One amazing thing about this song is there's actually two main versions of it. The first one is without lyrics and is played during the first chunk of the expansion story. There's then a really dramatic turning point in the story and the song starts playing again. Only this time, it's the second version and you actually hear the lyrics for the first time and understand. Truly an amazing experience when you realize that and hear the true version of the song that you've been listening to for the entire time so far. Also, the name of the song is a bit of a key to all of this as it's kind of the song that the dragons sing to humans (children of the land) asking why did they do what they did and asking them to understand/remember what actually happened.
If I'm not mistaken, isn't Dragonsong actually sung from the POV of Hydaelyn, grieving over the pointlessness of the Dragonsong War and wishing she could understand why mortal man so willingly throw their lives away?
The great thing about this piece is it builds slowly over the whole story arc becoming more and more complete and at the end of the expansion when the story hits the hardest it plays the full song.
When she sings "A throne lying empty, A reign incomplete, Alone for eternity, A pain without cease." That whole section with the orchestra just stabs straight in my heart the best way.
"...-long / seas of blood are a song / and death an afterthought / for those who fight for naught" is another excellent set of lines. This song is brilliant in every regard.
Thoridan’s throne made empty by greed, Ratatoskr’s throne empty by betrayal, Niddhogg’s throne empty in spirit with a vengeful wraith were a stern king once stood, and Hrysvelgar’s throne empty due to his infinite simp energy
So, a few things about the context of the lyrics, Heavenward is about finding the truth behind the theocratic city-state of Ishgard (the "Children of the Land" in the lyrics). It was once ruled by a king, and they went to war with dragonkind over territory. One day, a woman of Ishgard fell in love with a dragon, and together they brought their people together in peace, ("one true love they did find, bringing land and heavens near") until a king, after 200 years, was manipulated into killing and harvesting one of the elder dragons for power. That dragon's brother went mad with grief and anger, determined to bring pain to that king's people and decendants for all time, as dragon perception of time is different from mortals: after a thousand years, his sister's death was as fresh as when he first discovered her mutilated corpse. The king's children thought they killed this dragon, and decided Ishgard no longer needed a king, ("a throne lying empty, a reign incomplete") and gave a false account of events to take away their complicity in events. But that dragon didn't die, and instead periodically continued the war, killed thousands of Ishgard's people every few years for the next 1,000 years, with Ishgard changing their doctrine to obsolve them of guilt and making the war with dragons a holy war in order to provide stability and hope for their people, even though it also ensured the people of Ishgard would never want the war, and the cycle of retaliation, to end. The expansion really delves into themes of how lies create pain far beyond what you initially expect, and the importance of letting go.
I never "got" Dragonsong the same way I did with Answers. Until I got to the Final Steps of Faith. That they chose this soft, melancholic song for the boss music is brilliant. There's so much storytelling that goes on through music.
You've opened up an enormous can of worms with FFXIV music. It's an endless selection. One thing you may be interested to note is that Answers (from base game) and Dragonsong (from first expansion) are from Nobuo Uematsu. At around the third expansion, Masayoshi Soken takes over as lead composer for the game so you may notice some differences. Still very great music, bit of a different style. Soken is also part of a metal band for the game, The Primals, which features a lot of great music as well.
@@SephaliaI believe this is right. Soken had been working under Uematsu for a while at this point and it was kind of a passing of the torch so Uematsu could work on other projects while his involvement wound down.
@@Tobeh Uematsu did the main themes for ARR through Stormblood ("Answers," "Dragonsong," and "Revolution"). Most everything else from 2.0 and later, including the main themes for Shadowbringer and Endwalker, is Soken. Some of it is Soken doing his own take on Uematsu's stuff, since stuff from other games in the series does show up.
@@DrumRollTonyReacts Uematsu's been doing final fantasy since no. 1, so he just felt it was time to retire. He was just running out of energy for it Soken was doing the overall sound design and had contributed many songs already, an Uematsu felt he was more than capable of carrying the proverbial torch and, uh, in case your wondering how deep this rabbit hole can go.... final fantasy 14 alone has over 1500 individually copy-written tracks of music credited to the game. No, that's not a typo, 1500 individual songs.
@@TheWickedWizardOfOz1 Healer on my server seems to be in low demand right now compared to Tank. This is one area where I don't mind the queue though, still one of my favorite songs.
So, fun fact for you. You mentioned playing the OG 8-bit Final Fantasy, which would have been Final Fantasy 1. The composer for that game was Nobuo Uematsu, who composed both Answers and Dragonsong. Of course, our boy Masayoshi Soken has been doing a lot of the other FFXIV music by this point so I'm really excited for you to get to Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Flow to finally get your first couple of doses of Soken's work!
Uematsu has been retired or a long time by this point, hes only done limited work for FFXIV actually. most was done by Soken, who afaik, uematsu said is his protégé
Your companion possessed by an evil dragon, the dragon's brother coming to help us stop his rampage -- after a vicious battle of two ancient dragons tangled in the skies it concludes with the two collapsing on a bridge before you. The evil dragon is victorious, but not all hope is lost... bestowed with the last of the fallen dragon's power, it's up to you to fight the evil dragon and try to save your companion from the evil dragon's thrall and put an end to the 1000-year dragon war once and for all. As you turn to face the evil dragon this song begins to plays seamlessly from cutscene into battle.
FFXIV truly is a once-in-a-lifetime story experience that is only possible as a MMORPG. A 10 year long journey where you grow to love the world and its characters and that couldn't have ended the Ascian arc on a more satisfying note. All that accompanied by one of the best and biggest soundtracks in gaming history, which they masterfully interweave with the story. What a game.
On top of that, we've been hearing bits and pieces of this music all through the expansion. Never the full piece, and sometimes not even prominent enough to catch on a surface level, but this theme has been underlying the entire story of this arc, and the fact that it plays all the way through the battle only adds to the impact of the moment.
The song themselves are epic. Have goosebumps as I am listening.. but the CONTEXT of the song, the story beats and meaning of those moments….. FF14 music hits the soul!!! By far the ONE game I wish I could experience again for the 1st time. No matter how epic the song is in itself…. Hearing it ingame is just magic!!
@@Gharon It's been self proclaimed by Squeenix that it's a RPGMMO as the focus is on the story more than the MMO aspect. This distinguishes it from other MMOs.
16:41 You ask when this song plays in the game, and the answer is kind of constantly? Just about all the rest of the music used throughout an expansion is based on the main theme via heavy use of leitmotifs, but each track is done in different styles and tempos. The repetition of the theme in this way really cements the vibe of each chapter in the game's sprawling story.
yea they repeat the main tracks for each expansion over and over in all kinds of places to the point where just hearing it start in the background brings back all those memories of the other times youve heard it. Its like a home base they go back to over and over just to set a mood
@@SpydersByte It's incredibly helpful to have those leitmotifs, even if I can' recall the details of the story the emotions I felt come back like a hammer in the face.
hell yea cant wait for Dawntrail, playing a new expansion when it drops is always my favorite experience in MMOs because thats when the servers are most populated and when everyone is going through new content together, so much fun!
13:35 Ok now imagine you're fighting the final boss, and he suddenly becomes invincible, yells at the player while referencing the narrative theme of the song, and then charges up a super attack, timed to hit with the crescendo. It's fucked up how the FFXIV team can write music this good and also weave it into the gameplay such that if you play optimally, a boss fight will perfectly line up with the music. It makes for unforgettable experiences. Besides the other tracks suggested, "In the Balance" is an absolute banger.
Funny part is this song in game plays just before the final boss of the expansion AND during the boss fight. So you are trying to stay alive while in awe of this track. Made for a memorable experience.
@@gaycryptidhoursHaha! For me it’s queuing up when I’d rather just listen and enjoy reliving the moment. My only regret with 14 is that I can’t unlearn the story to experience it all in 1 go for the first time.
Not just that but if you're a dps you can actually take in the song over the queue. I remember as I was waiting soneone from my fc at the time showed up and we just had a chat with this hightening the mood in the background
I was so glad I was able to do this fight with Duty Support because it meant I had a second when I zoned in and the song started playing, and I started crying, to wipe my tears before I started the fight.
