Catchy TV intro theme songs were a dying art long before Lost proved an intro could be done in about 10 seconds. But not HBO's Game of Thrones. It takes over a minute and a half for that gorgeous theme song to play out.
Fans who happen to be musicians have been playing their own versions of GoT and posting their efforts to YouTube; we have 11 of them for you, plus the original. Their musical styles are as different as House Stark is from House Frey, but if you like the theme song, you'll find at least one clip to love.
This should keep us happy until the fifth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, A Dance With Dragons, is released on July 12.
The original theme song
Ramin Djawadi composed the theme song and music to GoT. In addition, he's written music for other shows (including Blade: The Series, FlashFoward), movies (Blade Trinity, Iron Man, Clash of the Titans) and videogames (Medal of Honor, Shift 2 Unleashed).
Violins
Jason Yang, classically trained violinist, starts off simple. It doesn't stay that way. Eventually he gives us an orchestra made completely of Jason Yang.
Piano
One of the prettiest versions, Brennessalano keeps it simple yet puts his own spin on it. We're loving his fancy fingerwork.
Accordion
Listening to 654devil's version, we're not in Westeros, preparing for winter. We're sitting on the left bank of the Seine.
Acoustic guitars
Another sweet version. We notice that OggirtMoonfrad keeps her four versions in sync with help from her MP3 player.
Piano and violin
Lara6883 plays a duet with herself on the piano and violin, showing the world that two Laras are better than one.
Medieval
Nonsensesociety covers GoT using instruments found in the Middle Ages. For some reason, it sounds a bit wistful to our ears.
Heavy Metal
Musical polymath WhiteNoiseLab rocks out on multiple guitars as well as playing the drums. We assume from his setup that mixes the sound himself. He probably made his own shirt from sheep.
8-bit
For people who love the '80s and/or have played way too many Nintendo or Atari games, Digitapp gives you this.
Techno
It takes a full minute for the mix to kick in, but after that you'll see that Nevesera's version can get the party started in any nightclub.
Trance
Astroleaf doesn't just mix the song, s/he takes you on a musical journey of different trance styles.
Electronic
TheWhipshade created a version of GoT that danceable and dreamy and a whole lot of fun. But is it electronic or house? LINK