{"id":1985,"date":"2019-10-02T22:00:26","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T13:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/?p=1985"},"modified":"2019-10-02T22:14:56","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T13:14:56","slug":"the-final-fantasy-xiv-nier-automata-crossover-song-tells-a-powerful-story-musically","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/the-final-fantasy-xiv-nier-automata-crossover-song-tells-a-powerful-story-musically\/","title":{"rendered":"The <i>Final Fantasy XIV\/Nier: Automata<\/i> Crossover Song Tells a Powerful Story Musically"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the Tokyo Game Show 2019 last month, the creators of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Final Fantasy XIV <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">were joined by Yoko Taro, the man behind the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nier<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> series, to talk about the upcoming <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Final Fantasy XIV\/Nier: Automata<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> crossover raid, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. During their talk, they unveiled the theme song for the crossover&#8211;and it is amazing. Let me break down why this is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nZCmMQeaVtc?start=4154\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>00:00~00:26 <\/strong><em>(1:09:14~1:09:40 in above video)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The song begins similar to many other epic <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FFXIV<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> songs&#8211;namely primal fights and other major boss battles. We\u2019ve 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What you might not notice is the baseline lurking behind all of that. It\u2019s the same four-chord progression featured in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nier: Automata<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019s ending theme song, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weight of the World<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>00:27~00:37 <\/strong><em>(1:09:41~1:09:51 in above video)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At this point in the song, the trumpets pull that <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weight of the World<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> chord progression into the foreground, forcing you to take notice of it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>00:38~00:50<\/strong> <em>(1:09:52~1:10:04 in above video)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After calling out, the trumpets get an answer as it starts to repeat its pattern: the flutes and piano begin echoing it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>00:51-01:07<\/strong> <em>(1:10:05~1:10:21 in above video)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weight of the World<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211;or they try to at least. They\u2019re still slightly discordant&#8211;still slightly not in sync&#8211;and echo each other rather than presenting a unified voice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>01:08-01:16<\/strong> <em>(1:10:22~1:10:30 in above video)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then suddenly, everything comes together in one cohesive harmony&#8211;allowing the vocals to break through in triumphant fashion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the song were in English, the line the choir comes in on would be:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI need you more than ever right now<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can you hear me now?\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yes, we can hear you. The voices have finally broken through.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>01:17~1:40<\/strong> <em>(1:10:31~1:10:54 in above video)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From here, the full orchestral chorus is the star of the show, singing <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weight of the World<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in this brilliant new arrangement. Of course, they\u2019re not singing it in English. They\u2019re not singing it in Japanese either. In fact, they\u2019re not singing it in any real language at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What we\u2019re hearing is known by fans as \u201cChaos Language.\u201d 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chaos Language is used several times throughout <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nier<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019s music and the lyrics the choir singing comes straight from the Chaos Language version of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weight of the World<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">La feto bo ras di lei<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shel va pelo cra na dii sii hei<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Naya chyo ma ter meh lava ma puoru<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ig nagya di lem myo<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sequoish pela chyo mei lu<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wana piesla hola uma schen dan<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While there\u2019s little to suggest that Chaos Language is a true \u201cconstructed language\u201d (with full grammar and vocabulary like Elvish or Klingon), we do know what the above stanza means&#8211;after all, there is an English version of the song as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Still, we&#8217;re gonna shout it loud<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even if our words seem meaningless<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It&#8217;s like I&#8217;m carrying the weight of the world<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I&#8217;d hope that some way, somehow<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That I can save every one of us<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the truth is that I&#8217;m only one girl\u2026<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weight of the World<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a song about shouting out against a corrupted system&#8211;a broken world&#8211;whether there is anyone, be that god or man, listening or not. It\u2019s about fighting on, even in the face of the impossible&#8211;a main theme in both <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nier<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Final Fantasy XIV<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The song is likewise inseparable from the true ending of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nier: Automata<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 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&#8217;s impossible to do this alone. Rather it takes the selfless actions of other people&#8211;other players&#8211;who at real sacrifice are also \u201cshouting out\u201d along with you to allow you to reach your goal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, it\u2019s at the point in the ending when you refuse to give up and accept your fellow players\u2019 help that <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weight of the World <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">changes drastically mid-song: suddenly there is a chorus of singers backing up the soloists as they continue the song.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This version of the song is similar. It\u2019s only when the instruments all come together into a unified harmony that the vocals come through&#8211;that the \u201cfutile\u201d words are heard by those listening. And what\u2019s more, like in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nier<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019s final moments, the song is not one voice but many.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The choir is us: all those who came together to beat <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Neir: Automata<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. And our voices can be heard&#8211;even all the way into another game.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 12px;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/EExBILcWwAIgNzg.jpg?w=700&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\"  \/><em>Image source: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FF_XIV_EN\/status\/1174385215072063496\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">FINAL FANTASY XIV<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>01:41~02:03 <em>(1:10:55~1:11:18 in above video)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the chorus of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weight of the World <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ends and the \u201cshouting\u201d has finished, the song is overtaken by the song of the crystal, the leitmotif of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Final Fantasy<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that has continued musically across all iterations of the franchise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a real way, this is the world of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Final Fantasy XIV<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> responding to the wishes of those from <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nier<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It\u2019s not silence that meets their cries of injustice, but the calming sound of Hydaelyn, the crystal, accompanied by an angelic chorus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>02:04~2:35 <em>(1:11:18~1:11:49 in above video)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the end, the song returns to how it was in the beginning&#8211;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 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Neir: Automata<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019s potentially endless loop.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Final Fantasy XIV is available on PlayStation 4, PC, Mac. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nier: Automata<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is available on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Final Fantasy XIV\/Nier: Automata<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> crossover,<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, will begin in mid-October 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I just wanted to give out a big thanks to Joshua Ott for sponsoring this article with his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/biggestinjapan\">Patreon<\/a>\u00a0donation. (At the $60 a month tier, you are allowed to pick anything up to an including a 13ish episode series to be reviewed\u2013which is released in addition to the one article a week I normally put out here on BiggestinJapan.com.) So thanks again!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"font-size: 12px;\"><em>Top image copyright: \u00a9Square Enix<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/the-final-fantasy-xiv-nier-automata-crossover-song-tells-a-powerful-story-musically\/\">Click to Read<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The &lt;i&gt;Final Fantasy XIV\/Nier: Automata&lt;\/i&gt; Crossover Song Tells a Powerful Story Musically<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[91,153,157],"class_list":["post-1985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-final-fantasy","tag-final-fantasy-xiv","tag-nier-automata","excerpt","zoom","full-without-featured","even","excerpt-0"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biggestinjapan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Final-Fantasy-XIV-Shadowbringers-YoRHa-Dark-Apocalypse-raid.jpg?fit=1920%2C1005&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1985"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2003,"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1985\/revisions\/2003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biggestinjapan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}