ReMix: Chrono Trigger 'The Place We Knew'
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- Game: Chrono Trigger (Square, 1995, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): Reuben Kee, pixietricks
- Composer(s): Nobuo Uematsu, Noriko Matsueda, Yasunori Mitsuda
- Song(s): Outskirts of Time
- Posted: 2006-02-25, evaluated by djpretzel
Jill joins forces with Reuben for this lovely vocal w/ piano accompaniment of To Far Away Times from the Chrono Symphonic project; Compyfox mastered, Claado Shou wrote the lyrics, and EvilHead assisted with their partial translation. Expectations naturally run high for both Kee's piano playing and Goldin's singing, so hearing the two work together should hypothetically get chills running down spines and what not, and in this case the theory tests true in the lab. Recording is not an issue at all - Reuben's piano is wonderfully clear, sparkling on the highs and resonating with warmth on the lows, and Jill's voice is airy and crystalline. The arrangement itself is very direct; a relatively straightforward adaptation of the original to solo piano and a largely unaltered vocal melody line don't stray too far off the beaten path, but there's enough variation in tempo, and of course the new material any original vocal brings to the game, to make this distinct. I don't think one can talk about this mix without addressing the issue of language shifting in songs, so I'm going to do so as equitably as possible. As any anime fan knows, the Japanese are quite fond of inserting English phrases, often quite goofy ("Pick Me Up, Foxy Night Game!"), into their J-pop, commonly used as anime openers and ending themes. This ReMix is a bit more tasteful (and, thankfully, coherent) than those instances of engrish, but there's still a question here as to the difficulty of segueing into another language within the same song. Of course, there are dozens of examples of spontaneous verses in French from the likes of Blondie (Sunday Girl), E.L.O. (Hold on Tight), and many more, but it might be easier to perform the switch in faster-paced or goofier songs, or from English to a romance language. In my mind, the transition to Japanese from English in a song is... a bit tougher to pull off, artistically. I'm not just talking about appearing like a Japanese fanboy or fangirl for tossing in their language in an arbitrary fashion - I don't think this usage in particular was arbitrary at all, and I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt, elsewhere. I'm talking more about the starker linguistic discrepancies and actual sound of juxtaposing one language adjacent to the other; I think it can probably work, but selectively, and an isolated piano/vocal arrangement might not be the most conducive context. That being said, it ultimately didn't bother me too much - whatever the language, even if she was singing in semi-gibberish ala Cocteau Twins, Jill's voice would be pleasing, and the lyrics themselves have a meter that works and a narrative appropriate to the material. However, I can see the switching being an issue for some, and I wouldn't dismiss such critiques as necessarily illustrating bias against otaku or Japanophilia or what not, though I'm sure that might be a motivating factor for some. Anyways, enough sidebar pontification - pixietricks and Reuben Kee have created a superb collaboration that showcases their respective talents and packs an emotional punch - it's a very fitting arrangement of a classic theme, that brings closure to an epic while still seeming vast and brimming with potentiality.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the Also, semer (if you ever read this)... I studied Japanese for over 2 years and used it in Japan to great success. Unfortunately, half of those studies came *after* the song was recorded, hehe. The English lyrics were written by Claado, and the translation into Japanese was done by EvilHead (a member of the forums here who teaches English in Japan). He told me my pronounciation was next to perfect... Oh well.
There are times that I wish we could redo this song, especially given the nature of the collab. Reuben recorded the piano *before* I sang for it, so all the timing issues are a result of trying to follow his lead with tempo and inflection when we weren't ever together in the same room. Just doesn't work; the pianist is supposed to watch the singer in live performance. But I'm still glad to have it in my OCR repertoire. Thankfully not everyone out there is an otaku nut, and can at least be touched by the music itself.
- pixietricks on July 15, 2007
Other than that, I love the song!
- Black Mage on July 11, 2007
This remix is the kind of thing I wish I could do: really great musical backgrounds with emotive singing.
However, the Japanese really, really ruined it for me. Yeah, I said it wasn't original, didn't I? Whoever said the pronunciation didn't bother them surprises me; it was driving me nuts the whole time; I even went to fetch headphones to make sure it wasn't my terrible speakers doing something. It wasn't. =( The translation, also, does leave something to be desired. My Japanese isn't nearly perfect, but that's the kind of thing I'd proofread with a Japanese native-speaking friend before recording.
Now, I'm not saying that my Japanese singing pronunciation is perfect or that my voice is as good as Jill's - because neither is true - but I also think that it is generally best for one to not attempt large amounts of singing in a language one does not pronounce very well. This I say also coming from a choral background. It drove me crazy when we sang Japanese songs in choir, because the pronunciation was so bad I had to laugh in order not to be annoyed out of my mind when I was supposed to be singing.
That's not all that's weird with the vocals; the timing even in the English feels... wrong. I'm not even talking about the tempo separations, I'm talking about syllables that feel poorly placed, musically.
Personally, I'd love to see this song rerecorded without the Japanese, and with a bit more attention paid to the timing. Until the Japanese came in, I was really enjoying myself listening to it, but it was so jarring that it really shattered my enjoyment. :-/
Disclaimer: I make no claims to be able to do better at anything I criticize above, and I mean my criticisms to be constructive. If anything comes across sounding mean or personal, I don't mean it that way at all and I apologize.
- semer on June 9, 2007
Reuben's piano play is peerless, pixie's voice make me shiver nearly cry and i didn't expect her to sing in japanese ... the accent mite not be perfect but this never gets in the way of loving that ... and well all chrono players know that tune and many like it ...
In 3 Words
THAT WAS AMAZING
- SoulCraft on February 24, 2007
aside:
what would it take/ how many people would reuben require me to kill to get ahold of sheet music of that piano part?
- vanis on February 15, 2007
- HoboKa on February 12, 2007
Also, she speeds up at some parts and seems to leave the piano in the dust, and completely loses the feeling of the song. But im biased, I believe this song shouldn't have lyrics at all.
- RayOfAsh on February 9, 2007
Good work, you two.
- ph0sphorousgobu on December 25, 2006
- HourGlass on October 15, 2006
- maestermatt on September 16, 2006
- Faduger on July 24, 2006
Regardless of some people's complaints about poor translation. I have to say you did a real good job with pronunciation and it sounded very authentic. There's very few native english speakers that can speak it that well much less sing it that well. I really don't see how some of you feel her vocals sound unnatural. These 'errors' are also quite small and while everyone here aims perfection the performance was well executed.
With that said overall it's a pretty good song. The pace may be irregular kind of fading out on occassion then fading back and giving the feel that the songs not going anywhere but it's a cool effect for this piece I think and just works well on a piano. Near the end the pace starts speeding up and becomes louder, I find this to be the high point of the song if anyone was looking for one. Usually people need to be weary of vocals in music like this as they tend to turn out pretty goofy but pixietricks brings some very proffesional vocal talent to Reubens incredible piano work. Very nice work guys, I can't wait to hear what you two do in the future.
- Rumina on April 18, 2006
I just wanted to drop by and tell the composers that to me, this remix is nothing short of awesome. It is beautiful, just beautiful. I don't care if it's supposed to be off-beat, or if the japanese is somehow incorrect; this track is so good to me that, under the appropriates cicumstances, it makes me freakin cry, no kidding. I play it to help me purge some emotions from time to time. If the people behind this track are reading this, i'd at least want you to know that you have truely touched at least 1 person with this masterpiece. Good job.
- HBCyBeR on April 3, 2006
*thumbs up*
- mrp on April 2, 2006
- TheNuDeal on March 26, 2006
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