Over a decade since the series premiere, I think we can all agree that the Game of Thrones theme songs is one of the best TV theme songs to come around in a long time. Composed by Ramin Djawadi, it has a soaring, sweeping majesty that's hard to replicate, especially when paired with the visuals: before every episode, we swept over a map of Westeros to learn which locations we would be visiting that hour. The Game of Thrones prequel show House of the Dragon even reused the theme song, and it still works.
Throughout the years, the Game of Thrones theme song has been covered many times in many different ways; someone once managed to cover it using only calculators, which should tell you how creative people got with this. And the covers are still coming in! Popular sitar player Rishab Rikhiram Sharma recently played his version of the theme at his Sitar for Mental Health concert in New York City earlier this year. A video of his performance went up on Twitter/X. Watch below!
I've heard this song a lot over the years, and it's cool to see that someone like Sharma can still bring something new to it. This sounds great.
Sharma has an impressive career. He was mentored by the late sitar player Ravi Shankar, who was also a big influence on the Beatles; that puts Sharma in pretty good company. Earlier this year he became the first sitarist to perform solo at the White House and continues to play all around the world to today.
We'll hear the Game of Thrones song again when House of the Dragon returns for its third season in 2026. Between now and then, we'll also get the new prequel series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, although we don't know if the song will be repurposes again for that series. Given that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will have a different tone than either of its predecessors, I'm hoping not. I love the song, but I'm also curious to hear if the franchise can hit some new notes.
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