The Lore (and Soul) Train: PAX ’15 - GamerEscape

[Kage]

http://gamerescape.com/2015/08/29/the-lore-and-soul-train-pax-15/

 

It’s PAX 2015, and while Fusionx is on location (no doubt adding yet another “I Defeated…” shirt to his collection), I’ve taken it upon myself to cover the XIV-related attraction, Koji & Soken’s Wild Ride, a combination music and lore panel featuring Localization Lead / Co-World Creator Michael-Christopher Koji Fox and Sound Director Masayoshi Soken as they explore the lore behind various songs and explain their creation process. A summary can barely do the panel justice, but if you can’t watch it for yourself, we’ve got you covered.

 

 

Koji Fox, technically on vacation, was the first to come out, explaining that he originally worked with Masayoshi Soken on Mario Hoops 3-on-3 and with Nobuo Uematsu at Distant Worlds and, eventually, on Answers for FINAL FANTASY XIV. He figured that he’d eventually get used to working with Uematsu-san, but is still nervous every time. This was especially true for Dragonsong, as his mind kept wandering to the lyrics to Land of the Lost when the deadlines were already looming.

 

Both Answers and Dragonsong are from Hydaelyn’s perspective, Koji confirms. In Answers, the wandering races are lamenting their existence and how life is so hard, while Hydaelyn is explaining that suffering leads you to understand who you are and what role you will play. This is contrasted in Dragonsong, where Hyadelyn doesn’t understand why her children have let the circumstances of the Dragonsong War become what they have. The contents of the songs in the game are, indeed, canon, so keep speculating based on the lyrics – some do have deeper meaning.

 

At this point, Soken joined the panel with Aimi on translation, making fun of Koji for being here on vacation while he (Soken) was doing appearances in four cities. He also said that the panel will be themed Hellsward based on their workload – 4 primal songs, 100 sound effects, 500 voices, and more in a matter of weeks. The main boss of Hellsward, of course, was Naoki Yoshida

 

RAVANA

 

Because many of Ravana’s moves are dance-like and he’s accompanied by butterflies, Soken got the idea to make the song include a waltz be reminiscent of the powerful music in Jidaigeki cinema (Western-like samurai movies seen in Japan). When Koji was first brought the music for Ravana, he banged out the basics of the Gnath’s language in about a day so they could be used for lyrics. However, Yoshida felt that the music would be better for Alexander, so Koji was given a new song to work with. The idea came about to use a Japanese tenor, but he couldn’t do the Gnathic language so they used Dragonspeak. Unfortunately, that singer’s schedule was too full, so the lyrics were re-written again in English (and, fun fact, sung by the Localization lead of FFXV. This singer didn’t like his own voice, but Soken was able to bribe him with promises of auto-tuning).

 

BISMARCK

 

Soken found working on Bismarck more difficult than usual – it went through 12 iterations. He wanted it to make sure it was exhilarating because it was an airborne battle against a huge enemy. Again, Koji worked on lyrics … until this song, too, was repurposed to be the other song in Alexander. (There was also an unfortunate incident where Koji spent a few days writing lyrics to the wrong instrument after Soken gave him a version lacking the intended melody).

 

ALEXANDER

 

The original Ravana and Bismarck songs were revised to fit the new theme, though some traces did carry over. Koji admits that some of the lyrics to the song heard in the first three areas are now thematic of Alexander but not necessarily meaningful. For instance, the use of 72323 is completely random – it has no hidden link. (Yet…) For the fourth area, the song is called Metal and features a lot of Gobbiespeak. Goblins used to be much worse at Eorzean (English); there were few goblins so they had time to play with the language. In Heavensward, however, there are so many goblins that they’ve had them become better linguists to reduce the workload (perhaps they read up on it in Sharlayan). The panel concluded with a surprise, impromptu performance of Metal, though the crowd was shy about joining in at first and technical difficulties with the stream necessitated that the song be started over again.

 

Feel free to discuss (new) interpretations of the story/lore from the lyrics! Post broken up so that it's easier to read and navigate. Lyrics for the two songs are below!

[Kage]

Lyrics to Dragonsong

Children of the land do you hear

 

Echoes of truths that once rang clear

 

Two souls intertwined

 

One true love they did find

 

Bringing land and heavens near

 

But flames that burn full bright, soon fell dark

 

Memories dimmed by shadowed hearts

 

In the waxing gloom did wane the lover's moon

 

Watching as their worlds drift apart

 

One soul's cry

 

A passion dwelling within

 

Sacrifice, a final plea to her kin

 

Yet this bond of hope, by treachery was broke

 

Scattering her words to the wind

 

Swelling over long,

 

seas of blood, are a song

 

And death an afterthought

 

To those who fight for naught

 

A throne, lying empty

 

A reign, incomplete

 

Alone, for eternity

 

A pain, without cease

 

Children of the land, answer this

 

Why must you turn to empty bliss

 

Tell me why break trust, why turn the past to dust

 

Seeking solace in the abyss

 

Tell me why create, a circle none can break

 

Why must you let go, the life you were bestowed

 

This I fear I'll never know

 

Never know

[Kage]

Lyrics to Answers.

