The Chronicles of Narnia & Blue Flower, Part III
How "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" relates to "Tread the Dawn"
Hello! I’m Gloriana, and I’m coming from Ink Blots with a long-delayed1 third post on my series about how certain songs in The Gray Havens’ album Blue Flower relate to books in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. In the first essay, I explored how “Have You Heard” relates to The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. The second expounded on how “Wide Awake” corresponds to Prince Caspian. Today’s essay focuses on how “Tread the Dawn” relates to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Above is the book cover, below is the song and the lyrics to the song.
“Tread The Dawn” by The Gray Havens
Been havin' doubts
I missed the mark
I sailed away from silver shores
With heaven loud in my heart
Shinin' gold like summer now
Callin' down through the clouds
All you sunward sailers now
Think it's time
Think it's time we tread the dawn
Are we are
We are (3x)
We are searchin' for answers
Are we are
We are (3x)
Are we are
We are (3x)
We are searchin' for answers
Are we are
We are (3x)
Had a dragon heart
Chasin' foolish gold
I met eyes like lion's
They tore me apart
I hit the water cold
Like an endless summer now
Callin' down through the clouds
Are you sunwards sailers
Think it's time
Think it's time we tread the dawn
Are we are
We are (3x)
We are searchin' for answers
Are we are
We are (3x)
Are we are
We are (3x)
We are searchin' for answers
Are we are
We are (3x)
So sure of all the answers, what they couldn't be
That I've been blinded to the beauty of reality
So sure of all the answers, what they couldn't be
That I've been blinded to the beauty of reality
Are we are
We are (3x)
We are searchin' for answers
Are we are
We are (3x)
Are we are
We are (3x)
We are searchin' for answers
Are we are
We are (3x)
Tread the Dawn is, I believe, the most obvious correlation between the songs and the books—even sharing a similar title to its correlating book—The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Not sure how I didn’t see that before I went on this journey, but sometimes one doesn’t see things that are right in front of one’s nose.
Not only that, but the song capitalizes on how the sailors are sailing “sunward,” or east, “searching for answers,” which is what Caspian was doing—sailing eastward, searching for the answers to the disappearance of the seven lords of Narnia.
The second verse cements this song as relating to The Voyage of The Dawn Treader. It speaks of “a dragon heart, chasing foolish gold,” much like how Eustace transforms into a dragon when he covets dragon’s gold and thinks dragonish thoughts. Then it says he “met eyes like lion’s,” that “tore him apart.” This calls to mind how Eustace was healed by Aslan—the great Lion—who ripped off his skin, layer by layer, deeper and deeper, till he was redeemed and healed.
The song also mentions gold, which is a huge factor in The Voyage of The Dawn Treader. This one struck me recently as I just finished the chapter on how The Voyage relates to Sol in Planet Narnia. I’ve been really enjoying the book, I recommend it to any Narnia fan!
I could tear the song apart looking for further correlations, but I believe I’ve made my point, which is definitely the most convincing one (in my opinion) so far in this series.
Thank you for reading! I apologize for taking so long to continue this series. I’ve gained a few subscribers since my last post on this series, if you missed the first two parts, I encourage you to go explore them! They are linked below, enjoy!
If you have not yet either read The Chronicles of Narnia or listened to The Gray Havens’ album Blue Flower, I hope this essay encourages you to explore the wondrous depth contained in both; or, if you have both read and listened to them, perhaps it is time to blend the visual and audial experiences for a richer blend.
Until next time,
—Glori
It’s been literally months…
I’ve always found it ironic that The Gray Havens themed their name off of Tolkien’s work, yet they almost exclusively reference Lewis in their songs. The closest thing they have to a Tolkien reference is their song, “Silver”, which is about Lewis and Tolkien’s conversation about mythology.
Another irony is that Andrew Peterson did write a song about the Grey Havens, called “The Havens Grey”.
It’s funny how Tolkien converted Lewis to Christianity, and was forever after overshadowed by him. Nobody teaches a class on Tolkien without pulling in Lewis at every spare moment. Tolkien himself would often write in his letters of hoping he could catch C.S.L. that day. Lewis wrote an autobiography that mentioned Tolkien’s existence in passing.
This was the nature of their friendship.
Woah this is so cool. I love this. I never would’ve made the connection.