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Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of cursing.
Songs depicting Westerosi history recur as symbols throughout the whole of the novel; their lyrics often resonate with the character motivations that drive larger plot events forward.
The song that best demonstrates this symbolic function is “The Rains of Castamere.” Written to commemorate Tywin Lannister’s victory over the Reynes and Tarbecks who rebelled against his family, the song frames the Reynes as a house whose pride became their fatal flaw: While they brag that “[A] lion still has claws, / And mine are long and sharp, my lord, / as long and sharp as yours” (538), their castle now stands in ruins and their name is only remembered as a homonym of the rain that washes away any trace of their power. Tywin is only represented in the song in the apostrophe “my lord,” And the refrain insinuates Tywin’s ruthlessness without showing it directly: “Yes now the rains weep o’er his hall, / with not a soul to hear” (538). Tywin never makes a show of his ruthlessness, always hiding his plans in plain sight to ensure their success.
This subtext becomes especially important during Edmure’s and Joffrey’s weddings. At the Red Wedding, the song is a signal to commence the massacre of the Tullys and the Starks.
By George R. R. Martin
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