I'm sure I do not talk only for myself but on behalf of others by saying this : I would pay you for sure to see you play this game. I mean... It's a must and a once a in lifetime experience to listen to that beautiful music and to play at the same time because then you understand what is at stake. The story is as beautiful as the music. Who's with me? Who wants to see him play this masterpiece?? Do a thumbs-up!
The whole thing wouldn't have to be live streamed, but a zone by zone musical takedown of XIV would be absolutely INCREDIBLE. I was one of the 2.0 alpha testers and the first time I zoned into New Gridania and the woodwinds kicked in.... it felt like I was home. Souken is a musical genius, and the fact that the majority of the music is composed on a synthesizer is quite surprising to folks (obviously the lush orchestrations of Answers and Dragonsong were live performances.) I asked him about it once at a Fanfest and it's a custom system unique to SE, likely built to their in-house standards. (Never forget that Sakimoto of the original FF Tactics is the whole reason video games start sounding more like real orchestras and less like the blips and bloops that Uematsu wrangled into something decent. Sakimoto did not like the PS1 sound chip.)
I've been an Nobuo Uematsu fan ever since I booted up my first introduction to the Final Fantasy series, FFVIII, in 1999. I have listened to each FF soundtrack so many times I've lost count, been to Distant Worlds orchestra concerts (cried every time "At Zanarkand" has been played), played every game he's composed for multiple times, and still to this day, this Uematsu-san's music makes me emotional. Each time someone in the music world listens to his work and validates what I have felt for years, it brings tears to my eyes. I love watching people react to his pieces and can't wait to see more from DrumRollTony and others. So, this was a mushy way of saying, "thank you" for listening to the music that has been the soundtrack to my life's journey for so long and I'm so glad you've enjoyed it so far! I look forward to seeing even more pop up on this channel and will probably geek out every time they do.
Uematsu did the main songs for the original release of FFXIV, and came back for this, Answers from the previous expansion and Revolutions from the 3rd expansion. But Masayoshi Soken is the lead composer and musical director for the game. If you check out more of the music from the game, you’re going to hear more from Soken including his rock styling. He’s one of the guitarists in The Primals, the Square Enix/FFXIV in-house band. Soken himself was suffering from cancer and receiving chemotherapy as he wrote the music for the games final expansion, Endwalker. The man was dealing with his mortality as he wrote about the battle between hope and despair, the reoccurring theme since answers. Check out Flow, and Close in the Distance, two songs from Endwalker that helped them to win the Game Award for Best Score and Music in 2023. And if you watch the Primals version of Close in the Distance, you can see Soken playing his custom guitar. But there are live orchestra performances of both songs as well on the Final Fantasy XIV channel on UA-cam.
@@BlakeAustin2011 To do the Twinning, you must first do all the bits that go into that particular mash up for it to be fully appreciated. That's primarily eScape, Eternal Winds (recycled as G'raha's theme in XIV but originally from FF3), and a few other bits and bobs thrown into the musical blender.
When this theme plays in game, it's a lyrical version of a motif we hear a lot throughout the story, and this version is right at the climax. The song plays right before a matchmade activity, so you have nothing to do other than sit there waiting for the queue and listening to the song. When I played FFXIV for the first time, THIS is the point where I knew it would be one of the best games I've ever played.
It stands alone, but the context of the game adds so much. The song continues into the start of the fight, definitely fitting for anyone who played that far but very non-standard for a game when looking at the epic battle beginning. Then phase 2 and 3 come with their own musical changes, it's a whole journey, and I always have to hear them all together.
I remember when this was just released, and the bridge was filled with people. No one minded waiting for the queue. In fact, some (including myself) delayed queueing for the battle simply because they enjoyed the music so much. Some people even joked about moving the endgame area shops over there, just so we could spend more time there.
@@burgers641 The musical changes in that fight still make it one of my favorite boss themes in the entire game, going on three (almost four!) expansions later. It's just SO DARN GOOD.
FFXIV is an exceptionally deep rabbit hole of amazing music, the entire game is a musical journey with literally hundreds of worthy tracks. You can spend a lot of time here, and it is not at all strange once the community sees you doing it for more of them to turn up.
The game also excels at building up connections and emotions, then putting them into a tube sock and waiting for the exact right time to beat you in the heart with that bag of emotions, to incredible music.
You will never know what you'll find. You could hear a waltz. You could hear a Alt Rock song. You might end up with an EDM mix. _And that's just Shiva!_
I LOVE you’re reacting to FFXIV music. It’s one of my most favorite games of all time at this point and I get emotional hearing some of these songs again. Can’t wait for you to react to more and I’ll be here with you on that journey too!
Music is the one thing that embodies emotions better than anything else. It doesn’t matter what you are doing, if you hear a piece of music that means something to you, all of the emotions you once felt come rushing back. Dragonsong from Heavensward, Eternal Wind/Tomorrow and Tomorrow from Shadowbringers, and Flow/Answers from Endwalker, will always stick with me and others who have experienced FFXIV. Thanks for doing these songs and letting us relive those moments. Now to grab tissues and get back to work lol.
To be clear, Answers was ARR (well technically it was first heard when the 1.0 servers shut down) but weaponized to deal great emotional damage in Endwalker. Such devastation WAS their intention ;)
The lyric for death with the scene of the House Fortemps Lord who's voice actor died 2 years ago. Hits you in the feels when you remember the wanderer's campfires that lined the Vigil for days after...
It's really hard to describe how perfectly the sound team inserts these tracks into the game to heighten the emotional peaks. Throughout the entire Heavensward expansion we catch little bits and pieces of this melody but it's always just a small little phrase with various solo instruments. It's only at the end of it all after we've learned the full story of what happen thousands of years past to destroy the bond between dragon and mankind, after our character (a representative of man) underwent a multitude of trials, walked in the memories of the Great Wyrms, experienced the rawness of their betrayal, fury, and forlorn, finally earning the trust of the eldest survivor and being gifted his ancient power to put his vengeance mad brother to peace...that we finally "hear" the Dragonsong in its entirety. This song and the moment surrounding it was the very moment that I fell in love with FF14.
To The Edge is pretty good. You've heard a really tiny bit of it when you did Shadowbringers, but it's such a chill song that Soken wrote while in the hospital with cancer iirc. There's also In the Balance (Amanda Achen vocals) that you may like, but it's just piano and voice.
To The Edge is by far my favorite song in FFXIV, and that's saying a lot as practically everything music related in the game is 10/10 quality for me. I would love to hear his thoughts on it.
Other comments have already covered a lot of the context behind this song, but the thing that stands out to me the most in FFXIV music is the excellent use of leitmotifs. Soken in particular knows how to tug on our heartstrings by calling back to poignant moments in the story and as you listen to more music from FFXIV you will start to notice them as well! Thanks for your commentary, always love seeing FFXIV music enjoyed by new listeners!
I had the absolute pleasure of hearing this preformed live at Distant Worlds (the concert dedicated to all things final fantasy music), and to say it was overwhelming to hear this song sung live with a choir is an understatement. everything I thought it could have been was it and more- this song already gets me misty eyed on a good day so I was holding back TEARS for the whole performance and felt like I couldn't breathe, because I felt like it would detract from the performance. amazing song and i hope you look into other FFXIV music- there's something there for everyone, from hugely orchestrated songs like this, to rock, dance music, and even just silly stuff. :)
You made me smile in a way I did not expect. I was a student at Interlochen Arts academy in the late 70s. Frederick Fennell conducted the band I was in as a guest conductor. I remember him at one point in a practice yelling at the band "Schmultzy! It has to be Schmultzy!" That was the only time I heard that term until you said it here. Good times remembered. This is my favorite piece in the entire game. I have it playing in my player housing.
Final Fantasy 14 is just a wonderful journey. It’s so beautiful and has so many wonderful moments, especially musical. I’ve been playing since 14. This songs expansion, Heavensward came out on my 16th birthday. I have learned so much from this game over 10 years and it is truly an amazing experience.
