Jake Butineau
NieR: Automata’s music is a stroke of lyrical genius, but the way that music works with Automata’s story and themes is even better!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jakebutineau
Discord: https://discord.gg/jEKZYkA
Other Music: https://youtu.be/_R5Kg8uw2dQ
Gameplay Footage courtesy of Precocious Turtle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWXqyQCAVYQ&index=1&list=PLxz4zajDPPc2dqcvkFLpKCkeqOZcl2wQC
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Website: https://jakebutineau.ca .
Glad to have you back 🙂
I love when language is used to enrich composition also fantastic work as always Jake!😍
awsome video, keep the good work!
Ahh i see you finally played Nier A. Good choice my man 🙂
The fact that the end credits song is in a real life language is another of those things that will stick out even to someone who isn't giving the game much of a literary eye. What I got out of it is that it's a sharp return to familiarity after the game shows the machines imitating humans and raises the question of whether the androids are really any better at it. It's full circle after the game alienates you from the non-human characters and the world that's a gazillion years in the future and empty of humans, then has them start asking and addressing those existential questions themselves.
Also, yes, I totally thought the desert song was English. I also hear very distinct French in the resistance base song.
I hope you have Lanayru Sand Sea from Skyward Sword covered. The whole area is a great demonstration of what dynamic music can do for atmosphere.
Excellent video as always! Thank you so much for doing a video on Nier. I can't wait to see your next video. <3
Stuff like this is why I'm sad that a lot of people don't even notice the music in games, movies, or shows. When I go see a movie with friends, if I mention how much I liked the music during a certain scene, they'll just shrug and say they didn't notice. And I know a lot of people mute their games and listen to their own music while they play. I just feel like their experience would be even better if they just listened.
Should I consider this game?
gosh I'm so happy to see you make a video on NieR: Automata's soundtrack! I've been listening to it ever since I finished watching a full play through of the game and it's nice to see it someone talk about it !! Also, in a bit of a side note, you should totally check the live concert they did for Soundtrack of the Year 2017! It blew my mind out and I think you'll enjoy it too!!💖
6:08
Actually Pascal is a 'male' robot who deliberately speaks in a female voice so that he gets along with the robo-children easier. :>
FYI, there are also unreleased tracks and many song in it are even better then the ones in the game
Nier Automata has one of the best osts in a game, ever
I actually prefer the OG Nier soundtrack to Nier Automata's for some reason. I guess it's cause I have a bias towards OG Nier as a whole. Oh, and when you said there weren't any human acting machines in OG Nier, you forgot about P-33. Also, the reason one of the versions of The Weight of the World is in Emi Evan's Chaos Language (this specific French-sounding one is titled "Nouveau") is probably because they did the same thing for Ashes of Dreams, which is the ending song for OG Nier. Actually one thing they didn't do in Automata is add a version of the ending song in Evan's Chaos Language that sounds like German (specifically titled Nuadhaich), which is something they also did in OG Nier.
Really enjoyed your vid! I'm in a similar boat in which the gameplay of Nier wasn't my favourite, but I very much enjoyed the soundtrack and how it really added to my experience of the narrative.
I have so much to expand on regarding the ending theme, so a wall of text ahoy!
——
My interpretation of the different ending themes represent the three main characters that you play through as so:
English ver = 2B
Japanese ver = 9S
'FR' = ver = A2
'End of Yorha' ver = a combination of all three characters and reinforcement of the narrative themes.
The repetition of the gameplay, story, and hearing the ending credits several times helped reinforced the endless cycle of the war between the androids and the machines. Though with each ending theme repetition, I found several differences (apart from the language it was sung in) which were subtle but it mirrors the narrative and struggles of the respective characters.
The Eng / 2B ver lyrics I feel were more 'grounded' and implies strength, the Japanese / 9S version I found it to feel very introspective and uncertain. Mostly from the way it was mixed/mastered to have an airy and breathless performance. It also ends with 'boku wa…' (meaning 'I…') but this way of saying 'I' is usually said by men, and rarely by women. Considering 9S's version of the story, this ending theme mirrors 9S's narrative.
