10 best songs inspired by George RR Martin’s A Song Of Ice And Fire and HBO’s Game Of Thrones

1. The Bear And The Maiden Fair’

By: Irish Moutarde

Why it’s worth hearing: A racous Celtic punk (via Quebec) take on the bawdy Westerosi beer-hall ditty ‘The Bear And The Maiden Fair’, first heard in A Clash Of Kings. Irish Moutarde’s first single, sadly they don’t have any Game Of Thrones themed merchandise, alas, but if you do fancy a T-shirt saying “Rock your Irish ass” from a bunch of proud French-Canadians, do give them a call. Forget the golden arches, the terrifying cross-cultural appeal of The Pogues and George RR Martin is the real vanguard of globalisation.

2. Watch The Game Of Thrones

By: HBO vs Kanye West & Jay-Z

Why it’s worth hearing: Don’t get excited, Kayne West and Jay-Z didn’t really write a song about Game Of Thrones, but their introspective 2011 team up ‘Watch The Throne’ tackled simular themes of power and social class, albeit with swagger, and so French DJ Johan Wendelwent to work on the greatest imaginary team-up of all time – Sean Bean and Kayne West. Another dream come true, now how do we get this Miley Cyrus and Nicolas Cage duet to happen?

3. To Take The Black

By: The Sword

Why it’s worth hearing: The kings of unabashed Black Sabbath worship, Texas riff-hewers The Sword sound like something George RR Martin was probably listening to in 1983 when he wrote The Armageddon Rag, or in 1973, when he was playing Dungeons & Dragons and sounding off about Vietnam. Maybe The Sword inspired A Game Of Thrones, and not the other way round! No, wait, hang on. The Sword formed in 2003, and second album, 2008’s ‘Gods Of The Earth’s two songs about A Song Of Ice And Fire are only eclipsed by the number of songs about Robert E Howard’s Conan. Bummer.

4. North, North-West Of The Wall

By: Paddy’s Allstars

Why it’s worth hearing: Celtic folk punk is definitely up there with highly strung power metal and wistful folk ballads as one of the genres most likely to be inspired by George RR Martin‘s writing. Like the aforementioned Irish Moutarde, Croatia’s Guinness-swilling Paddy’s Allstars are local franchise holders in a niche chain of Irish punk band Game Of Thrones fan theme restaurants.

5. Game Of Thrones

By: Karliene

Why it’s worth hearing: A rather sweet introduction to the major characters and themes of the TV show in Celtic folk style by Karliene Ryenolds (vocals and piano), accompanied by various strings, harps and violin. Karliene has also composed songs inspired by such SciFiNow approved fantasy worlds as The Hobbit and Once Upon A Time. Sadly, whoever put it on YouTube has an upsetting attitude to punctuation that we can’t condone.

6. The Rains Of Castamere

By: Lewis Fitzjohn and Hawthorn

Why it’s worth hearing: A collaboration between geeky folk musicians Hawthorn and Lewis Fitzjohn, ‘The Rains Of Castamere’ is a convincing choral arrangement of the Lannister anthem first sung over the closing credits of Season Two, episode 9 (although Tyrion Lannister whistled the tune in an earlier episode), sweetly incorporating the tune of the HBO’s series’ theme in its middle third.

7.A Voice In The Dark

By: Blind Guardian

Why it’s worth hearing: Don’t be confused by the Aztec music video, this histrionic power metal bombastaggeddon is entirely about the troubled young Bran Stark. German band Blind Guardian encapsulate the experience of Bran so convincingly that it’s almost as if being a 30-plus heavy metal musician puts you on the same mental level as an 11 year-old boy.

8. Take The Black

By: Hammerfall

Why it’s worth hearing: You might think the emotionally stunted, air-punching dad-metal of Sweden’s Hammerfall isn’t necessarily the best format for depicting the harsh existence of the Night’s Watch – some people just imagine the Game Of Thrones universe to be this upbeat, empowering place. We can only assume they’ve been watching Merlin by mistake.

9. George RR Martin is Not Your Bitch

By: John Anealio

Why it’s worth hearing: Because he really isn’t your bitch.

10. Write Like The Wind

By: Geek And Sundry

Why it’s worth hearing: No, wait, he is your bitch. He is.

The Game Of Thrones Season 1 Blu-ray gift set is coming 19 November 2012, pre-order it now on Amazon.co.uk.