Josiah Everhart | Final Fantasy VII - Ahead on Our Way (cover w/ lyrics) @JosiahEverhart | Uploaded 9 years ago | Updated 13 hours ago
Hello again, my friends. After two months, the final Final Fantasy part is complete! Stay a while and listen, ‘cause we have a lot to talk about.
So first off; I want to apologize for the long wait. I got really sick right after I uploaded the second part which made singing difficult. Also, the arrangement itself went through many iterations before I landed on one that I was happy with.
I spent a lot of time trying to get the mix right, but I must admit it was hard to get everything balanced. The hardest part was getting those synth strings to play nicely with everything else. I wish that I had some nice orchestral samples to use, because my synth strings sound just a bit too, well, synthetic. I feel like they do the job well enough though.
As I mentioned in the descriptions of the first two parts, there is a loose, overarching narrative that ties all three songs together. When I say “loose” I mean that the story isn’t really specific. It sort of vaguely tells the tale of an adventurer.
In the first part, he’s seeking his fortune. He’s traveled the world and has an almost naive arrogance as he tells of his exploits to a girl he’s met in the town he’s staying in for the night.
In the second part, years have passed, maybe even decades. He’s reflecting on the life he’s chosen with some measure of remorse.
Finally, in the third part, he is an old man, laying on his deathbed. I imagine him saying these words to his grandson, but you could interpret it as him speaking to his wife/companion. In any case, what I was thinking is that he had a son with the girl from the first part, but never realized it since his intrepid nature ‘caused him to leave her.
Some time passes and his son has had a grandson. Somehow he’s found that girl from all those years ago and even though he left her, she and her family have forgiven him and he lives his last years happy and finally content.
I know that at first glance this song could be interpreted as a sappy love song, so I just wanted to clear that up. Like I’ve said before, I usually like to write my lyrics with a bit of ambiguity so that the listener can make up their own mind about the meaning of the song. Sometimes even I don’t know what they mean!
The town themes from various RPGs tend to be some of the best VGM that exists. WIth these three songs, I wanted to pay tribute to them as well as to the work of Uematsu in general. Ahead on Our Way has always stood out to me and is one of my favorites. It always made me think about settling down and living my days in a peaceful village somewhere.
Once again, a big thank you to my bff, Austin for doing the drums for all three songs. Go subscribe to him! (youtube.com/user/bokunoeruption)
I’m releasing all three songs on my bandcamp page for $1: https://JosiahEverhart.bandcamp.com/album/final-fantasuite
Composed by Nobuo Uematsu with lyrics and arrangement by me
Original: youtube.com/watch?v=vcEGFAaSpzI
LYRICS
I seem to spend more days by the fireplace
Still it warms my heart when I see your face
Our paths were always crossed, too blind was I to realize
That what I’d lost is in your eyes
I spent so many years far away from here
Searching for a cause, but it’s finally clear
The ravages of time have not treated me kindly
Still I find you here, beside me
Won’t you hold my hand for a while now?
The sun is going down and I’m tired now
With every labored breath I pray to see you smile
Just let me close my eyes for a while
facebook.com/JosiahEverhart
twitter.com/josiahmmusic
https://JosiahEverhart.bandcamp.com/
Hello again, my friends. After two months, the final Final Fantasy part is complete! Stay a while and listen, ‘cause we have a lot to talk about.
So first off; I want to apologize for the long wait. I got really sick right after I uploaded the second part which made singing difficult. Also, the arrangement itself went through many iterations before I landed on one that I was happy with.
I spent a lot of time trying to get the mix right, but I must admit it was hard to get everything balanced. The hardest part was getting those synth strings to play nicely with everything else. I wish that I had some nice orchestral samples to use, because my synth strings sound just a bit too, well, synthetic. I feel like they do the job well enough though.
As I mentioned in the descriptions of the first two parts, there is a loose, overarching narrative that ties all three songs together. When I say “loose” I mean that the story isn’t really specific. It sort of vaguely tells the tale of an adventurer.
In the first part, he’s seeking his fortune. He’s traveled the world and has an almost naive arrogance as he tells of his exploits to a girl he’s met in the town he’s staying in for the night.
In the second part, years have passed, maybe even decades. He’s reflecting on the life he’s chosen with some measure of remorse.
Finally, in the third part, he is an old man, laying on his deathbed. I imagine him saying these words to his grandson, but you could interpret it as him speaking to his wife/companion. In any case, what I was thinking is that he had a son with the girl from the first part, but never realized it since his intrepid nature ‘caused him to leave her.
Some time passes and his son has had a grandson. Somehow he’s found that girl from all those years ago and even though he left her, she and her family have forgiven him and he lives his last years happy and finally content.
I know that at first glance this song could be interpreted as a sappy love song, so I just wanted to clear that up. Like I’ve said before, I usually like to write my lyrics with a bit of ambiguity so that the listener can make up their own mind about the meaning of the song. Sometimes even I don’t know what they mean!
The town themes from various RPGs tend to be some of the best VGM that exists. WIth these three songs, I wanted to pay tribute to them as well as to the work of Uematsu in general. Ahead on Our Way has always stood out to me and is one of my favorites. It always made me think about settling down and living my days in a peaceful village somewhere.
Once again, a big thank you to my bff, Austin for doing the drums for all three songs. Go subscribe to him! (youtube.com/user/bokunoeruption)
I’m releasing all three songs on my bandcamp page for $1: https://JosiahEverhart.bandcamp.com/album/final-fantasuite
Composed by Nobuo Uematsu with lyrics and arrangement by me
Original: youtube.com/watch?v=vcEGFAaSpzI
LYRICS
I seem to spend more days by the fireplace
Still it warms my heart when I see your face
Our paths were always crossed, too blind was I to realize
That what I’d lost is in your eyes
I spent so many years far away from here
Searching for a cause, but it’s finally clear
The ravages of time have not treated me kindly
Still I find you here, beside me
Won’t you hold my hand for a while now?
The sun is going down and I’m tired now
With every labored breath I pray to see you smile
Just let me close my eyes for a while
facebook.com/JosiahEverhart
twitter.com/josiahmmusic
https://JosiahEverhart.bandcamp.com/