For the 'FR' / A2 version I found that the made up language signifies A2's character very well – A2 has evolved by herself, her personality and has her own agenda / goals in the world. She has developed her own personal sense of free will which I interpret to be organic, much like how the made up language version would've evolved 10,000 years in the future. A2 did cut herself off from Yorha X years ago after all.
With the 'End of Yorha' version, it starts with the 8bit version of the theme song, and you get a combination of the English, Japanese and Made-Up language combined, which is super fitting considering you are hacking/fighting the ending credits, and you read all these little uplifting messages. Also there's a chorus/choir in the background in this version gives the impression that there are more people out there [who believes in you!] to keep going.
In the final ending scene, the two Pods are putting the main characters back together and imply the possibility that the whole cycle will repeat again, but have faith that there will be a new future. So like with listening through the ending theme several times, the interpretation of the theme song different. Is this new interpretation a new future simply because the interpretation is different? Possibly XD. Now if I go back and listen to the 'End of Yorha' version of the theme song, now knowing about the sacrifice of other people (who deleted their data to aid you in fighting the credits and write the uplifting messages), my appreciation of everything just skyrocketed.
ANYWAY.
Thank you for reading my rambling, I expand a bit on some lyrics on my Twitter thread here if anyone's interested –> https://twitter.com/JDWasabi/status/984547925786316800
Looking forward to your next vid in the meantime 🙂 !
You know, the uncanny qualities of the constructed language elements to this game's music reminded me of a song called "Prisencolinensinainciusol" by Adriano Celentano. (I had to look up how that mouthful was spelled.)
To quote Wikipedia, "The song is meant to sound to its intended Italian audience like English spoken with an American accent, but the lyrics are actually pure gibberish, with the exception of the words "all right". Celentano's intention with the song was to explore communications barriers…"
The huge Transistor collab with Games as Literature is now live! Come watch us analyze Transistor's story+music for an hour: https://youtu.be/4h4YEQqLqtY
I might have an answer to Weight of the World's Route C version is in a made-up language. There will be serious spoilers here. Also, sorry this got so long.
The first is the long one. Each version represents a different part of the game's emotional impact on the player. The first version, the English one, represents hope. This hope carries the weight of the plot, impacting our desire, as a player, to see a happy ending for characters we like. Even though the singer speaks of crushing hopelessness, it still ends with a wish for a hope. It's symbolizing, or whatever you want to say, the players own hope for a happy ending, even with all the sadness and despair that appears in the game. It also comes during Ending A, which is the first time we fight Eve. We have saved the Resistance Camp, Pascal's Village, and who knows who else. We have given them a chance to hope for a brighter future.
The second version, the Japanese version, implies crushing despair, an existential crisis, and a lack of hope. It's a direct opposite to the English version, same as a few have said that translating Japanese to English while making it make sense to both parties is near impossible due to how different the languages are. It's a song about how the singer's life is meaningless, but they still wish for a better future, even though they realize that it's probably not going to happen. This occurs after Route B, where 9S has learned that the purpose he thought his life had is non-existent. It also mimics Eve's cries of "Nothing matters anymore!", possibly foreshadowing the connections between Eve's state of grief and anger and 9S' future self during Route C. It also plays during Route B's credits, which are technically the beginning of Route C, where the hope vanishes and the weight begins to mount.. While hope carries the weight of the plot, the will for the player to continue, it is despair and existentialism that is the weight being carried.