Dragonsong follows you through the entire expansion, and when this full version came up I wrote /sit, sat back, listened and cried. Absolutely gorgeous and so, so emotionally impactful when you know what she's singing about. When you've experienced that yourself over so many hours. It's before a really major story dungeon. I didn't queue up, for quite a while I just took my time soaking in Dragonsong.
16:40 It's featured in a certain plot-relevant fight during the Heavensward expansion, so fairly early on as the overall game goes. As with many parts of Answers, there are leitmotifs from it throughout the expansion and elsewhere in the game. The composers also really love to start with songs that develop from one plot area, dungeon, boss fight, etc. to another and ultimately culminate in something larger - e.g. "A Long Fall" (Shadowbringers) and "Scream" (Endwalker) are good examples of the penultimate expression of this concept. I highly recommend both.
Its awesome seeing people who have never played the game loving the music so much. Im sure you can imagine how much more it means to those of us who lived through it. This was the title track for the first expansion after A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, and plays often throughout the story for that part of the game, including in some EPIC fights. It's funny so far Ive seen you cover Answers, Footfalls, and Dragonsong and those 3 are always on my Orchestrion playlist, which is basically a jukebox you can put in your player-owned house so that you can set your own background music. Amazing tracks, all 3, and I hope you cover more FF music in the future :D
You have some incredible insight that I've been really enjoying as you visit songs that I've known for years. Definitely a very interesting perspective that gives me a newfound appreciation for these songs. Very well done!
Im not going to lie, youve earned yourself a sub. Your breakdowns and how much you appreciate this beautiful music even though you dont even know the story has earned it. Its one of my favorite games of all time. I have been playing for years and I cant even describe my emotions to you of how much I love the music and arrangements of not just this game but all final fantasies. Nobuo Uematsu is a legend and will forever be one of the best to ever do it.
16:41 funnily enough, the first time this song plays in full, the game actually gives you a perfect chance to sit there and just listen exactly like that, and it even loops continuously
This song. This song right here is when Final Fantasy XIV became my favorite game of all time. I literally cannot listen to this song without crying. The whole buildup through Heavensward to finally hear the lyrics of this song was just amazing. You hear just bits and pieces of the music throughout the expansion, and then at the very end, when all seems at its lowest point, you absorb the power of Hraesvelgr's eye, and the song starts, only this time you can actually hear the lyrics. So there you are, standing on the Great Bridge, staring down Nidhogg, and the only sound is the full rendition of Dragonsong while you wait for your queue to actually fight Nidhogg to pop. It's just so masterfully done, in every way. There will never be another game like FFXIV.
Heavensward, and all of the music within, is an absolute masterpiece of an expansion... I treasure my journey through it fondly, it's just a wonderfully emotive story to behold!
@DrumRollTonyReacts Did you know that the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV has a free trial, and includes the entirety of A Realm Reborn AND the award-winning Heavensward, and Stormblood expansions up to level 70 with no restrictions on playtime?
Another facet I like about the XIV music is how it tells a story or adds context to the story with lyrics, or with the music itself. They even do this with remixes of songs based on the tracks of older FF titles.
I found this channel while i was looking for some Persona music and i have to say that not only i have found new music to listen but i also have learned so many new stuff about music composition. Superb channel my man, you got a new sub.
You should play the award-winning MMORPG with a free trial all through Stromblood (which includes Heavensward!) for free. With no restriction on playtime. Because when they do include this song its just powerful!
Without actually saying it, the meaning was blindingly obvious in that moment. We were probably the first mortal he had trusted like this since his beloved... and he gave us the power to do what needed to be done, and put his brother to rest. I ended up standing up and pacing around my house as I waited for queue to pop. It's hard to describe the emotions I was going through. I felt the _weight_ of it. It was _important._
Being able to intake a breakdown of music i already love from someone who's musically educated adds a whole new level of depth of the piece and lets me appreciate it even more. Thank you so much for giving this your time.
Important thing about the role of music in this game: they are very consciously and deliberately placing and using music for everything. Answers and Dragonsong and other expansion intros are not just simply epic cinematics. They are used as frames and returning narrative additions to the story. Background songs for areas also add to narratic change, that is why so many mentioned Closed in the Distance for example: you are in the very last area in the game, at the end of the world, in space, among the stardust, where all species lost hope. After you arrive, you eventually bring hope, and the promise that races, factions, continents, planets can unite and stand together. That is when the music changes PERMANENTLY forever for that character to Closed in the Distance for the final area. Instances have chunks of the music on repeat, depending on which part of the fight you are doing. As your team progresses in the fight, music flawlessly transitions to the next loop. Many bosses even have timed attacks that fit the rhytm of the music! Narrative and music absolutely go hand in hand. They spare no money when it comes to both. I am a proud owner of all the released vynils! ^.^ You must do the remaining 3 expansions songs, too! ^.^
Chills... so many chills. I miss the beautiful power of her voice. Every time the music stopped, the chills stopped, but when it started up again and I could hear her sing, instant chills again. It's so incredibly beautiful. Thank you so much for this music!!
Tony. Thank you for having such an amazing channel. I always wanted to study music but never had the chance. To hear you break it down for those who know but also for those of us who don't know is simply amazing. I've been able to appreciate parts of composition I never noticed before (getting good headphones helped me hear all the different things going too) has been a wonderful experience. Like rediscovering fave songs with new ears.
Dragonsong is a recurring leitmotif through the first expansion, and it's amazingly beautiful. We don't get to hear it in its fullness until the very end - and it's incredible.
They always say music is a great way to expression emotions. To this day listening to this song still brings tears to my eyes, definitely still one of my favorites songs from the game. This song conveys the perfect emotions for the expansion, and the music is one of my driving points to always play this game. Both Uematsu, and Soken put so much effort into the music for this game, and it's almost to the point I'll play any game they make music for. I just want to sit there and listen to their music on loop all day.
One thing you'll notice with some of the music is the "blending" of different themes together. You'll hear the melody of Dragonsong in different songs in the Heavensward expansion, for example. I absolutely love they keep continuity with this. You'll hear it mostly in Endwalker's music as it's a combination of the entire story from ARR until then, too.
Heavensward, the expansion that this was the theme for, is one of my most memorable moments in gaming. I genuinely think it is some of Nobuo Uematsu's best work, and that is saying something considering everything he touches is a masterpiece in of itself.
I love watching people with no or little context react to the FFXIV music! So don't worry about not knowing the story or whatever. It's massive, and honestly the music all tells a story on its own, whatever that may be depends on the individual. Beauty of music, beauty of these compositions by Nobuo Uematsu and Masayoshi Soken! 🙇🏻♀🙇🏻♀🙇🏻♀
As a band director who also has played these games and LOVED the music I am so glad that you are doing this and showing the great art that is displayed here!
Within the game story this song has a neat mechanic because it’s in a fantasy language until a certain point, then the main character can understand it and that’s when the lyrics become English
The music in this game is unparalleled. I can't even count the number of times I've fallen in love with a song while playing. There have even been times it's brought tears to my eyes.
What you said about stopping and listening is exactly what I did! There's one climactic fight where you're staring across a bridge at your enemy as you queue up for the fight, and this song is playing. I couldn't help but stop and listen for a while, taking in the ambiance and the weight of what was happening, before queuing up.
They did an "ultimate" of this expansion. It basically tells the whole story in one long fight. The fight can take 20 minutes long to complete. In one phase of the fight this song plays. It hits you pretty hard. Tony said "put down the controller and just listen." man I'd love to put down the controller and just listen but I need to fight for my life. As a player in FFXIV who cleared DSR. Thank you Tony!!! This was an awesome watch and reaction, this song is very meaningful to me so I appreaciate you listening to this piece!
The songs lyrics refer to events 1000 years ago when the Dragons were betrayed by mortals after centuries of being allies and friends, the "Her" in question is someone named Lady Shiva, who was an elezen who was in love with a Dragon.
It's funny you make that comment about putting the controller down to listen, because that's exactly what I did when this song came up! When this song is playing, you're in an instanced location (only accessible during this story segment) and queue for an important story duty. I was sad when the queue popped, because I wanted to listen longer!
