At the Tokyo Game Show 2019 last month, the creators of Final Fantasy XIV were joined by Yoko Taro, the man behind the Nier series, to talk about the upcoming Final Fantasy XIV/Nier: Automata crossover raid, YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse. During their talk, they unveiled the theme song for the crossover–and it is amazing. Let me break down why this is.
00:00~00:26 (1:09:14~1:09:40 in above video)
The song begins similar to many other epic FFXIV songs–namely primal fights and other major boss battles. We’ve got a fast-paced tune, heavy on the drums and strings. Adding emphasis and power to the sound is a full choir singing staccato vocals in an unknown language.
What you might not notice is the baseline lurking behind all of that. It’s the same four-chord progression featured in Nier: Automata’s ending theme song, Weight of the World.
00:27~00:37 (1:09:41~1:09:51 in above video)
At this point in the song, the trumpets pull that Weight of the World chord progression into the foreground, forcing you to take notice of it.
00:38~00:50 (1:09:52~1:10:04 in above video)
After calling out, the trumpets get an answer as it starts to repeat its pattern: the flutes and piano begin echoing it.
00:51-01:07 (1:10:05~1:10:21 in above video)
As the song nears the end of its first minute, the full strings section and full brass section enter as well. Together, they play the vocal line of the pre-chorus to Weight of the World–or they try to at least. They’re still slightly discordant–still slightly not in sync–and echo each other rather than presenting a unified voice.
01:08-01:16 (1:10:22~1:10:30 in above video)
Then suddenly, everything comes together in one cohesive harmony–allowing the vocals to break through in triumphant fashion.
If the song were in English, the line the choir comes in on would be:
“I need you more than ever right now
Can you hear me now?”
Yes, we can hear you. The voices have finally broken through.
01:17~1:40 (1:10:31~1:10:54 in above video)
From here, the full orchestral chorus is the star of the show, singing Weight of the World in this brilliant new arrangement. Of course, they’re not singing it in English. They’re not singing it in Japanese either. In fact, they’re not singing it in any real language at all.
What we’re hearing is known by fans as “Chaos Language.” It is a nonsense language (though one containing words from the critically endangered Chamicuro language) made by singer/composer Emi Evans when she imagined what a future language based on the most prominent languages in the world would sound like in 1000 years.
Chaos Language is used several times throughout Nier’s music and the lyrics the choir singing comes straight from the Chaos Language version of Weight of the World.
La feto bo ras di lei
Shel va pelo cra na dii sii hei
Naya chyo ma ter meh lava ma puoru
Ig nagya di lem myo
Sequoish pela chyo mei lu
Wana piesla hola uma schen dan
While there’s little to suggest that Chaos Language is a true “constructed language” (with full grammar and vocabulary like Elvish or Klingon), we do know what the above stanza means–after all, there is an English version of the song as well.
Still, we’re gonna shout it loud
Even if our words seem meaningless
It’s like I’m carrying the weight of the world
I’d hope that some way, somehow
That I can save every one of us
But the truth is that I’m only one girl…
Weight of the World is a song about shouting out against a corrupted system–a broken world–whether there is anyone, be that god or man, listening or not. It’s about fighting on, even in the face of the impossible–a main theme in both Nier and Final Fantasy XIV.
The song is likewise inseparable from the true ending of Nier: Automata where it most memorably plays. In this ending, the players fight against the game itself and the people who made it in order to reach the possibility of a happy ending. Of course, the trick is that it’s impossible to do this alone. Rather it takes the selfless actions of other people–other players–who at real sacrifice are also “shouting out” along with you to allow you to reach your goal.
In fact, it’s at the point in the ending when you refuse to give up and accept your fellow players’ help that Weight of the World changes drastically mid-song: suddenly there is a chorus of singers backing up the soloists as they continue the song.
This version of the song is similar. It’s only when the instruments all come together into a unified harmony that the vocals come through–that the “futile” words are heard by those listening. And what’s more, like in Nier’s final moments, the song is not one voice but many.
The choir is us: all those who came together to beat Neir: Automata. And our voices can be heard–even all the way into another game.
Image source: FINAL FANTASY XIV on Twitter
01:41~02:03 (1:10:55~1:11:18 in above video)
After the chorus of Weight of the World ends and the “shouting” has finished, the song is overtaken by the song of the crystal, the leitmotif of Final Fantasy that has continued musically across all iterations of the franchise.
In a real way, this is the world of Final Fantasy XIV responding to the wishes of those from Nier. It’s not silence that meets their cries of injustice, but the calming sound of Hydaelyn, the crystal, accompanied by an angelic chorus.
02:04~2:35 (1:11:18~1:11:49 in above video)
At the end, the song returns to how it was in the beginning–setting it up to repeat endlessly. This is both a musical necessity for a background song that will be played on repeat and a telling reminder of Neir: Automata’s potentially endless loop.
Final Fantasy XIV is available on PlayStation 4, PC, Mac. Nier: Automata is available on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One.
The Final Fantasy XIV/Nier: Automata crossover, YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse, will begin in mid-October 2019.
I just wanted to give out a big thanks to Joshua Ott for sponsoring this article with his Patreon donation. (At the $60 a month tier, you are allowed to pick anything up to an including a 13ish episode series to be reviewed–which is released in addition to the one article a week I normally put out here on BiggestinJapan.com.) So thanks again!
Top image copyright: ©Square Enix
Thank you for this wonderful analysis of an incredible song that I cannot stop listening to!