are familiar with'Bard'....or rather 'King Bard', as he is of noble lineage that ruled that land before the coming of lesser men from the south and east. Bard's songs are akin to sagas the Vikings told. FYI: There was great love between the Bards and Dwarves in Esgaroth before the waning of men, and the Bard...of that lineage, probably learned of his ancestry through these 'Bard songs'..and so on...perhaps.

I believe it's like a monologue of Bilbo Baggins after the Battle of Five Armies ,where dwarves,men and elves have fought together. He also talks about Bard King of Esgaroth . There many ways to interpret this song when you have tolkien's mythology in mind though,so I may be not correct.