This may be weird.. but you were mentioning the timpani, and I took a second to really listen and it occurred to me that there is something just so.. fundamentally Uematsu about the timpani. a feeling that goes back to even the 16, 8bit titles. that low bassy rumble and percussiveness with wind punctuation just... FEELS Uematsu.
Biiiiiig can o' worms with the FFXIV soundtracks. Keep at 'em, they are gold. You've said multiple times that you listen to these out of context, but (as I'm sure you know by now) do keep in mind that practically all major pieces are written - music orchestration and lyrics - to fit hand-in-glove with specific storyline beats and major themes of each expansion pack. For us, the players and fans of the game every single one of these pieces resonates deeply because they carry tremendous emotional connotations. Keep going, we need more!
Probably the most memorable experience with this song was completing Dragonsong's Reprise (Ultimate). In Phase 6 of 7 (of a 20 minute long fight), you are met with this song as you fight in an alternate reality. The melody at 9:10 plays when you have nothing to do but to watch the boss & to read the dialogue before transitioning into the final phase. The first time making it to this point you can easily forget that you are in a fight.
Oh happy to tell you where this piece plays, because I couldn't stop talking about it for days after I got there, haha! Some context for this song is that the players don't hear this specific arrangement until the very end of the Heavensward story. Up until that point, we've only heard instrumental, incomplete (yet still gorgeous) versions played in the background. For the story itself, this is the emotional theme telling the tragedy of the Thousand-year dragon war that you find yourself thrust into as the player. Your enemy all through the story is an enraged, vengeful dragon who just wants to annihilate everyone. At the climax of this tale, he's possessed your friend and is on the cusp of destroying a city when you ride in on another dragon - his brother - to intervene. There's a great battle between the dragons before your ally falls to him and passes his power to you to finish the fight. This arrangement slowly starts to play as the camera zooms in on your slow, steady footsteps towards your enemy. You're calm, determined, and radiating power, all while staring down this dragon that's several stories tall. Then the vocals kick in, for the first time in the game. The enemy dragon, enraged that you would be given this power, shouts in his ancient tongue at you - all while this steady, beautiful verse is playing beneath it. It embodies the tragedy of this whole story, as well as instilling a quiet confidence that yes, it ends today, and it ends with you. I was singing this song around my house for WEEKS after, and it's still one of my favorites. Thanks for taking a peek at it!
This song will always have a very special place in my heart. I enjoyed the hell out of Heavensward, but the climax of the Heavensward story in 3.3, where you find yourself standing on a bridge in front of a dragon who is essentially an incarnation of pure _rage_ and _vengeance,_ and you're the last hope to stop him, and this song starts playing as the cutscene ends and you ready yourself for the final fight with him. I absolutely fell head over heels for the game in that moment.
Another one that might be cool to check out is Your Answer which is a reprise of Answers from 10 years later. It was definitely a punch in the face when I heard it the first time because essentially Answers is that song that plays at the start of your journey and then to hear Your Answer 10 years later at what is the penultimate moment of that journey really just made me feel a way I don't think I could describe
Its funny how you would probably nail this as a sort of ballad credits theme....when in reality its a boss track lol. You get an absolutely insane amazing cutscene between the big bad and thier brother, and your character gets thier badass moment, only for it to fade back into gameplay and this track starts. Its just you staring down a large dragon on to of a shattered bridge. Then you queue into the fight....and the music continues into the fight until phase 2. Also yeah the lyrics being an absolute pivotal part of the track with how its basically a direct plea to the big bad. Also i always get goosbumps during this fight when the uplifting part of track hits in the fight.
I think many people already said so already but, this song played a bunch through the expansion, but never with vocals and in all sort of remixes, some heroic, some more mellow/emotional. The emotional crux of it was that in the end, we get to understand our enemy and this song suddenly having lyrics symbolized us finally getting it. The song starts at the end of a pretty epic cutscene as we confront the big bad, the final boss adn then plays continuously as we wait in queue for the fight and during the first part of it. ff14 is a game that made me tear up quite a lot and this moment I remember being so incredibly solemn when me and the two friend I played with reached it. It has been topped off multiple times since, but it remains an incredible song and a moment very very dear to me.
A lot of XIV songs, range from fun to breathtaking on their own, once you combine it with the context it really engraves itself on you. The game itself takes a little time to hook you depending on the person, but once you're invested it has you. One fun thing listening to this made me remember, is Square-Enix usually had a pretty big delay on releasing lyrics so, for these early songs especially, there was a lot of time we were trying to interpret the words and meaning, and really spending time with the song itself, even if it's not apparent till after you've experienced it, there's a lot of little symbolism baked in under the lyrics and in the music itself which is awesome to experience as well which makes revisiting both after the credits roll a whole new experience, both on the lyrics and musical level after you've seen how the motif gets used and develops deeper emotions onto it.
There was a moment where this played in full before the final trial of Heavensward (there are parts of it and melodies from it all throughout the more emotional parts) and... it was the point for me at least where all emotions that expansion threw at me (while nothing compared to the later expansions) really hit me. I took my time there before actually queuing in. I was excited to continue but the song so perfectly captured those feelings I could not immediately go on. I don't think it'll ever stop having that effect and I absolutely love it.
I love how this song comments on not only war, but religion and what sticks the most for me, the turmoil between the 2 races and the meloncoly of watching it al.
Alright, which piece are we listening to next? 👀
For live content catch me on Twitch. www.twitch.tv/drumrolltony
I have no power here but you gotta hear “Return to Oblivion” from ffxiv
Yakuza songs and themes are bangers!!
TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND/OR IN THE BALANCE, LETS GOOOOOOOO TONY WOOOOOOOOO FFXIV (ua-cam.com/video/5fgB3M2y4wY/v-deo.html)
I second return to oblivion
@@Blusmj indeed an amazing song!
Then the order will be , Answers => Dragonsong => Revolutions => Tomorrow and Tomorrow => Flow
This
Upvote this clear and concise comment!
Heavensward is good too gotta include that after dragonsong before jumping into next expansion
I took a screenshot. Thx
@@DrumRollTonyReacts Tomorrow and Tomorrow a thousand percent. 🙏
One amazing thing about this song is there's actually two main versions of it. The first one is without lyrics and is played during the first chunk of the expansion story. There's then a really dramatic turning point in the story and the song starts playing again. Only this time, it's the second version and you actually hear the lyrics for the first time and understand. Truly an amazing experience when you realize that and hear the true version of the song that you've been listening to for the entire time so far.
Also, the name of the song is a bit of a key to all of this as it's kind of the song that the dragons sing to humans (children of the land) asking why did they do what they did and asking them to understand/remember what actually happened.
If I'm not mistaken, isn't Dragonsong actually sung from the POV of Hydaelyn, grieving over the pointlessness of the Dragonsong War and wishing she could understand why mortal man so willingly throw their lives away?
@@Can_O_Crayolacorrect, the second half of the comment above is almost completely wrong
The great thing about this piece is it builds slowly over the whole story arc becoming more and more complete and at the end of the expansion when the story hits the hardest it plays the full song.
When she sings "A throne lying empty, A reign incomplete, Alone for eternity, A pain without cease." That whole section with the orchestra just stabs straight in my heart the best way.
"...-long / seas of blood are a song / and death an afterthought / for those who fight for naught" is another excellent set of lines.
This song is brilliant in every regard.
*pacha meme* Just right
Thoridan’s throne made empty by greed, Ratatoskr’s throne empty by betrayal, Niddhogg’s throne empty in spirit with a vengeful wraith were a stern king once stood, and Hrysvelgar’s throne empty due to his infinite simp energy
Oh, he stumbled on FFXIV. Have fun on your listening journey :D
So, a few things about the context of the lyrics, Heavenward is about finding the truth behind the theocratic city-state of Ishgard (the "Children of the Land" in the lyrics). It was once ruled by a king, and they went to war with dragonkind over territory. One day, a woman of Ishgard fell in love with a dragon, and together they brought their people together in peace, ("one true love they did find, bringing land and heavens near") until a king, after 200 years, was manipulated into killing and harvesting one of the elder dragons for power. That dragon's brother went mad with grief and anger, determined to bring pain to that king's people and decendants for all time, as dragon perception of time is different from mortals: after a thousand years, his sister's death was as fresh as when he first discovered her mutilated corpse.
