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Having trouble waiting for the next episode of Game Of Thrones Season 8 to air? I don’t blame you; I certainly am. But hey, guess what? If you need something to help you scratch that Westerosi itch in the meantime, these Spotify playlists for all the Game Of Thrones Houses curated by HBO should help. Or perhaps more accurately, all the Game Of Thrones Houses and other entities; we couldn’t forget the Night’s Watch and the White Walkers, could we? Spotify themselves put together each of these playlists in the weeks leading up to last Sunday’s premiere, and, well… let’s just say they’re the perfect soundtrack for spring. Even if it’s actually, finally, winter in Westeros now.
(Now would probably be a good time to alert you to the fact that there are mild spoilers for all season of Game Of Thrones scattered throughout this post. I'm assuming you wouldn't be reading this if you weren't already into the series, but in the event that you're not, you've been warned.)
Spotify is no stranger to curated playlists; indeed, that’s one of the things the music streaming service is most well-known for: Both via its algorithmic ability to pick out music it thinks you’ll like based on the other stuff you listen to, and via its human-driven programming, which offers everything from themed playlists to celebrity takeovers. (Who else loved the slate of Us programming that rolled out when Jordan Peele’s sophomore effort hit cinemas back in March?) Given that the final season of Game Of Thrones is one of the most hotly-anticipated television events in ages, it’s no surprise that Spotify would want to highlight the show's truly excellent score — and what better way to do so than by using the Westerosi Houses as the lens, with HBO themselves curating the lists?
Speaking of, it’s worth noting that each playlist is composed almost entirely of the pieces from the show’s score — that is, the musical themes and motifs from Game Of Thrones itself which are most associated with each House or entity have been plucked out and assembled into playlists of around 30 to 45 tracks each. There are a few exceptions; tracks recorded by contemporary bands specifically for the show appear in a couple of places. (Hi there, “The Rains of Castamere” as recorded by the National and “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” as played by the Hold Steady.) Mostly, though, we’re dealing with the orchestral music composed by Ramin Djawadi over the course of the show’s eight-season run — “Needle” on the House Stark playlist, “The Light of the Seven” on the House Lannister playlist, and so on and so forth. If you’re looking for playlists made of, say, the kinds of things you think Arya might listen to while she trains or what you think the Night King jams out to on his days off, you won’t find that here.
The playlists can be a little difficult to find, though, so here — I’ve taken the liberty of embedding them all in one easily accessible list for you. You can play them in Spotify’s web player right here, or copy and paste the URLs into the search bar of the Spotify app if you’d rather listen to them there.
1
House Stark
Winter is here, and no one knows it better than the Starks. These 43 tracks will keep you warm for almost two hours and 15 minutes, whether you’re sticking ‘em with the pointy end or learning to become the three-eyed raven.
2
House Lannister
A Lannister always pays their debts — even when doing so means blowing up an entire sept full of people. Beyond the orchestral highlights, this playlist, which is an hour and a half long and includes 35 tracks, also includes versions of “The Rains of Castamere” by both the National and Sigur Ros and “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” by the Hold Steady.
3
House Targaryen
Fire and blood and dragons abound in House Targaryen’s hour-and-49-minute-long playlist. Over 34 tracks, walk in Dany’s footsteps as she goes from exile to Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons. Dracarys!
4
House Baratheon
Just because Robert, Renly, and Stannis are gone doesn’t mean the Baratheon line is dead; Robert’s progeny are all over Westeros (who else was happy to see Gendry make his return in the Season 8 premiere?). Bonus points to this playlist, which covers 30 tunes over an hour and a half, for including Shireen’s little song from Season 3 — which, fun fact, was originally sung in A Clash of Kings by Shireen’s jester, Patchface, who was regretfully cut from the television series.
5
The Great Houses
There are a lot of Houses in Westeros; if Spotify made a playlist for each and every one, we’d be here until quite possibly the end of time. However, since each of the lesser houses generally act as vassals to one of the Great Houses, all of ‘em, both lesser and Great, can be covered by one playlist. It’s an hour and 45 minutes long and covers 33 songs.
There were nine great houses at the beginning of Game of Thrones — House Targaryen, House Stark of Winterfell, House Lannister of Casterly Rock, House Arryn of the Eyrie, House Tully of Riverrun, House Greyjoy of Pike, House Baratheon of Storm's End, House Tyrell of Highgarden, and House Martell of Sunspear — although not all of them are still around now… or at least, not in their former senses. In any event, though, you’ll find tunes pertaining to each of these Houses and their vassals here, with the Greyjoys, Martells, Tyrells, and Boltons in particular focus.
6
The Night’s Watch
They might not be a House, but the Night’s Watch certainly deserve their own playlist. It's a thankless job, being one of the Watchers on the Wall, but at least these 34 songs can keep you entertained for almost two hours while you’re on guard duty.
7
The White Walkers
31 songs. An hour and 49 minutes of music. An army of eighty bajillion undead creatures coming your way, including a freaking ice dragon. The odds, uh, don’t look good for the folks south of the Wall — but the White Walkers? They’re about to have their day. The Night King will make sure of that.
8
Game Of Thrones: The End Is Coming
OK, so technically, this one isn’t a House-or-other-entity playlist; nor is it comprised of pieces from the Game Of Thrones score. But apparently, the key to how the show will end is hidden somewhere in this 51-song, three-and-a-half-hour-long playlist — so as a bonus, have at. From the Doors to Laura Marling and Black Sabbath to Kanye, there’s… uh… a lot going on here.
Season 8 of Game Of Thrones airs on HBO on Sunday nights at 9pm from now through May 19. Here’s hoping there’s still someone left standing in Westeros by the end of it.