Before I go over the third version, I want to discuss the language of the OST itself. What Emi Evans calls Chaos Language. Chaos Language is, as you said, designed to imply modern language twisted and combined thousands of years in the future. But there is another reason I heard earlier. Each song was originally written in each language, but then they were jumbled together. So why don't we know the original lyrics? Well there is an answer. Okabe and Evans have stated that the purpose of the OST is to represent areas, events, or characters in the game using music. Mostly showing Emotion. Compare Peaceful Sleep to Dependent Weakling. Peaceful Sleep is from the Resistance camp, an area that many players will likely call home by the end of the game. It is also where our bed is, where we can quit the game and put the characters into a "Peaceful Sleep". Dependent Weakling is a violent, chaotic song that shows Eve's crushing despair and rage with passive-aggressive vocals, chaotic instruments, and violent percussion. However you might interpret the songs different. And that is the real beauty behind Chaos Language. It is open to interpretation. One song may be seen differently by others.
The third version of Weight of the World, the one in Chaos Language, implies mystery, chaos, and emotion. After all, right before we heard the song the last great mystery of Automata has been revealed. That of 2B being 2E, and the Tower being an Ark created by the Machines. The mystery is now gone, and answers are there. The instrumentation is more active as well, starting to imply a finality in the plot. It's hit it's peak now. The chaos and emotion implied work hand in hand. We don't know the meaning of that last song, but we still think of one. We turn the chaos of the song into our own experience, our own story, using the emotions it causes us to feel. The chaos can also be because, and I'm guessing I'm not the only one to feel this, that the plot had gotten quite chaotic by the end. By the end of Route C the player has cycled through a mess of emotions, many of them conflicting, same as 9S when he saw the 2B clones. This last version can be interpreted in so many ways, and that is what also builds to the mystery of the song, and it's lyrics. But why make it French focused? Well, what emotion drives 9S most? What emotion has driven 2B the most? What emotion do we hear mentioned time and time again in Automata, but never truly seen in it's pure form? Well, it's love. And what is French called? The language of love. So it would only make sense that a song that represents emotion and chaos would be spoken in a distorted version of French. While hope carries the weight of the despair and existentialism of Automata's plot, it is all these emotions, and the chaos and mystery of their conflict, that binds them together.
Sorry for a massive text wall.
So when are we getting the touhou video?
Be sure to watch my other NieR: Automata video about it's dynamic soundtrack, and share the videos if you enjoy! <3 https://youtu.be/jFEVGRJFcVg
Fun fact, I recently just watched this anime series called Yuuki Yuna Is A Hero, the music there is also composed by Keigo Hoashi and sang by Emi Evans. They also used the same language in Nier as well. I would recommend giving that show’s soundtrack a listen because it’s just stellar. My personal favorite being Geranium and A Girl’s Wish
A bit confused by what you meant when you said the endings where the nouveau-french version of Weight of The World plays weren't really canonical tbh. Unless it's referencing that it doesn't really matter which ending happened when E continues from either result of the final battle in C and D respectively.
Umm you mention that there is a french version of Weight of the World around 4:48 but there is none, only an english, japanese and gibberish version (and im french i should know if it isnt ^^; )
I'm so sad that my controller is broken and I can't fucking finish Nier:Automata
For fake languages I suggest you to check Ar Tonelico. I never played the game, but these songs is something. Listen to EXEC_COSMOFLIPS. And the whole idea of "song as magic spell or computer machine language" is kinda awesome.
If you speak a fair few languages it's kind of amusing cause you can sort of tell which language songs are inspired by. Some sound a bit more French, some a bit more English, some a bit German etc. Even if they clearly aren't. It makes for an interesting experience.
literally my favourite game ever and the soundtrack is always so amazing D: (p.s. there's also robot vocals in variations on birth of a wish 😉 ) great video 😀
Good essay. Thank-you!
"Nerf by fire"
Damn. Feel bad for the poor item to receive that.
Y'all impressed by language use in Nier will be mindblown when y'all hear about EXA_PICO's conlangs Hymmnos (And it's 5 fucking dialects), Ar Ciela (And it's 2 variants), REON and Emotional Song Pact.
420th like. That is all.
i heard english japanese then came here