The king's children thought they killed this dragon, and decided Ishgard no longer needed a king, ("a throne lying empty, a reign incomplete") and gave a false account of events to take away their complicity in events. But that dragon didn't die, and instead periodically continued the war, killed thousands of Ishgard's people every few years for the next 1,000 years, with Ishgard changing their doctrine to obsolve them of guilt and making the war with dragons a holy war in order to provide stability and hope for their people, even though it also ensured the people of Ishgard would never want the war, and the cycle of retaliation, to end.
The expansion really delves into themes of how lies create pain far beyond what you initially expect, and the importance of letting go.
I never "got" Dragonsong the same way I did with Answers. Until I got to the Final Steps of Faith. That they chose this soft, melancholic song for the boss music is brilliant. There's so much storytelling that goes on through music.
I don't think you're supposed to get it till then.
You've opened up an enormous can of worms with FFXIV music. It's an endless selection.
One thing you may be interested to note is that Answers (from base game) and Dragonsong (from first expansion) are from Nobuo Uematsu. At around the third expansion, Masayoshi Soken takes over as lead composer for the game so you may notice some differences. Still very great music, bit of a different style. Soken is also part of a metal band for the game, The Primals, which features a lot of great music as well.
Oh that's interesting. Was there a reason for the switch?
@@DrumRollTonyReacts I think just so Uematsu could retire. He's been doing FF music since the beginning!
@@SephaliaI believe this is right. Soken had been working under Uematsu for a while at this point and it was kind of a passing of the torch so Uematsu could work on other projects while his involvement wound down.
@@Tobeh Uematsu did the main themes for ARR through Stormblood ("Answers," "Dragonsong," and "Revolution"). Most everything else from 2.0 and later, including the main themes for Shadowbringer and Endwalker, is Soken. Some of it is Soken doing his own take on Uematsu's stuff, since stuff from other games in the series does show up.
@@DrumRollTonyReacts Uematsu's been doing final fantasy since no. 1, so he just felt it was time to retire. He was just running out of energy for it
Soken was doing the overall sound design and had contributed many songs already, an Uematsu felt he was more than capable of carrying the proverbial torch
and, uh, in case your wondering how deep this rabbit hole can go.... final fantasy 14 alone has over 1500 individually copy-written tracks of music credited to the game. No, that's not a typo, 1500 individual songs.
"When this plays I'll put the controller down"
Well, rip the rest of your team mates facing the expansions final boss
Except the song plays on the platform while you wait for the queue for the fight...
Don't forget about p6 of DSR.
You don't want to put your controller down there
@@timoliver3587 *Laughs in healer queue*
nah just playing Dragoon
@@TheWickedWizardOfOz1 Healer on my server seems to be in low demand right now compared to Tank. This is one area where I don't mind the queue though, still one of my favorite songs.
So, fun fact for you. You mentioned playing the OG 8-bit Final Fantasy, which would have been Final Fantasy 1. The composer for that game was Nobuo Uematsu, who composed both Answers and Dragonsong. Of course, our boy Masayoshi Soken has been doing a lot of the other FFXIV music by this point so I'm really excited for you to get to Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Flow to finally get your first couple of doses of Soken's work!
Uematsu has been retired or a long time by this point, hes only done limited work for FFXIV actually. most was done by Soken, who afaik, uematsu said is his protégé
@@NarutoLikesSherbit01he wrote those 2 songs tho thats all the guy said
Your companion possessed by an evil dragon, the dragon's brother coming to help us stop his rampage -- after a vicious battle of two ancient dragons tangled in the skies it concludes with the two collapsing on a bridge before you. The evil dragon is victorious, but not all hope is lost... bestowed with the last of the fallen dragon's power, it's up to you to fight the evil dragon and try to save your companion from the evil dragon's thrall and put an end to the 1000-year dragon war once and for all.
As you turn to face the evil dragon this song begins to plays seamlessly from cutscene into battle.
FFXIV truly is a once-in-a-lifetime story experience that is only possible as a MMORPG. A 10 year long journey where you grow to love the world and its characters and that couldn't have ended the Ascian arc on a more satisfying note. All that accompanied by one of the best and biggest soundtracks in gaming history, which they masterfully interweave with the story. What a game.
On top of that, we've been hearing bits and pieces of this music all through the expansion. Never the full piece, and sometimes not even prominent enough to catch on a surface level, but this theme has been underlying the entire story of this arc, and the fact that it plays all the way through the battle only adds to the impact of the moment.
Never skip that cutscene and the one s at the end. Even playing it for the thousandth time.
The song themselves are epic. Have goosebumps as I am listening.. but the CONTEXT of the song, the story beats and meaning of those moments…..
FF14 music hits the soul!!!
By far the ONE game I wish I could experience again for the 1st time.
No matter how epic the song is in itself…. Hearing it ingame is just magic!!
@@Gharon It's been self proclaimed by Squeenix that it's a RPGMMO as the focus is on the story more than the MMO aspect. This distinguishes it from other MMOs.
16:41 You ask when this song plays in the game, and the answer is kind of constantly? Just about all the rest of the music used throughout an expansion is based on the main theme via heavy use of leitmotifs, but each track is done in different styles and tempos. The repetition of the theme in this way really cements the vibe of each chapter in the game's sprawling story.
yea they repeat the main tracks for each expansion over and over in all kinds of places to the point where just hearing it start in the background brings back all those memories of the other times youve heard it. Its like a home base they go back to over and over just to set a mood
@@SpydersByte It's incredibly helpful to have those leitmotifs, even if I can' recall the details of the story the emotions I felt come back like a hammer in the face.
Great timing to do FF14 reactions with the new expansion, Dawntrail dropping soon
hell yea cant wait for Dawntrail, playing a new expansion when it drops is always my favorite experience in MMOs because thats when the servers are most populated and when everyone is going through new content together, so much fun!
I can't tell you how excited I am for you to listen to the countless FFXIV ost masterpieces
13:35 Ok now imagine you're fighting the final boss, and he suddenly becomes invincible, yells at the player while referencing the narrative theme of the song, and then charges up a super attack, timed to hit with the crescendo.
It's fucked up how the FFXIV team can write music this good and also weave it into the gameplay such that if you play optimally, a boss fight will perfectly line up with the music. It makes for unforgettable experiences.
Besides the other tracks suggested, "In the Balance" is an absolute banger.
Funny part is this song in game plays just before the final boss of the expansion AND during the boss fight. So you are trying to stay alive while in awe of this track. Made for a memorable experience.
The true difficulty curve in ffxiv is learning new mechanics through a river of tears.
@@gaycryptidhoursHaha! For me it’s queuing up when I’d rather just listen and enjoy reliving the moment.
My only regret with 14 is that I can’t unlearn the story to experience it all in 1 go for the first time.
try singing along while crying... IRL bards be weepin' with the song transitions to Revenge of the Horde.
Not just that but if you're a dps you can actually take in the song over the queue. I remember as I was waiting soneone from my fc at the time showed up and we just had a chat with this hightening the mood in the background
I was so glad I was able to do this fight with Duty Support because it meant I had a second when I zoned in and the song started playing, and I started crying, to wipe my tears before I started the fight.
I'm sure I do not talk only for myself but on behalf of others by saying this : I would pay you for sure to see you play this game. I mean... It's a must and a once a in lifetime experience to listen to that beautiful music and to play at the same time because then you understand what is at stake. The story is as beautiful as the music. Who's with me? Who wants to see him play this masterpiece?? Do a thumbs-up!
The whole thing wouldn't have to be live streamed, but a zone by zone musical takedown of XIV would be absolutely INCREDIBLE. I was one of the 2.0 alpha testers and the first time I zoned into New Gridania and the woodwinds kicked in.... it felt like I was home. Souken is a musical genius, and the fact that the majority of the music is composed on a synthesizer is quite surprising to folks (obviously the lush orchestrations of Answers and Dragonsong were live performances.) I asked him about it once at a Fanfest and it's a custom system unique to SE, likely built to their in-house standards. (Never forget that Sakimoto of the original FF Tactics is the whole reason video games start sounding more like real orchestras and less like the blips and bloops that Uematsu wrangled into something decent. Sakimoto did not like the PS1 sound chip.)
