Song Lyrics in FFXIV: Compilation, Discussion, and Interpretation

[Ametrine]

It makes WAY more sense in that context.

[Mysteltain]

Well, with the newest trailer we have a few new snippets of lyrics from one of the new Alexander themes, as well as about a minutes worth of Sophia's 2nd phase theme. I'll put my current interpretations of those here if anyone's curious, and feel free to post your own thoughts and interpretations, as always. I know we have a little over a week to get before we get the full versions, sadly, but it may help pass a bit of time, haha!

...Speak an ancient truth, on her knees.
Breath passes from her lips,
Into her soul, the Goddess whispers:
"A heartbeat without harmony,
Is a rhythm without time.
The heart seeketh equilibrium.
Without strength the (something).
Since truth is but the melody,
That memory shalt reveal.
One must start believing:
An empty heart devours sin.

An empty heart devours sin."

Chase the heartbeat...

Forward and back,
And then forward and back,
And then go forward and back,
Put the one foot forward.
x3
Transcendental...

Quoting myself from the Patch 3.4 Soul Surrender topic: I'm not that surprised to hear how different in tone Sophia's theme is compared to Fiend (what with its running theme of betrayal and terrible revelations), but to see it take a more measured approach, especially with the music analogy in this part, is quite interesting. It seems she is, much like Sephirot is with regards to life, in control of some natural order or balance...which on second thought makes sense because she IS part of the Warring Triad. Maybe the power balance of FFVI does come into play here, but differently?

And I guess one last thing to note is that this song contains "Her" again. With Fiend it refers to the concept of Necessity, so I wonder if there's anything or anyone being specifically mentioned, or if it's just a pronoun.

A final mention of a bit of an unlikely theory I have is that the head below the woman is the Goddess, whereas the woman floating above her is either an oracle through whom she speaks, or some sort of avatar of hers. This mostly comes from the lyrics mentioning how the Goddess speaks to her soul, the following lyrics of which are her message. So mayhap the woman is tempered, or merely a willing medium?

As for Alexander's new lyrics, not much to go on. A very overt time travel reference, and the repetition makes me think that this is the chorus, but also that time may not even exist for those within Alexander anymore. Heck, I'm thinking we may fight his past self to prevent the current predicament from occuring.

[Catapult]

Pre-patch this is going to be a stretch, but what the hell! Let's dive in.

Jumping back to Sephirot for a bit, we know that the thing that sets him (it?) apart from other primals is how he encompases everything in the spirituality of the tree-folk that summoned him. I can't remember who said it, but "it would be like summoning all of the Twelve at once". If this is a common theme amongst the Mercaydian primals of their era, we're looking at some form of race and/or civilisation to whom the concept of balance and enlightenment was everything, to the point that they would summon a deity of this concept to protect them. It's plausibly a Miqo'te tribe of yore, but could easily be anything else - most likely a civilisation at peace with the Meracydian dragons and whom properly valued that peace.

Of particular interest to me are the words "Truth is but the melody that memory shall reveal." That sounds a bit like the Echo.
Completely long-shot theory: Much like how Ysale summoned Shiva based on limited understanding and exceptional faith, Sophia is a bastardised image of Hydaelyn. That makes her kick-arse dangerous.

[Berethos]

With Sophia's lyrics, I think the line is "Speak an ancient truth" instead of "rite" and "Her breath passes from her lips" instead of "Breathless as from her lips."

Can't fully hear the line that begins with "Without" but it sounds like "Without the pillar we (something)" instead of "Without strength the (something)" though I'm not terribly certain about the word pillar.

[Mysteltain]

With Sophia's lyrics, I think the line is "Speak an ancient truth" instead of "rite" and "Her breath passes from her lips" instead of "Breathless as from her lips."

Can't fully hear the line that begins with "Without" but it sounds like "Without the pillar we (something)" instead of "Without strength the (something)" though I'm not terribly certain about the word pillar.

