"May It Be" is a song by the Irish recording artist Enya. She and Roma Ryan respectively composed and wrote lyrics to the song, for Peter Jackson's 2001 film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The song entered the German Singles Chart at number one in 2002, and Enya performed it at the 74th Academy Awards. "May It Be" was acclaimed by music critics and received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
Composition
Director Peter Jackson approached Enya (under the suggestion of Howard Shore), asking if she would be interested in writing a song for The Lord of the Rings. Thrilled at the prospect, Enya headed to New Zealand to see the preliminary edits of the film. at Aigle Studio, the Ryans' and Enya's own recording studio.
The vocals were recorded at Aigle Studio in Dublin, and the orchestration was recorded in London, directed by Howard Shore and performed by the London Voices and London Philharmonic Orchestra. Compositionally, the piece is simple, featuring a backdrop of choir and strings. As Doug Adams commented, Enya's contributions "coexist so neatly", with Shore's score, that "neither Enya song is relegated to its own track".
Lyrics
The lyrics of this theme song include English words, as well as words in the fictional Elvish language, Quenya, created by J.R.R. Tolkien. They are intermingled with the English lyrics; "Mornië utúlië, believe and you will find your way; Mornië alantië, a promise lives within you now." Mornië utúlië, translates to "Darkness has come". It was nominated for the 2002 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, but lost to "Until" from Kate & Leopold. The song received a 2003 Grammy Award nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
Enya performed her song at the Academy Awards on 24 March 2002. She was "absolutely" excited about the performance. It also came out as a single in Europe on 10 December 2001 and in the United Kingdom on 21 January 2002. "May It Be" entered the German Singles Chart at number one. It was Enya's second consecutive single to do so, following her song "Only Time". In 2005, it was released as part of the compilation The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: The Complete Recordings. This time, the version of the song was identical as featured in the movie's ending titles. Enya also included the song on her 2009 album, The Very Best of Enya.
Music video
The music video was directed by Peter Nydrle. It features clips from the film as well as Enya singing the song. The video runs for 3 minutes and 32 seconds.
Track listings
European CD single and UK cassette single
- "May It Be" – 3:30
- "Isobella" – 4:27
European maxi-CD single and UK CD single
- "May It Be" – 3:30
- "Isobella" – 4:27
- "The First of Autumn" – 3:08
Charts
Weekly charts
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center"
|+Weekly chart performance for "May It Be"
!Chart (2001–2003)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope=row|Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)
| style="text-align:center;"|62
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Czech Republic (IFPI)
|align="center"|7
|-
!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)
|align="center"|10
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Greece (IFPI Greece)
|align="center"|42
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Romania (Romanian Top 100)
|align="center"|72
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+Year-end chart performance for "May It Be"
!Chart (2002)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"|Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)
|align="center"|63
|-
!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)
|align="center"|86
|-
!scope="row"|Germany (Media Control)
|align="center"|37
|}
Certifications
Release history
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+Release dates and formats for "May It Be"
!scope="col"|Region
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Format(s)
!scope="col"|Label(s)
!scope="col"|
|-
!scope="row"|Europe
|10 December 2001
|rowspan="2"|CD
|rowspan="2"|WEA
|