I've been an Nobuo Uematsu fan ever since I booted up my first introduction to the Final Fantasy series, FFVIII, in 1999. I have listened to each FF soundtrack so many times I've lost count, been to Distant Worlds orchestra concerts (cried every time "At Zanarkand" has been played), played every game he's composed for multiple times, and still to this day, this Uematsu-san's music makes me emotional. Each time someone in the music world listens to his work and validates what I have felt for years, it brings tears to my eyes. I love watching people react to his pieces and can't wait to see more from DrumRollTony and others.
So, this was a mushy way of saying, "thank you" for listening to the music that has been the soundtrack to my life's journey for so long and I'm so glad you've enjoyed it so far! I look forward to seeing even more pop up on this channel and will probably geek out every time they do.
Uematsu did the main songs for the original release of FFXIV, and came back for this, Answers from the previous expansion and Revolutions from the 3rd expansion. But Masayoshi Soken is the lead composer and musical director for the game. If you check out more of the music from the game, you’re going to hear more from Soken including his rock styling. He’s one of the guitarists in The Primals, the Square Enix/FFXIV in-house band. Soken himself was suffering from cancer and receiving chemotherapy as he wrote the music for the games final expansion, Endwalker. The man was dealing with his mortality as he wrote about the battle between hope and despair, the reoccurring theme since answers. Check out Flow, and Close in the Distance, two songs from Endwalker that helped them to win the Game Award for Best Score and Music in 2023. And if you watch the Primals version of Close in the Distance, you can see Soken playing his custom guitar. But there are live orchestra performances of both songs as well on the Final Fantasy XIV channel on UA-cam.
Another vote for To the Edge! Give this man some variety.
LA HEE
Papaya
The Twinning
@@BlakeAustin2011 To do the Twinning, you must first do all the bits that go into that particular mash up for it to be fully appreciated. That's primarily eScape, Eternal Winds (recycled as G'raha's theme in XIV but originally from FF3), and a few other bits and bobs thrown into the musical blender.
Our best man Soken deserves to have his gorgeous work appreciated the realm over
Omg you should do “Tomorrow and Tomorrow” and “Flow” next
(but I’m biased cuz I sing those songs…. 😅)
Crystal Mommy! 🤗
I'm Achen to hear it
We miss you so much 😢
When this theme plays in game, it's a lyrical version of a motif we hear a lot throughout the story, and this version is right at the climax. The song plays right before a matchmade activity, so you have nothing to do other than sit there waiting for the queue and listening to the song. When I played FFXIV for the first time, THIS is the point where I knew it would be one of the best games I've ever played.
It stands alone, but the context of the game adds so much. The song continues into the start of the fight, definitely fitting for anyone who played that far but very non-standard for a game when looking at the epic battle beginning. Then phase 2 and 3 come with their own musical changes, it's a whole journey, and I always have to hear them all together.
with the point that it starts playing on the bridge, it's almost like hydaelyn telling you to go kick that dragon's ass
I remember when this was just released, and the bridge was filled with people. No one minded waiting for the queue. In fact, some (including myself) delayed queueing for the battle simply because they enjoyed the music so much. Some people even joked about moving the endgame area shops over there, just so we could spend more time there.
@@burgers641 The musical changes in that fight still make it one of my favorite boss themes in the entire game, going on three (almost four!) expansions later. It's just SO DARN GOOD.
to this day, that battle has been the only time a game ever made me cry mid fight
the sheer number of amazing songs made for a single game is truly remarkable
FFXIV is an exceptionally deep rabbit hole of amazing music, the entire game is a musical journey with literally hundreds of worthy tracks. You can spend a lot of time here, and it is not at all strange once the community sees you doing it for more of them to turn up.
The game also excels at building up connections and emotions, then putting them into a tube sock and waiting for the exact right time to beat you in the heart with that bag of emotions, to incredible music.
You will never know what you'll find. You could hear a waltz. You could hear a Alt Rock song. You might end up with an EDM mix.
_And that's just Shiva!_
I hope you review so many of Uematsu's work. He's a legend and I absolutely am in love with your reviews.
Thank you!!
I LOVE you’re reacting to FFXIV music. It’s one of my most favorite games of all time at this point and I get emotional hearing some of these songs again. Can’t wait for you to react to more and I’ll be here with you on that journey too!
Music is the one thing that embodies emotions better than anything else. It doesn’t matter what you are doing, if you hear a piece of music that means something to you, all of the emotions you once felt come rushing back. Dragonsong from Heavensward, Eternal Wind/Tomorrow and Tomorrow from Shadowbringers, and Flow/Answers from Endwalker, will always stick with me and others who have experienced FFXIV. Thanks for doing these songs and letting us relive those moments. Now to grab tissues and get back to work lol.
To be clear, Answers was ARR (well technically it was first heard when the 1.0 servers shut down) but weaponized to deal great emotional damage in Endwalker.
Such devastation WAS their intention ;)
"Don't you like hearing adults playing major chords in tune?" Seriously, my heart goes out to all the music instructors out there lol
It can be so hard to train your ear for the fine tuning of...well tuning. Took me years to even get mediocre at it. Use a tuner!
The lyric for death with the scene of the House Fortemps Lord who's voice actor died 2 years ago. Hits you in the feels when you remember the wanderer's campfires that lined the Vigil for days after...
Rip haurchfeant
"When does this piece play in game?"
At the end of a tragedy.
It's really hard to describe how perfectly the sound team inserts these tracks into the game to heighten the emotional peaks. Throughout the entire Heavensward expansion we catch little bits and pieces of this melody but it's always just a small little phrase with various solo instruments. It's only at the end of it all after we've learned the full story of what happen thousands of years past to destroy the bond between dragon and mankind, after our character (a representative of man) underwent a multitude of trials, walked in the memories of the Great Wyrms, experienced the rawness of their betrayal, fury, and forlorn, finally earning the trust of the eldest survivor and being gifted his ancient power to put his vengeance mad brother to peace...that we finally "hear" the Dragonsong in its entirety.
This song and the moment surrounding it was the very moment that I fell in love with FF14.
To the Edge is my personal favorite song in FFXIV. The fact that Soken wrote it during his battle against cancer just makes it hit that much harder
The final vocal Oooooooo makes my heart drop in my chest and the hair on my...well everywhere stand up. All these years and years later.
To The Edge is pretty good. You've heard a really tiny bit of it when you did Shadowbringers, but it's such a chill song that Soken wrote while in the hospital with cancer iirc.
There's also In the Balance (Amanda Achen vocals) that you may like, but it's just piano and voice.
In the Balance was sung by Tea, and involved a lot of musical instruments. Might you be thinking of Tomorrow and Tomorrow?
To The Edge is by far my favorite song in FFXIV, and that's saying a lot as practically everything music related in the game is 10/10 quality for me. I would love to hear his thoughts on it.
@@omegagilgamesh Came here to second this comment. I love In the Balance though it's one of my faves :)
Other comments have already covered a lot of the context behind this song, but the thing that stands out to me the most in FFXIV music is the excellent use of leitmotifs. Soken in particular knows how to tug on our heartstrings by calling back to poignant moments in the story and as you listen to more music from FFXIV you will start to notice them as well! Thanks for your commentary, always love seeing FFXIV music enjoyed by new listeners!