I definitely agree with the changes to the first two lines, so thank you! After listening to this for quite a bit of the day I keep hearing what I thought I heard, not what it actually is. That said, barring the second set of lines you mention, I'm reasonably confident in the rest of them.

Of particular interest to me are the words "Truth is but the melody that memory shall reveal." That sounds a bit like the Echo.
Completely long-shot theory: Much like how Ysale summoned Shiva based on limited understanding and exceptional faith, Sophia is a bastardised image of Hydaelyn. That makes her kick-arse dangerous.

And that may be possible, Catapult. A major aspect of Sophia seems to be balance, so this ancient civilization may value the equilibrium of existence--something that only the planet can control. That then makes me wonder if what truly separates an Eikon from a Primal is that Eikons are embodiments of the natural order of the world rather than just aetheric aspects given a more substantial form. Aether is fluid, in the sense that it flows from one thing to another. It may have an element, but it is always moving from one state or host to another, lending the Primals their relatively ephemeral nature. But concepts such as life and death are far more permanent and long-standing in people's thoughts. As Primals are prayers and thoughts made manifest, wouldn't it make sense that far more permanent aspects be much sturdier and long-living?

Sephirot is Life. Odin is Death. Sophia is Order. Would Zurvan be Chaos, then? Amusingly enough, these concepts are much more "Primal" than Primals themselves (pardon the pun, haha!)

EDIT: And, just had this thought: that is why they don't require followers or crystals to maintain themselves. They aren't fueled by the thoughts or prayers of a small handful of followers, but by nearly every living thing in existence! Their source of sustenance is, for all intents and purposes, infinite. Although, as we learned with Odin, they still need Aether, and since they aren't offered crystals and their worship is very indirect, they draw aether from their environment to reform themselves assuming they aren't eliminated outright.

[Catapult]

Sephirot is Life. Odin is Death. Sophia is Order. Would Zurvan be Chaos, then? Amusingly enough, these concepts are much more "Primal" than Primals themselves (pardon the pun, haha!)

EDIT: And, just had this thought: that is why they don't require followers or crystals to maintain themselves. They aren't fueled by the thoughts or prayers of a small handful of followers, but by nearly every living thing in existence! Their source of sustenance is, for all intents and purposes, infinite.

I think you might be on to something. It would certainly help explain how these specific primals were selected to power the singularity reactor, when the even more advanced technology of Dalamud still required entrapped worshipers to properly function.

[Nestama]

Much like how Ysale summoned Shiva based on limited understanding and exceptional faith, Sophia is a bastardised image of Hydaelyn. That makes her kick-arse dangerous.

I knew there was a reason why the giant head was reminding me of something.

[Jojozan]

Not quite able to properly explain this yet, but in regards to Sephirot's Fiend, and assuming that the Warring Triad were hostile to each other, could Fiend be about trying to break people free of Sophia and Zurvan? With the first half up until the "Same My Name! Sephirot!" bit being about people under the Goddess' sway, and with the second half being people under the Demon's control?

Might just be grasping at straws.

[Mysteltain]

Not quite able to properly explain this yet, but in regards to Sephirot's Fiend, and assuming that the Warring Triad were hostile to each other, could Fiend be about trying to break people free of Sophia and Zurvan? With the first half up until the "Same My Name! Sephirot!" bit being about people under the Goddess' sway, and with the second half being people under the Demon's control?

Might just be grasping at straws.

It would depend on how the various civilizations of Meracydia interacted. In fact, do we even know how large of a land Meracydia was/is? If it was about the size of Eorzea, or smaller, then there would certainly have had to be some sort of interaction between them. So this is definitely a possibility.

[Anonymoose]

In fact, do we even know how large of a land Meracydia was/is?

Going by the general, vauge outlines visible from the lunar view* (50% of the surface of Hydaelyn), it's roughly the size of an Eorzean region.
Question marks are oudated. Almost certainly the New World and Meracydia, almost certainly not Sharlayan, Thavnair still a toss-up.