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Why is it a "Song..."?


Fanless Mace

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I've been scrounging around for theories on the book series name as well. Although, I was never really too concerned about the use of the word song. What's been niggling at the back of my mind is an old poem I had to read in middle school by Robert Frost...

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

It's probably nothing, but I just can't help but think it ties into the name (and yes, I know all about the obvious references to Jon/Dany). Again, it's probably nothing. But it's just something I've been looking all over the forums for, to see if anyone else has made that connection. And then if there even is a connection, what it could mean. Hmm. I could go on for hours, obviously. But I'll stop now, haha. :)
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Short Story Collections [by GRRM]
A Song for Lya (1976)
Songs of Stars and Shadows (1977)
Sandkings (1981)
Songs the Dead Men Sing (1983)
Nightflyers (1985)
Portraits of His Children (1987)
Quartet (2001)
Dreamsongs: A RRetrospective (2003, mass-market edition 2006)
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Within the story


Song = Magic. The CoTF sing their songs, aka practice their magics.


Iirc Rhaegar's "His is the song of ice and fire" line refers to his son, hence the song of ice and fire is Jon's.


Jon will save the world or whatever he is supposed to do with a magic that involves both ice and fire.



Outside of the story


It's pretty cool and GRRM likes it, as J. Stargaryen shows.


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Music had been called the art of time. Free standing notes, like events out of context are meaningless. It is their sequence, duration and contemporance that makes music, much like it is placing events inside a narrative that gives them meaning and what matters is how that resonates emotionally with us. So, yes life is very much a song and Martin calls his story thus.


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