Nobuo Uematsu has always been in a league of his own, man. It’s unreal
See this is how you do commentary videos. Man turns a 6 minute song reaction into 17 minutes. Perfectly done
I had the absolute pleasure of hearing this preformed live at Distant Worlds (the concert dedicated to all things final fantasy music), and to say it was overwhelming to hear this song sung live with a choir is an understatement. everything I thought it could have been was it and more- this song already gets me misty eyed on a good day so I was holding back TEARS for the whole performance and felt like I couldn't breathe, because I felt like it would detract from the performance. amazing song and i hope you look into other FFXIV music- there's something there for everyone, from hugely orchestrated songs like this, to rock, dance music, and even just silly stuff. :)
ohhh the tears we had when this was out we all Teared river
You made me smile in a way I did not expect. I was a student at Interlochen Arts academy in the late 70s. Frederick Fennell conducted the band I was in as a guest conductor. I remember him at one point in a practice yelling at the band "Schmultzy! It has to be Schmultzy!" That was the only time I heard that term until you said it here. Good times remembered.
This is my favorite piece in the entire game. I have it playing in my player housing.
Final Fantasy 14 is just a wonderful journey. It’s so beautiful and has so many wonderful moments, especially musical. I’ve been playing since 14. This songs expansion, Heavensward came out on my 16th birthday. I have learned so much from this game over 10 years and it is truly an amazing experience.
Dragonsong follows you through the entire expansion, and when this full version came up I wrote /sit, sat back, listened and cried. Absolutely gorgeous and so, so emotionally impactful when you know what she's singing about. When you've experienced that yourself over so many hours. It's before a really major story dungeon. I didn't queue up, for quite a while I just took my time soaking in Dragonsong.
16:40 It's featured in a certain plot-relevant fight during the Heavensward expansion, so fairly early on as the overall game goes. As with many parts of Answers, there are leitmotifs from it throughout the expansion and elsewhere in the game. The composers also really love to start with songs that develop from one plot area, dungeon, boss fight, etc. to another and ultimately culminate in something larger - e.g. "A Long Fall" (Shadowbringers) and "Scream" (Endwalker) are good examples of the penultimate expression of this concept. I highly recommend both.
Final Fantasy series has 100x more great songs than any other game series. There are litterly thousands.
So glad you're covering FFXIV, brings so much joy to me to listen to these songs again, and hearing your analysis
"Oops, went back too far."
Me: "Pshh, nobody's gonna complain!"
Its awesome seeing people who have never played the game loving the music so much. Im sure you can imagine how much more it means to those of us who lived through it. This was the title track for the first expansion after A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, and plays often throughout the story for that part of the game, including in some EPIC fights. It's funny so far Ive seen you cover Answers, Footfalls, and Dragonsong and those 3 are always on my Orchestrion playlist, which is basically a jukebox you can put in your player-owned house so that you can set your own background music. Amazing tracks, all 3, and I hope you cover more FF music in the future :D
You have some incredible insight that I've been really enjoying as you visit songs that I've known for years. Definitely a very interesting perspective that gives me a newfound appreciation for these songs. Very well done!
This song hits every time. It's first on my orchestral player at my home in game. You can just feel every word of this song!
Im not going to lie, youve earned yourself a sub. Your breakdowns and how much you appreciate this beautiful music even though you dont even know the story has earned it. Its one of my favorite games of all time. I have been playing for years and I cant even describe my emotions to you of how much I love the music and arrangements of not just this game but all final fantasies.
Nobuo Uematsu is a legend and will forever be one of the best to ever do it.
16:41
funnily enough, the first time this song plays in full, the game actually gives you a perfect chance to sit there and just listen exactly like that, and it even loops continuously
This song. This song right here is when Final Fantasy XIV became my favorite game of all time. I literally cannot listen to this song without crying. The whole buildup through Heavensward to finally hear the lyrics of this song was just amazing. You hear just bits and pieces of the music throughout the expansion, and then at the very end, when all seems at its lowest point, you absorb the power of Hraesvelgr's eye, and the song starts, only this time you can actually hear the lyrics. So there you are, standing on the Great Bridge, staring down Nidhogg, and the only sound is the full rendition of Dragonsong while you wait for your queue to actually fight Nidhogg to pop. It's just so masterfully done, in every way. There will never be another game like FFXIV.
Literally same, the reason why I play ff14 is because of that moment, I cry every time, and I will never forget it.
Heavensward, and all of the music within, is an absolute masterpiece of an expansion...
I treasure my journey through it fondly, it's just a wonderfully emotive story to behold!
@DrumRollTonyReacts
Did you know that the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV has a free trial, and includes the entirety of A Realm Reborn AND the award-winning Heavensward, and Stormblood expansions up to level 70 with no restrictions on playtime?
Another facet I like about the XIV music is how it tells a story or adds context to the story with lyrics, or with the music itself. They even do this with remixes of songs based on the tracks of older FF titles.
I found this channel while i was looking for some Persona music and i have to say that not only i have found new music to listen but i also have learned so many new stuff about music composition. Superb channel my man, you got a new sub.
You should play the award-winning MMORPG with a free trial all through Stromblood (which includes Heavensward!) for free. With no restriction on playtime. Because when they do include this song its just powerful!
Thank god, this song will FOREVER be in my soul for how it made me felt the first time I played Final Steps of Faith.
Without actually saying it, the meaning was blindingly obvious in that moment. We were probably the first mortal he had trusted like this since his beloved... and he gave us the power to do what needed to be done, and put his brother to rest.
I ended up standing up and pacing around my house as I waited for queue to pop. It's hard to describe the emotions I was going through. I felt the _weight_ of it. It was _important._
Being able to intake a breakdown of music i already love from someone who's musically educated adds a whole new level of depth of the piece and lets me appreciate it even more. Thank you so much for giving this your time.
Important thing about the role of music in this game: they are very consciously and deliberately placing and using music for everything. Answers and Dragonsong and other expansion intros are not just simply epic cinematics. They are used as frames and returning narrative additions to the story. Background songs for areas also add to narratic change, that is why so many mentioned Closed in the Distance for example: you are in the very last area in the game, at the end of the world, in space, among the stardust, where all species lost hope. After you arrive, you eventually bring hope, and the promise that races, factions, continents, planets can unite and stand together. That is when the music changes PERMANENTLY forever for that character to Closed in the Distance for the final area. Instances have chunks of the music on repeat, depending on which part of the fight you are doing. As your team progresses in the fight, music flawlessly transitions to the next loop. Many bosses even have timed attacks that fit the rhytm of the music! Narrative and music absolutely go hand in hand. They spare no money when it comes to both. I am a proud owner of all the released vynils! ^.^ You must do the remaining 3 expansions songs, too! ^.^
Chills... so many chills. I miss the beautiful power of her voice. Every time the music stopped, the chills stopped, but when it started up again and I could hear her sing, instant chills again. It's so incredibly beautiful. Thank you so much for this music!!
This song is just so good. It never fails to make my eyes water it’s just so beautiful. The music alone fills me with so much emotion.
Tony. Thank you for having such an amazing channel. I always wanted to study music but never had the chance. To hear you break it down for those who know but also for those of us who don't know is simply amazing. I've been able to appreciate parts of composition I never noticed before (getting good headphones helped me hear all the different things going too) has been a wonderful experience. Like rediscovering fave songs with new ears.
The number of times this song STILL gives goosebumps even after 100s plus times hearing it, never ceases to amaze
yesssss I knew after the answers review you’d do this next let’s gooooooo
Dragonsong is a recurring leitmotif through the first expansion, and it's amazingly beautiful. We don't get to hear it in its fullness until the very end - and it's incredible.
They always say music is a great way to expression emotions. To this day listening to this song still brings tears to my eyes, definitely still one of my favorites songs from the game. This song conveys the perfect emotions for the expansion, and the music is one of my driving points to always play this game. Both Uematsu, and Soken put so much effort into the music for this game, and it's almost to the point I'll play any game they make music for. I just want to sit there and listen to their music on loop all day.
This song... it... changed me in ways I can't describe.
With or without context of the game, you can just understand the impact of the game's music.
Knowing the story behind this song makes it even more shiver worthy.
One thing you'll notice with some of the music is the "blending" of different themes together. You'll hear the melody of Dragonsong in different songs in the Heavensward expansion, for example. I absolutely love they keep continuity with this. You'll hear it mostly in Endwalker's music as it's a combination of the entire story from ARR until then, too.
Heavensward, the expansion that this was the theme for, is one of my most memorable moments in gaming. I genuinely think it is some of Nobuo Uematsu's best work, and that is saying something considering everything he touches is a masterpiece in of itself.
