I’ve got the strangest feeling in the pit of my stomach; there’s pure excitement and there’s undeniable sadness lingering as we approach the release of Peter Jackson’s final film in the Hobbit trilogy. Not only will The Battle of the Five Armies close the book on The Hobbit movies, but it also serves as the last chapter in Jackson’s adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s tale of Middle-earth. So how does one properly say goodbye to characters and settings you’ve grown to know and cherish across 13 years and 6 movies? The director enlisted actor and musician Billy Boyd–who played Hobbit Pippin in the Lord of the Rings trilogy–to perform the Five Armies swan song. “The Last Goodbye,” written by Boyd, Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens, will play when the credits roll at the end of the last Hobbit movie and will surely leave fans with a feeling of closure. “We came all this way, and now comes the day, we bid you farewell,” sings Boyd on the soft, charming tune.
“We had to get the song just right, to send the audience out of the movie theater in the most perfect way we could,” Boyd tells Entertainment Weekly. “I think we discovered very quickly this wasn’t just a song to end The Battle of the Five Armies—it was a song to say goodbye to Middle-earth.” He added, “…being asked to go back to that, to work in that wonderful fantasy world again and to be singing the song that says goodbye to Middle-earth for everyone involved and the fans who took this beautiful journey with us is truly a great, great honor.”
Though “The Last Goodbye” doesn’t carry the same oomph as Ed Sheeran’s closing song used in The Desolation of Smaug, it serves its purpose with flying colors as it aims to peacefully put the stories of Middle-earth to rest. Watch Pippin Boyd perform his song in the video embedded above; it’s set against scenes across Hobbit and LOTR films, so embrace yourself for pangs of nostalgia and bring the hankies.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies releases December 17. Download “The Last Goodbye” at iTunes.
