17 | June | 2010 | Through the Shattered Lens

The newest Song of the Day is a favorite piece of video game music of mine.

“Suteki Da Ne” is the love theme to Square-Enix’s very popular and long-running rpg series Final Fantasy. The song would mark the point in the game when the lead male and female characters finally realize their love for each other. It’s become a favorite of many game score aficionados and especially those of Japanese game soundtracks. Some consider it one of the best pieces of video game music there is, but that would be going a tad too hyperbolic.

The song is composed by well-renowned game music composer Uematsu Nobuo. He had been instrumental in composing the music for most of the Final Fantasy games until he left Square-Enix in 2004. “Suteki Da Ne” also had other collaborators outside of Uematsu. The lyrics for the song was written by Final Fantasy X scenario writer Nojima Kazushige while the arrangement for the song was done by Hamaguchi Shiro. In the end, most of the credit for the song really belongs to Uematsu-san. He was able to compose a song that worked to not just score a lovely and emotional scene between the two leads in the game but also convey their feelings very clearly through the music.

The lyrics below includes both the original Japanese version as sung by Japanese pop-idol RIKKI and the English translation.

Suteki Da Ne (Isn’t It Wonderful)

Kaze ga yoseta kotoba ni
Oyoida kokoro
Kumo ga hakobu ashita ni
Hazunda koe

(My heart, swimming
In the words the wind has borne
A voice, bouncing
On a tomorrow carried by clouds)

Tsuki ga yureru kagami ni
Furueta kokoro
Hoshi ga nagare, koboreta Yawarakai namida

(A heart, trembling
On a mirror where the moon quivers
A star falls, spills
Gentle teardrops)

Suteki da ne
Futari te o tori aruketa nara
Ikitai yo
Kimi no machi, ie, ude no naka

(Isn’t it wonderful
If we could walk, holding hands
I’d want to go
To your town, your house, into your arms)

Sono mune
Karada azuke
Yoi ni magire
Yume miru

(To your heart
I leave my body
Mixed into the night
I dream)

Kaze wa tomari; kotoba wa
Yasashii maboroshi
Kumo wa yabure; ashita wa
Tooku no koe

(The wind stops; your words
Are a kind illusion
The clouds break apart; tomorrow
Is a distant voice)

Tsuki ga nijimu kagami o
Nagareta kokoro
Hoshi ga yurete, koboreta
Kakusenai namida

(A heart flowing
In a mirror where the moon has seeped in
A star wavers, spills
Tears you can’t hide)

(kurikaeshi)(repeat)

Sono kao
Sotto furete
Asa ni tokeru
Yume miru

(That face
Touch it, just so
And dream a dream
That melts in the morning)

Nearly a year ago, I was searching YouTube for the trailer to Umberto Lenzi’s 1980 zombie film Nightmare City and I ended up coming across a tribute to the film’s main character, the virile and bearded TV news anchorman Dean Miller (played, with a notable lack of enthusiasm, by Hugo Stiglitz.)

The video artfully takes Lenzi’s overlong film and reduces it down to 3 and a half minutes of Dean Miller killing people. Interestingly, not a hint of nuance or plot is lost in the process. Anyway, the video has always made me smile so I figured why not share it? I should clarify that I have no idea who actually put this together beyond the fact that I had nothing to do with it.

Actually, I’m being a little bit too hard on Nightmare City. For a Lenzi film, its actually fairly entertaining and it does feature one of the abosolute worst endings in the history of cinema. If a hurricane ever hits North Texas and I find myself having to stay inside for a few days, my survival plan is to pass the time writing up a review of Nightmare City.

As previously stated, Miller was played by actor Hugo Stiglitz. Quentin Tarantino, of course, later borrowed Stiglitz’s name for Inglorious Basterds. Tarantino’s Stiglitz, it must be said, was a bit more interesting than the actual Stiglitz.