What If the Game of Thrones Theme Was Surf Rock? This TikToker Has the Answer
Image courtesy of HBO
What if Game of Thrones was surf rock? Replace Westeros with a California beach. Instead of the Iron Throne, a bunch of sunscreen-slicked Kens with different crest-covered swim trunks are fighting over the lifeguard chair. Whitewalkers are now great white sharks . . . you get the idea.
That's the world TikToker Cloudchord conjures in one of his latest videos. On his channel, the musician often takes discordant genres, bands, and songs and turns them into surf rock jams. Some of the highest-viewed posts involve giving the surf treatment to metal bands such as Megadeth, Judas Priest, and Metallica, with the latter reposting his video to their page.
This week, he set his sights on prestige TV.
@cloudchord @Game of Thrones #surfguitar #shredguitar #telecaster #whitewalkercosplay
♬ original sound - Cloudchord
Origins of an Iconic Theme
Djawadi talking with Berklee students in 2017.
Image by Kelly Davidson
The original theme was composed by Ramin Djawadi '98. He has talked about the process of working with the show's creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to create the score.
"A lot of the music was based on conversations with Benioff and Weiss. They had a great vision for what they wanted in the show. They said, 'We’ve got to find our own sound and our own tone.' It’s such a fantasy world and they never wanted to go too traditional. There’s room for modern electronic sounds without overdoing it. I tried to find the sweet spots for the modern sounds."
Watch the full conversation below:
While at Berklee, Djawadi studied film scoring and guitar performance, and has since gone on to work on projects including Westworld, Iron Man, The Eternals, Pacific Rim, and the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon.