Song Lyrics in FFXIV: Compilation, Discussion, and Interpretation

[MrThinker]

As an aside, I have never heard "thrives" pronounced as "threeves". Have I been wrong about this my entire life?

EDIT: apparently the pronunciation originates from the extinct "Yola" dialect of English. Koji and his obscure middle-english references Dx.

EDIT+: Okay, now that I've had time to actually jam to the song while understanding what is being said, lets begin

Heart of ember, autumntide
Cooling swiftly, bleeding light
Smold'ring softly, biding time
Marching forward, left behind

Fire as shadows clash
Forgotten footfalls engraved in ash
Fire will be repaid
'Fore our echoes begin to fade

Fade away... Fade away...

Heart of ember, autumntide
Burning brightly, hot and white
Kindred severed neverwhere
Sorrow's silence, we needn't bear

I feel these first verses are 100% referencing the og Final days and subsequently the Sundering. "Heart of ember" is most ikely Azem imo. Autumntide refers to the "waning" or close of a thing whether it be a period of time or an event. Kindred severed no where seems t be talking about how all the ancients were sundered. Not sure what Sorrow's silence is refering to though.


Stories sown along the way
Tales of loss and fire and faith

A reference to the passage of time, and the various triumphs and tragedies that occured. The second line can also be seen to be referncing the previous expansions. Loss = Shb, Fire= SB and faith = HW. Who agrees?


Next we come to our expansion remix section.

Dys an sohm in [Our slumber disturbed]
Rohs an kyn ala na [All my brothers wake]
Mah morn [Death comes]
Dys an sohm in [Our slumber disturbed]
Sahl djahs afah an [Vengeance will be ours]

And here is the original Heavensward lyrics:

Dys An Sohm In (Our slumber disturbed,)
Rohs An Kyn Ala na (All my brothers wake.)
Mah Morn Na-ah-ah-ahrr (The saviors must perish.)
Sahl Djahs Afah An (Vengeance will be ours.)
Eorzea!


The differences are from the 3rd line onward, where instead of the dragons saying they will kill the "saviours' it is instead death coming for "all lives" and so they are disturbed from the position of simply watching men fight amongst themselves.

Storm of blood, born from blood, of our fallen brothers
Thunder stilled, oaths fulfilled, now we yearn for freedom

Born in blood (still we forge ahead), stained in red (unto tomorrow)
Bound by love (so we forge ahead), purpose fed (unto tomorrow, bring us tomorrow)
Courage thrives (ever forge ahead), hand in hand (unto tomorrow, welcome tomorrow)
Souls aligned (that we forge ahead), forge ahead (yeah, we forge ahead, yeah, we forge ahead)
Forward

The first line is the same as it was in "Storm of Blood", but now that the revolution is over, the singers must look to seizing "freedom" from something that they had been unable to control til that point. Alot of references to moving forward together to the future regardless of the trials faced.


Our song of hope, she dances on the wind higher, oh higher
E'er our vows endure, and remain forever strong
Standing tall in the dark do we carry on

On wings of hope, you rise up through the night higher, oh higher
Carrying our song, cradled fast within your arms
That its chorus might ring for all

The catchy new section sung by Amanda Achen. Though not a direct melody transposition of either Shadowbringers or Tomorrow and Tomorrow, it carries the latters spirit in it's reference to wind, hope, and standing tall amongst other things.


One brings shadow, one brings light
Two-toned echoes tumbling through time
Tumbling down to the never

The actual ShB reference is just a few lines. Who the people bringing shadow and light in this context are can be a lot of things; WoL and Zenos; Hydaelyn and Zodiark. Either way, the clash of those pairs may lead to the "never" which could be a refernce to "the end". There are other interpretations, such as "never' refering to "destruction" or an abyss, or maybe even Amaurot in the depths of the Tempest if it is a reference to the end of 5.0


Every step we take
Echoes in our wake
Winding 'round our fate
To forge ahead

Should we lose our way
Tire of all this pain
We won't be afraid
To forge ahead

These two verses I feel refer to the repeating of cycles as civillization moves on. Whether it be the cycle of astral era, calamities and umbral eras, or the cycle of the return of the final days, the song seems to encourage the singers to keep on pushing ahead even when they are lost and disoriented.


Fearless hearts ablaze
(When the world comes crumbling down)
No more time to waste
(Know I'll be there)
No, it's not too late
(Though our fleeting moment has gone)
To forge ahead
(You're not--you're not alone YEAH)

As we ride again
(As you turn your eyes to the stars)
To another end
(Oh, I'll be there)
Where it all begins
(With my chorus guiding you)
Forge ahead
(Forge ahead)

These last two verses are packed. My personal belief it is both the Current WoL and (Azem) speaking in these lines. WoL trying to find a path forward alongside their companions, while (Azem)'s provides the path that the WoL and others can follow safely. the echoed voice can also be the ancients or Zodiark, maybe even Emet-Selch himself as our "guide" but those are other interpretations I don't know how to expound on.

EDIT++: Well seems Yian and I came to the same conclusion regarding the tales part at least