Heavensward is still my favorite expansion.
I love watching people with no or little context react to the FFXIV music! So don't worry about not knowing the story or whatever. It's massive, and honestly the music all tells a story on its own, whatever that may be depends on the individual. Beauty of music, beauty of these compositions by Nobuo Uematsu and Masayoshi Soken! 🙇🏻♀🙇🏻♀🙇🏻♀
I love how this song somehow gently picks you up and sends you "Heavensward", yet also sets you back on the ground by the end.
As a band director who also has played these games and LOVED the music I am so glad that you are doing this and showing the great art that is displayed here!
👌 We need more music ed people in here! 🤘🤘
This is a life time of talent and experience coming together with excellent storytelling to deliver a perfect ballad
Within the game story this song has a neat mechanic because it’s in a fantasy language until a certain point, then the main character can understand it and that’s when the lyrics become English
The music in this game is unparalleled. I can't even count the number of times I've fallen in love with a song while playing. There have even been times it's brought tears to my eyes.
What you said about stopping and listening is exactly what I did! There's one climactic fight where you're staring across a bridge at your enemy as you queue up for the fight, and this song is playing. I couldn't help but stop and listen for a while, taking in the ambiance and the weight of what was happening, before queuing up.
They did an "ultimate" of this expansion. It basically tells the whole story in one long fight. The fight can take 20 minutes long to complete. In one phase of the fight this song plays. It hits you pretty hard. Tony said "put down the controller and just listen." man I'd love to put down the controller and just listen but I need to fight for my life. As a player in FFXIV who cleared DSR. Thank you Tony!!! This was an awesome watch and reaction, this song is very meaningful to me so I appreaciate you listening to this piece!
The songs lyrics refer to events 1000 years ago when the Dragons were betrayed by mortals after centuries of being allies and friends, the "Her" in question is someone named Lady Shiva, who was an elezen who was in love with a Dragon.
Wait we have Dragonsong already?! Lets go!
It's funny you make that comment about putting the controller down to listen, because that's exactly what I did when this song came up! When this song is playing, you're in an instanced location (only accessible during this story segment) and queue for an important story duty. I was sad when the queue popped, because I wanted to listen longer!
This may be weird.. but you were mentioning the timpani, and I took a second to really listen and it occurred to me that there is something just so.. fundamentally Uematsu about the timpani. a feeling that goes back to even the 16, 8bit titles. that low bassy rumble and percussiveness with wind punctuation just... FEELS Uematsu.
I agree. Way back with Roaming Sheep from FF3, he has his stamp. There's no one else like him.
Biiiiiig can o' worms with the FFXIV soundtracks. Keep at 'em, they are gold. You've said multiple times that you listen to these out of context, but (as I'm sure you know by now) do keep in mind that practically all major pieces are written - music orchestration and lyrics - to fit hand-in-glove with specific storyline beats and major themes of each expansion pack. For us, the players and fans of the game every single one of these pieces resonates deeply because they carry tremendous emotional connotations.
Keep going, we need more!
Probably the most memorable experience with this song was completing Dragonsong's Reprise (Ultimate). In Phase 6 of 7 (of a 20 minute long fight), you are met with this song as you fight in an alternate reality. The melody at 9:10 plays when you have nothing to do but to watch the boss & to read the dialogue before transitioning into the final phase. The first time making it to this point you can easily forget that you are in a fight.
Oh happy to tell you where this piece plays, because I couldn't stop talking about it for days after I got there, haha!
Some context for this song is that the players don't hear this specific arrangement until the very end of the Heavensward story. Up until that point, we've only heard instrumental, incomplete (yet still gorgeous) versions played in the background.
For the story itself, this is the emotional theme telling the tragedy of the Thousand-year dragon war that you find yourself thrust into as the player. Your enemy all through the story is an enraged, vengeful dragon who just wants to annihilate everyone. At the climax of this tale, he's possessed your friend and is on the cusp of destroying a city when you ride in on another dragon - his brother - to intervene. There's a great battle between the dragons before your ally falls to him and passes his power to you to finish the fight.
This arrangement slowly starts to play as the camera zooms in on your slow, steady footsteps towards your enemy. You're calm, determined, and radiating power, all while staring down this dragon that's several stories tall.
Then the vocals kick in, for the first time in the game. The enemy dragon, enraged that you would be given this power, shouts in his ancient tongue at you - all while this steady, beautiful verse is playing beneath it. It embodies the tragedy of this whole story, as well as instilling a quiet confidence that yes, it ends today, and it ends with you.
I was singing this song around my house for WEEKS after, and it's still one of my favorites. Thanks for taking a peek at it!
Man here i am crying for the thousand'th times to Dragonsong. Be right back, i've got to buy about a ton of tissues for the next three songs....
Knowing the in game meaning of this song, having gone through this story, it brings me to tears almost every time.
This song will always have a very special place in my heart. I enjoyed the hell out of Heavensward, but the climax of the Heavensward story in 3.3, where you find yourself standing on a bridge in front of a dragon who is essentially an incarnation of pure _rage_ and _vengeance,_ and you're the last hope to stop him, and this song starts playing as the cutscene ends and you ready yourself for the final fight with him. I absolutely fell head over heels for the game in that moment.
Another one that might be cool to check out is Your Answer which is a reprise of Answers from 10 years later. It was definitely a punch in the face when I heard it the first time because essentially Answers is that song that plays at the start of your journey and then to hear Your Answer 10 years later at what is the penultimate moment of that journey really just made me feel a way I don't think I could describe
Its funny how you would probably nail this as a sort of ballad credits theme....when in reality its a boss track lol. You get an absolutely insane amazing cutscene between the big bad and thier brother, and your character gets thier badass moment, only for it to fade back into gameplay and this track starts. Its just you staring down a large dragon on to of a shattered bridge. Then you queue into the fight....and the music continues into the fight until phase 2.
Also yeah the lyrics being an absolute pivotal part of the track with how its basically a direct plea to the big bad. Also i always get goosbumps during this fight when the uplifting part of track hits in the fight.
I think many people already said so already but, this song played a bunch through the expansion, but never with vocals and in all sort of remixes, some heroic, some more mellow/emotional. The emotional crux of it was that in the end, we get to understand our enemy and this song suddenly having lyrics symbolized us finally getting it.
The song starts at the end of a pretty epic cutscene as we confront the big bad, the final boss adn then plays continuously as we wait in queue for the fight and during the first part of it. ff14 is a game that made me tear up quite a lot and this moment I remember being so incredibly solemn when me and the two friend I played with reached it. It has been topped off multiple times since, but it remains an incredible song and a moment very very dear to me.
A lot of XIV songs, range from fun to breathtaking on their own, once you combine it with the context it really engraves itself on you. The game itself takes a little time to hook you depending on the person, but once you're invested it has you. One fun thing listening to this made me remember, is Square-Enix usually had a pretty big delay on releasing lyrics so, for these early songs especially, there was a lot of time we were trying to interpret the words and meaning, and really spending time with the song itself, even if it's not apparent till after you've experienced it, there's a lot of little symbolism baked in under the lyrics and in the music itself which is awesome to experience as well which makes revisiting both after the credits roll a whole new experience, both on the lyrics and musical level after you've seen how the motif gets used and develops deeper emotions onto it.
When this song plays, I cry. Every time. It’s an amazing theme.
There was a moment where this played in full before the final trial of Heavensward (there are parts of it and melodies from it all throughout the more emotional parts) and... it was the point for me at least where all emotions that expansion threw at me (while nothing compared to the later expansions) really hit me. I took my time there before actually queuing in. I was excited to continue but the song so perfectly captured those feelings I could not immediately go on. I don't think it'll ever stop having that effect and I absolutely love it.
I love how this song comments on not only war, but religion and what sticks the most for me, the turmoil between the 2 races and the meloncoly of watching it al.
The ending of this song gets me every single time
All time favourite song of final fantasy ! Thanks for sharing with us and the world
I'm here for all your ffxiv reacts haha the music in this game is so unbelievably good ❤