Music Inspired by Narnia
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It is not unusual for books to inspire artists, and Narnia is no exception. There are of course, the official movie soundtracks as well as stage versions, but there are also albums and singles by many musicians and singers. The music inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia is perhaps not quite as expansive in genre as Tolkien’s Middle-Earth (I couldn’t find a Narnia equivalent to Leonard Nimoy’s The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins), but there is still an eclectic mix of styles in this list.
Albums
The 1980 concept album Roar of Love by 2nd Chapter of Acts is a rock retelling of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Courage, Dear Heart by Meg Sutherland is not entirely inspired by Narnia, but it was produced by Douglas Gresham after he tried to get her song Real included in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader credits.
Into the Lantern Waste by Sarah Sparks is a full album of songs inspired by Narnia. Each track is dedicated to a different character.
The award-winning Music Inspired by The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a compilation by various Christian artists that was released prior to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie in 2005.
The Weight of Glory by Heath McNease has songs inspired by many of C.S. Lewis’ works, including The Great Divorce and Till We Have Faces. The Narnia song is titled Edmund.
Despite the name, Swedish metal band Narnia does not always sing about well, Narnia. However, some of their songs are more directly inspired by Narnia, such as The Witch and the Lion from their 2001 album Desert Land.
Singles
Silver by The Gray Havens from the album Where Eyes Don’t Go.
The Chronicles, by Ten from the album The Twilight Chronicles.
The Lament of Eustace Scrubb by The Oh Hellos from the album Through the Deep, Dark Valley.
Prince Caspian’s Prayer by Rebekah Eden from the album Rowing Through Eden.
Aslan by Kendall Payne from the album Grown.
A Narnian Winter by Ryan Thomas from the compilation Mystery Magical World.
Voyage by Scott Krippayne from the album Fight for Love.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of music inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia. Do you know of any that haven’t been mentioned here? What are your favorites?
My Epic has a song called Further Up, Further In with lyrics linked to Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Last Battle.
Geoffrey Burgon’s soundtrack music was some of the best ever composed for Narnia. Of course it was made for a TV series adaptation of the books. I liked the movie music too, but I think Burgon’s is the best for the fairy tale atmosphere of the stories. It is of course my personal taste, but I think the reason why many people like the BBC series is because of the music and the medieval nostalgia it provides. The limited resources aren’t so important when there is something else which helps you to enjoy the story. 🙂
I absolutely LOVE the Sarah Sparks album! Discovered it a couple years ago when I was directing the Joseph Robinette stage version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It’s now one of my favorite albums!
I know nothing about their music or if they have any Narnia-inspired lyrics, but there was a popular Australian rock band named Silverchair.
The Roar of Love by the group called The Second Chapter of Acts is a fantastic musical telling of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Great original songs performed by wonderful musicians – and of course the glorious harmonies the 2nd Chapter! Matthew Ward’s soulful Stevie Wonder-ish solo vocals are worth the price of admission. The style incorporates classic rock, soul, and traditional songwriting – all with a unique charm!
Not Narnia-inspired exactly, but the album Dear Wormwood by The Oh Hellos was inspired by “The Screwtape Letters.”
I just added most of them to my list, thanks for sharing!
Untame Lion by Michelle Tumes is one of my favorites. It is inspired by Narnia.
Thanks for sharing this list!
https://youtu.be/vR_KcfY1_tk
Hi Skilletdude, I am an Australian and I would have heard some Silverchair songs on the radio. But they don’t sing about Narnia, I’m pretty sure. That youtube link above is a 2 minute video where they share their name comes from a C S Lewis book.
I love that album so much, I actually did a music video of the entire album using clips from the films: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-HgJD0ibEJpI9gx0cs2e7SyfmP0RXSX8
I wish more people knew about the Second Chapter of Acts. Their music is great!
I don’t know why the spotify for this album combines “Christmas Where Are You?” and “Gifts From Father Christmas.” Youtube does the same thing.
Gable Price and Friends have a song called Not Safe.
I can’t say I know of any that haven’t already been mentioned, but I’ve been listening to some of these and really liking them.
I’m not a heavy metal fan, and I don’t necessarily like all the lyrics (as the story was not about brave men, but helpless kids on an adventure with the brave Lion) but I’ve got to say “The Witch and the Lion” is totally gonna go on my workout playlist! 😀
The other ones I’ve listened to so far are not really my thing either (apart from the lyrics), but just to see so many talented musicians writing Narnia-inspired music is so cool! I had no idea all these songs even existed. Thanks for sharing!
Also, I agree with Larry W about the BBC Narnia music; this could be nostalgia talking, but I absolutely LOVE that music! And of course the 2005 music… even the song at the end of the 1979 cartoon (during the scene where they hunted the White Stag) just fit Narnia to me. The song at the end of the cartoon was really enjoyable and memorable to me as a kid, so much so that I even recorded it on cassette tape (remember those? 😀 ).
Phil Wickham’s songs “Sailing on a Ship” and “The Ascension” were inspired by VODT and The Last Battle respectively, I believe!
Dalton Thomas has a song “Aslan’s Land” which references both Narnia and LotR. 🙂