# A question about the song "Into the West" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2015, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-song-into-the-west/737657 "2015-11-15T23:35:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-song-into-the-west/737657/1 "2015-11-15T23:35:13Z")
_Into the West_, sung at the end of PJ’s _The Lord of the Rings_ movie by Annie Lennox, has some lyrics I don’t quite understand: \*What can you see on the horizon? Why do the white gulls call? Across the sea a pale moon rises The ships have come to carry you home And all will turn to silver glass A light on the water All souls pass \* And all will turn to silver glass??? It sort of sound vaguely Elvish, but what does that refer to? The rest of the song makes perfect sense to me, but not those lines. I understand that some of the lyrics were taken from the books-- were those? The only thing I can think of is that your memories of your life before will seem unreal, and you’ll be renewed “in the West”. When you look back, all you’ll see is “a light on the water”, which looks like “silver glass”. But I’m not at all confident of that. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-song-into-the-west/737657/2 "2015-11-15T23:37:49Z")
Gandalf’s description of dying: > [@](#): > > Pippin: I didn’t think it would end this way. > > Gandalf: End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path… One that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass… And then you see it. > > Pippin: What? Gandalf?.. See what? > > Gandalf: White shores… and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise. > > Pippin: [smiling] Well, that isn’t so bad. > > Gandalf: [softly] No… No it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-song-into-the-west/737657/3 "2015-11-15T23:55:29Z")
Wow, that was quick. But I’m still not sure what Gandalf is saying. Why do things turn to “silver glass”? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-song-into-the-west/737657/4 "2015-11-16T00:24:58Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Wow, that was quick. > > But I’m still not sure what Gandalf is saying. Why do things turn to “silver glass”? A nuclear strike, I’m guessing? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-song-into-the-west/737657/5 "2015-11-16T00:53:36Z")
Well, I’m assuming it’s a metaphor for _something_, but what? Or maybe it just sounds cool…? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-song-into-the-west/737657/6 "2015-11-16T02:35:28Z")
“Silver glass” could be a symbol for a mirror; you would see yourself in death, “reflect” upon it and proceed to the other side. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-song-into-the-west/737657/7 "2015-11-16T02:40:46Z")
This world becomes transparent, revealing the Real world, perhaps? But “silver glass” does sound like a mirror, so…I’m not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-song-into-the-west/737657/8 "2015-11-16T02:54:02Z")
As Frodo sails into the west, in the book, the description is of a grey curtain of rain that rolls back like Silver glass. It’s then that Frodo sees the Undying Lands under a swift sunrise. Silver glass seems like a poetic description of grey rain suddenly illuminated by a sunrise.