 

The lyrics below are for the full version, with the 'cut' lyrics highlighted in red.

 

Answers

 

Music: Nobuo Uematsu

Lyrics: Yaeko Sato & Michael-Christopher Koji Fox

Vocals: Susan Calloway

 

I close my eyes, tell us why must we suffer

Release your hands, for your will drags us under

My legs grow tired, tell us where must we wander

How can we carry on if redemption's beyond us?

 

To all of my children in whom Life flows abundant

To all of my children to whom Death hath passed his judgement

The soul yearns for honor, and the flesh the hereafter

Look to those who walked before to lead those who walk after

 

Shining is the Land's light of justice

Ever flows the Land's well of purpose

Walk free, walk free, walk free, believe...

The Land is alive, so believe...

 

Suffer (Feel) Promise (Think) Witness (Teach) Reason

(Hear) Follow (Feel) Wander (Think) Stumble (Teach) Listen

(Speak) Honor (Speak) Value (Tell) Whisper (Tell) Mention

(Hope) Ponder (Hope) Warrant (Wish) Cherish (Wish) Welcome

(Roam) Witness (Roam) Listen (Roam) Suffer (Roam) Sanction

(Sleep) Weather (Sleep) Wander (Sleep) Answer

Sleep on

 

Now open your eyes while our plight is repeated

Still deaf to our cries, lost in hope we lie defeated

Our souls have been torn, and our bodies forsaken

Bearing sins of the past, for our future is taken

 

War born of strife, these trials persuade us not

(Feel what? Learn what?)

Words without sound, these lies betray our thoughts

(See what? Hear what?)

Mired by a plague of doubt, the Land, she mourns

Judgement binds all we hold to a memory of scorn

Tell us why, given Life, we are meant to die, helpless in our cries?

 

Witness (Feel) Suffer (Think) Borrow (Teach) Reason

(Hear) Follow (Feel) Stumble (Think) Wander (Teach) Listen

(Blink) Whisper (Blink) Shoulder (Blink) Ponder (Blink) Weather

(Hear) Answer (Look) Answer (Think) Answer together

 

Thy Life is a riddle, to bear rapture and sorrow

To listen, to suffer, to entrust unto tomorrow

In one fleeting moment, from the Land doth life flow

Yet in one fleeting moment, for anew it doth grow

In the same fleeting moment

Thou must live

Die

And know

[LiadansWhisper]

 

I've given Dragonsong an inordinate amount of thought, and this is what I came up with:

 

Children of the land, do you hear

Echoes of truths that once rang clear?

Two souls intertwined,

One true love they did find,

Bringing land and heavens near.

 

But flames that burn full bright soon fell dark,

Memories dimmed by shadowed hearts.

In the waxing gloom did wane the lover's moon,

Watching as their worlds drift apart.

 

One soul's cry,

A passion dwelling within

Sacrifice, a final plea to her kin.

Yet this bond of hope

By treachery was broke,

Scattering her words to the wind.

 

Swelling over-long,

Seas of blood are a song,

And death an afterthought

To those who fight for naught.

 

A throne, lying empty

A reign, incomplete

Alone, for eternity

A pain, without cease

 

Children of the land, answer this:

Why must you turn to empty bliss?

Tell me why break trust?

Why turn the past to dust,

Seeking solace in the abyss?

Tell me why create

A circle none can break?

Why must you let go

The life you were bestowed?

This I fear I'll never know,

Never know.

 

I've moved some commas around and added others (and punctuation!) because some of those commas make no sense in English.  Specifically, these two sections I initially thought meant something else until I went through the Heavensward quests:

 

One soul's cry,

A passion dwelling within

Sacrifice, a final plea to her kin.

 

I read that as, "One soul's cry, (a passion dwelling within sacrifice), a final plea to her kin."

 

To me, this pretty obviously refers directly to Shiva and Hraesvelgr, since she sacrificed herself to bring the two races together, but still lives on within Hraesvelgr's soul.

 

The second one is this:

 

Swelling over-long,

Seas of blood are a song,

 

Which I read as, "Swelling overlong, seas of blood are a song."

 

This is the only way the lines make sense in English, and there is a part of the MSQ where the WoL, Iceheart, Estinien, and Alphinaud realize that the entire Dragonsong war is literally a requiem sung for Nidhogg's murdered sister, Ratatoskr.  It's said in very flowery language, but in plain English essentially says, "This war has gone on for way too long (overlong) and cost so many lives (seas of blood) for this dragon to mourn his sister."  The use of "swelling" initially made me think of water swelling over land, but in context it works better for a musical piece - which can also "swell" in terms of volume. And we're given to believe that the Dragonsong War has gotten worse over time.

 

Just some things that have been rolling around inside my head.