Primal songs - what do they mean?

[Jackald]

So like many of my fellow adventurers, I love many of the theme songs that accompany the primals. I know you can just say they're background music and aren't canon, but it's interesting to think about them and give some context as to what they are. Clearly they are diverse and sung from many perspectives (if indeed they have lyrics).

Personally I've always taken each song to be the prayers the beast tribes gave to the primal to summon them. Leviathan's theme is all about the Sahagin praying for Leviathan to swallow the land, Ravana's is a call for war from the Gnath. Good king moggle mog is... well good king moggle mog.

Shiva's is especially interesting as it sounds like a song about Ysayle on the brink of freezing to death suddenly being invigorated with power and "becoming the reaper"; her first time becoming Shiva?

Anyone else got any thoughts on the primal songs?

[DynamoAce]

I love how empowering Shiva's feels to what her desires are. At the same time it kind of has that "rebellious high school girl" vibe to it but I feel that charm works really well with her. I actually heard the theme before I even got this game and fell in love with it but had no idea what the whole context was. Now upon actually knowing the story it really fits well.
Hearing Garuda's definitely has that whole fallen angel vibe but because she's kinda sorta Batshit crazy, it's all sorts of wild. Makes me feel like it's a Storm that really has no sign of ending.
Ifrit is the only one I'm not sure of what to think, probably cause I haven't actually fought him much.

[Enkidoh]

I'm pretty certain that the original intention that the 1.0 Tanaka-era development team had for Primal battles was that Uematsu was directed to only compose one base battle theme for all Primal fights - hence why the track was called Primal Judgement. However, after 1.0's disastrous launch, Tanaka was replaced as producer by Yoshi and Soken was brought on board as sound director and composer, replacing Uematsu as composer (who was working under third-party contract), this idea was obviously scrapped and thus Primal Judgement only ended up being used as Ifrit's battle theme in both 1.0 and ARR. Not that was a bad thing - I think it suits Ifrit's personality perfectly.

As for Soken's individual themes, he's famously on record for stating that for each Primal theme he was given fairly specific instructions on how the track was to be done, but for Titan he was given a lot more freedom and decided to experiment (hence why Titan has four separate tracks used through each stage of the battle, culminating in the vocal track Under the Weight). So I guess he probably approached the other themes in much the same way.

Incidentally, if you take note of the lyrics for each Primal theme, Koji-Fox's lyrics for each track do give a certain idea as to the personality of that Primal and their summoners - from the kobold's anger at the 'overdwellers' encroaching into their territory in Under the Weight to the individual members of the Mooglesguard in Good King Moggle Mog the XIIth to Ravana's bloodlust in Unbending Steel, each are representative of their individual Primals and gives the listener/player a certain insight into the insanity and despair of these beings and those who were tricked into summoning by the Ascians.

[Ametrine]

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/f...threads/165146

The song lyrics compendium and discussion from the lore section.

[Anonymoose]

There's two things to keep in mind when you think about the primal music:

Koji Fox writes the lyrics - so absolutely they are canon. But there's also the fact that the lyrics are written under a deadline in a chaotic atmosphere. As development progresses, songs that were written for one thing might end up being used for something entirely different. The song for Bismarck got switched with a song in Alexander midway through development, for instance. Both had to be adjusted, lyrically. So when lyrics get attached to melodies, they might be canon, but they might not also be all that meaningful. They might just be aptly-flavored vagueness.

Example: "7-2-3-2-3-SEND."
Koji said that there's no hidden code there. It has no meaning, but he might go back and make one just because.

The way I look at the lyrics, they're a snapshot in time - the battle itself. They have some thematic elements about the primal in general, and some lines about their origin, and some lines about how they see the world. But at the core, they are a look into the primal's mind as they engage the Warrior of Light in battle. (Again, that's how I interpret it, not The One Truth.)

Is there a specific song you'd like to dissect? I'm better at this when I have a focus, lol.

[WhiteArchmage]

What I love about the primal songs is that they tell a lot about the singer him/herself, who is not always the Primal. Examply: my favorite song is Ramuh's "Thunder Rolls" and it's a chant sung by the Sylphs to honor Ramuh and ask for his blessing and judgement. While Shiva's seems to be at a point between a young Ysayle and then Iceheart choosing a path and becoming Shiva, song from her PoV.

But, the one I find most chilling is Garuda's, because it only needs a haunting chorus and then a female voice (I always figured it was Garuda's) saying "Now fall." It's a complete calm before the storm kind of thing...

[Mholito]

But, the one I find most chilling is Garuda's, because it only needs a haunting chorus and then a female voice (I always figured it was Garuda's) saying "Now fall." It's a complete calm before the storm kind of thing...

Listen closer next time! There are more lyrics to it.

Falling to far from the light. Deeper into the night.
Lost here inside my own hell. I am a broken angel.

[Rocl]

Listen closer next time! There are more lyrics to it.

I've been listening intently for those lyrics since 1.X and I can still only barely-sortof-kinda make out a voice that maybe-might-possibly-probably saying those things, lol

[Mholito]

I've been listening intently for those lyrics since 1.X and I can still only barely-sortof-kinda make out a voice that maybe-might-possibly-probably saying those things, lol

They appear during the repeat of the vocal part from the opening of the theme.

[PArcher]

They appear during the repeat of the vocal part from the opening of the theme.

Yeah, its basically impossible to hear them. I was listening to it earlier (have the soundtrack) and its just barely there

IMO, its more annoying than anything, because you can just barely hear *something* but can't make out what it is.