Into the West

Into the West is a song written by Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox, and performed by Lennox for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

It was the nineteenth and final track of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and formed part of Days of the Ring, track seven of disc four of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - The Complete Recordings.

The song was conceived as a bittersweet Elven lament for those who have sailed across the Sundering Seas.

In the commentaries and documentaries accompanying the extended DVD edition of the movie, director Peter Jackson explained that the song was partially inspired by the premature death from cancer of 17-year-old New Zealand filmmaker Cameron Duncan whose work had impressed Jackson and his team. The first public performance of the song was at Duncan's funeral.

The song won the Academy Award for Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song) at the 76th Academy Awards, one of the movie's eleven Oscars.