Music Playlist for Writing in Fantasy

While I listen to plenty of background music when writing (I have a Pandora station with hundreds if not thousands of songs liked), the following are the ones that I purchased on iTunes so I could loop them over and over. After all, artists draw inspiration for their medium from all others. These songs all evoke a certain mood or idea that I sometimes want to capture in a very specific scene. Many are well known. Some may be known to those who enjoy certain forms of entertainment. And a few are relatively obscure and I hope you enjoy them. The music here ranges from melancholy and thoughtful, to exciting and adventurous; from eerie and depressing to joyful and triumphant. Let me know your favorite in the comments below or by tweeting me @Tales_of_Lugon!

Note – I actually haven’t seen all the movies/shows or played all the games on here, so I’m not saying how good the source material is, but these songs are amazing. The list is not in any particular order except the first – it certainly is my favorite 🙂

Zanarkand, Piano Collections Edition, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLU2xQ4nkk4

Melodies of Hyrule Album by Taylor Davis, (Song of Time / Song of Storms Medley linked, but the whole album is amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIXCL5VR9Ho)

He’s a Pirate, Original PotC Soundtrack and Pi Ano cover, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9t06Wfu3sI .

I See Fire, Ed Sheeran, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug Original Soundtrack, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fngvQS_PmQ

Song of the Lonely Mountain, The Hobbit Original Soundtrack, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJwyW9ngLNg

Davy Jones Theme, Original PotC: DMC Soundtrack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fe9W1gZPUs

Close Your Eyes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE8khoCz6TE

The Winter Trilogy Albums by Nox Arcana, (linking one track from two different albums – “Enchanted Realm” from Winter’s Eve: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yfvunZmHi8 and “White Woodlands” from Winter’s Majesty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-xV-pHngMY&index=3&list=PLOXT-533NUjx6tUFhoLyk4Ji4-XKLAIrJ NOTE – most of Nox Arcana’s music is “horror” and I don’t care for it, but his Winter Trilogy, though still eerie, has an other-worldliness beauty to it, and I highly recommend them)

Pamela from Sad Piano Music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55UvY3V6oJA

Aerith’s Theme, Piano Collections Edition, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sh9UmS5iQk

Final Fantasy VII Main Theme, Piano Collections Edition, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=404Vyt92lCs

Hurt, Johnny Cash Cover https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt1Pwfnh5pc

Like I said, this is far from all, and I would encourage all Fantasy writers to start their own radio station using Pandora or another app where you can tailor the kind of music that inspires you without being distracted. If you want to read more of my thoughts on writing, be sure to check out other pages in the blog. Happy writing all!