Song Lyrics in FFXIV: Compilation, Discussion, and Interpretation

[ChaoticCrimson]

Sorry for the quality, but hope this helps! These are the lyrics listed in the booklet.

[Mysteltain]

Thank you so much for posting that! And with that, I believe that's every song from 1.0 to 4.3 in this list (plus a few bonus tracks), unless I've made some oversight.

[Degaulace]

Hey ! Sorry, I know this topic is quite old, but I need some lights !
I'm French, and if Answers and Dragonsong are quite easy to understand, I've a very hard time with Revolutions...could some English people explain it to me ? I'm totally stuck with "wrested forth", "twelvefold", the two verses "High o'er the trees in the throes of liberty/'Til unstirring skies consign her to memory"...I prefer some explanations, rather than a translation, if possible !

[ObsidianFire]

Heh! Revolutions does have some rather archaic English in it! I can see why it could be hard for a non-native speaker to get some of it. It's also not very literal which doesn't help matters; there's lots of metaphors in it.

This hearth
This home
Wrested forth from tired fingers
Bathed in blood
And sealed in stone

"Wrested" means something along the lines of "forcibly taken"
"forth" means "into view"; you'll still find it in modern words like "forthright"

In context, the idea is that the home/hearth was forcibly pulled out of someone's tired hand.

Souls scarred
Twelvefold
Beckoned by the bells of vengeance
Spirits bold

"-fold" when it's tacked onto a number is an old way of meaning "times something happened". It also is used to say in how many pieces something is split or divided. IE: A threefold cord is a cord with three strands in it.

It's probably not supposed to be taken literally here, but as an artistic exaggeration of how many times the souls were scarred or how many pieces the souls were left in after the scaring. The souls are then fired up by vengeance.

Soft is the breeze that can set a petal free
And yet 'tis the storm that doth see the petal soar
High o'er the trees in the throes of liberty
'Til unstirring skies consign her to memory

"o'er" is "over" with the "v" taken out. It's commonly done in songs so that "over" is one syllable instead of two and fits better into the song melody.
"'Til" is the same thing, but with the word "Until"

This entire verse is a metaphor about a petal that is pulled off a flower by a breeze and tossed about by different types of wind until it's eventually forgotten because there is no wind to blow it anymore. It's point is that the wind that pulls the petal free of the flower is not very strong. However, the petal doesn't soar upwards until the winds about it are as strong as a storm. Ultimately though, the wind eventually dies down and the petal isn't remembered anymore.

[Iscah]

"forth" means "into view"; you'll still find it in modern words like "forthright"

"Forth" means 'forwards' or 'onwards'. eg. as in "go forth"



Also I would connect "Twelvefold" as a potential link to "the Twelve"? The number is significant so it seems odd if they use it cryptically in an unrelated way.

[Enkidoh]

I took the 'twelvefold' reference to actually be a subtle reference to the XIIth Legion of the Garlean Empire which of course is the antagonistic force in Stormblood (and this was given credence in the Revolutions song trailer SE released on Youtube just prior to SB's launch: Zenos's parade in Ala Mhigo was shown on screen exactly as the song reached that line, with the "twelvefold" lyric specifically ringing out as the camera panned up from Zenos's feet as he stomped through Ala Mhigo's main street at the head of the XIIth Legion. Although it's equally possible that was entirely coincidental, though the meaning of that lyric at least was pretty clearly hammered home anyway accordingly, well, to me at least it was.).

[Iscah]

That seems a more relevant allusion.

I wish they'd write out things like "twelfth legion" instead of "XIIth legion" though. Personal taste perhaps, but when I'm reading text that is supposed to be spoken words, I want to see things written-as-spoken, and not have to stop and convert Roman numerals to 'hear' the sentence.

(Meanwhile my brain skids across the written word trying to pronounce it as "shiieth legion"...)

[TinyRedLeaf]

This entire verse is a metaphor about a petal that is pulled off a flower by a breeze and tossed about by different types of wind until it's eventually forgotten because there is no wind to blow it anymore. It's point is that the wind that pulls the petal free of the flower is not very strong. However, the petal doesn't soar upwards until the winds about it are as strong as a storm. Ultimately though, the wind eventually dies down and the petal isn't remembered anymore.

It is indeed a metaphor, one that relies on the image of a petal tossing about in the wind. But there is more to it than just the literal imagery.

Specifically, the song as a whole is about revolution; a time of change, and of overthrowing the old for the new, through a violent uprising.

In that context, this verse in particular speaks to how little it takes to foment a desire for freedom, among a people oppressed by cruel masters ("soft is the breeze that can set a petal free").

However, a petal torn from its branch would do no more than fall to the ground, just like how oppressors would cut down impudent dissidents who dare to take action. Hence, it takes a "storm" — and not just a "breeze" — to "see the petal soar". In other words, it takes a whirlwind of change and courage, to take meek and otherwise helpless petals to greater heights ("high o'er the trees in the throes of liberty").

But there's also a larger, melancholic refrain that runs throughout the song, an explicit acknowledgement that someone's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist (eg, "one kingdom's fall is another kingdom's freedom"/"one mother's pride is another mother's sorrow").

So, in that light, the fourth line of the verse reminds the listener, that even as the revolutionaries are stirred to action by the winds of change, they will suffer, either through death in battle, or through the ignominy of time, as those who come after forget the deeds of those before them.

Hence, "til unstirring skies consign her to memory".

[Degaulace]

Wow! I wasn't expecting such deep explanations!
I know a bit of old English, like, I know "doth" is "do", and some contractions are quite self-explanatory, but some words are very uncommon (unstirring, soar...) when you've perfected your English with video games (even in FF Tactics!), and if you speak it only while playing!
Thank you very much for these lights! \o/

[Iscah]

some words are very uncommon (unstirring, soar...)

"Unstirring" is definitely unusual, but "soar" isn't that rare. It's not a word you'd use all the time, but it's modern English - a more poetic or dramatic version of "flying" or "taking flight", though they're not quite interchangeable. It's a bit hard to explain. I think the simplest explanation is that you need to be going up high in the sky - you can take off and "soar upwards" and "soar above the clouds" but you wouldn't then soar back down to earth.


Also, to be exact, "doth" is equivalent to "(he/she) does".