The citizens of Westeros haven’t had much of an occasion to dance lately. Sure, the Night King has been defeated, but Cersei Lannister still sits on the Iron Throne, and she’s not exactly an improvement in conditions. But sometimes you need to fire up the music, and Travis Scott, the Weeknd, and SZA have given us the ultimate bard anthem for cold Winterfell nights — with a music video as dazzling as the show itself.
In the video for “Power is Power,” The Weeknd (aka Abel Makkonen Tesfaye), a noted Game of Thrones fan, takes on the role of Jon Snow. Intercut with footage from the show, he goes through Jon’s character arc, from joining the Night’s Watch to not-surviving a knife to the heart. “Heavy is the crown,” sings The Weeknd, a nod to his reluctance to a ruler. Poor Jon Snow does not want to be a king, he just wants to play fetch with Ghost and makes s’mores with Rhaegal.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
SZA stars as Daenerys Targaryen, the living embodiment of Fire and Blood. She’s seated sensually atop the Iron Throne and proudly proclaims, “I’d die looking up at your face.” Dany’s desire for the throne is as strong as Jon’s reticence, and she will do everything in her power to take what is hers. The Dothraki may have faded away into the Long Night, but SZA is the perfect Khaleesi for all of us.
Imran Majid, A&R head at Columbia Records, told Rolling Stone how “Power is Power” came into fruition. HBO specifically wanted musicians who love the show to contribute to the original soundtrack. The Weeknd didn’t get a cameo à la Ed Sheeran, but he got to use studio time to record the song and pay homage to his favorite show. “We were at dinner one night,” says Majid. “It was like, ‘Why don’t we just hit him up?’ So [Columbia Records chairman Ron Perry] texted Abel being like, ‘Dude, are you into doing this song for this inspired by soundtrack?’ And he immediately responded and said he was down.”
“Power is Power” appears on the album For The Throne (Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones). Through original music from artists such as The National, Chloe x Halle, and Rosalia, the story of the rightful queen of the Seven Kingdoms and her brooding, undead nephew come to live. She may have a challenge to her throne in Jon Snow/Aegon Targaryen, but maybe this fiery couple will hit up the club at King’s Landing’s first. Drogon, cue up the fireworks. You can check out the video below.