ReMix: Final Fantasy X 'Journey's End'

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Final Fantasy X

Three way collab action! Musical ménage à trois! - of a strictly platonic nature, I am assured... Daniel, Gray, and the singular Miss Jillian "pixietricks" Goldin all combine forces for a triumvirate take on FFX's "People of the North Pole" - and appreciative our Arctic friends should be, the Clauses and their dwarven slave labor all, as the three of them have, via an iterative process, come up with an icy, dramatic, enveloping arrangement. Gray actually came in after an initial version had already been cut, revising the mastering and also adding additional compositional and percussive elements on the sound foundation that Dan and Jill had crafted with their respective arranging and vocal/lyrical roles. Sephfire writes:

"I've been working on this thing since like October '04. I originally intended to submit it just an instrumental piece, but just as I was finishing up, pixietricks's name popped up on the OCR front page. So I sent her an email and here we are."

Being a fairly well-established fan of Jill's voice, lyrics, etc., I'm glad that one of the changes Gray made was to bring the vocal up a bit, as it works so very well against the floating, freezing, striking landscape which Dan crafted and Gray embellished. Regarding the lyric she penned, pixietricks writes:

"The lyrics, inspired by the love story between Tidus and Yuna, take the form of a sort of call and response. As Yuna reflects on their journey and the disappearance of her lover, a reassuring voice emerges from the fog."

The simplicity and directness work, both because they echo the soundscape and because Jill stretches the phrases out with an excellent sense of timing and release. It never ceases to amaze me how lyrics can read a certain way and seem relatively straightforward, but when sung, take on a whole new being. The mix itself intros with an ambient sweep, water drop fx, ethnic percussion groove, and piano establishing the verse melody, which in this case is more defined and conspicuous than the chorus, with the vocal gliding in and replacing it at 0'40" - lovely filtered effect and delay, which again speaks to the icy, ethereal space the piece creates. I especially like how Jill's voice rises on "I feel the voice with-in" and handles the interval there appropriately, indicative of her formal vocal training. Between the first verse and the second you have the musical equivalent of narrative exposition, as Gray and Dan take the foreground with layered drums, piano, the underlying trancey synth pattern, and general ambiance whilst ms. tricks vocalises over top, and at 2'18" the chorus shifts into more extended melodic phrasing and the response that Jill alluded to with her comment. Drums then pick up and get a bit more aggressive, lending renewed energy to the remainder of the mix, which closes out with lovely solo cello augmenting the piano as things slowly die back down into the frozen, ambient bed from which they emerged. Shna just had his own piece posted, so let's see what he had to say:

"HELL YEAH!!! I happen to know the source for this very very well and I can tell you that there is plenty of coverage of it in this mix. The original only had two melodies both of which were very short and both of which appear here and have been brilliantly adjusted to fit this HOT 6/4 groove"

So there you go - while it may not have RAD TIMBALE LICKS, it has HOT 6/4 GROOVE, which is pretty damn good as well. While not providing a comment that lent itself to amusing catch-phrase capitalization, Brandon also offered:

"Being around my old roommates and their FF love I’ve become pretty familiar with the source through osmosis. That being said, I’ve got no problems with the arrangement. At times the combo of the entrancing vocals, the modified time signature and the slick percussion overshadows the theme and allows me to forget that I’m listening to a remix, but honestly I feel it is well incorporated throughout."

From October of last year all the way to July, Sephfire's done a great job of taking a concept and running with it, holding off when he thought he could improve it significantly, and bringing on two very talented partners-in-crime for a very polished, enjoyable piece. While not every mix needs or can afford to have such a relatively lengthy gestation period, in this case it served the end result to have the respective talents of pixietricks and GrayLightning on board. The finished product is artistic, transporting, unique, powerful, and highly recommended.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
This was one of two songs that got me to download the entire set of OCR remixes. It's also what introduced me to Jill's voice. Back before I reset my MP3 player's settings, I think the #times played value for this song was somewhere in the 70s or 80s.
The arrangement is brilliant; the switch in timing works really well with the lyrics to make this almost a new song, while still keeping the sense of desolation and loneliness brought to mind by the source. Sephfire and GrayLightning really outdid themselves on the arrangement, and pixie's vocals on top of all that takes this song from amazing to indescribable. I can't think of a single thing that I don't absolutely love about this song. KF

- Kizyr on December 9, 2008
Just listened to this song because... well, I don't remember why I decided to listen to it; never seriously played FF:X or anything.
This song, along with AP's Terra remix, are two examples of awesome tracks that help explain why the 6/4 // 6/8 time signatures are my favorite.

- SoulinEther on December 6, 2008
This is still one of my favourite remixes of all time. Nothing has captured the emotion better than this song.

- Azure Prower on October 26, 2008
Yeah, ditto. I wanted to thank her on her Facebook wall, but she doesn't have one! :oops::oops::oops:

- pixietricks on October 22, 2007
Liontamer;333434 wrote: My lady, "The Lady", [URL="http://www.vgfrequency.com/?p=224"]wrote up on this song as well as pixietricks in general over at our blog, VG Frequency[/URL]. Stop by and leave her your comments. Doesn't matter when you see this. YEARS from now even, we still want 'em.

Aww, shucks. :oops: Say thanks to the Lady for me.

- sephfire on October 22, 2007
My lady, "The Lady", [URL="http://www.vgfrequency.com/?p=224"]wrote up on this song as well as pixietricks in general over at our blog, VG Frequency[/URL]. Stop by and leave her your comments. Doesn't matter when you see this. YEARS from now even, we still want 'em.
I originally NOed this mix. I was drunk (read: inept) at the time. :-)

- Liontamer on October 21, 2007
It's a beautiful mix that evokes all the right emotions. It's expansive and chilly and I could easily see it floating across an icy sea. The time signature seems genius to me, and keeps the whole thing interesting. I think it also lends some "coolness" to the song, in every sense of the word.
There is something that bothers me, however. I have noticed in Pixie's mixes that she tends to go a little sharp (as in pitch) on many notes. It's a problem I think for anyone with a very pure voice. The other problem with a pure voice is that it is hard to bring punch to a song, and I felt this one could have used a little more punch. There was some harmony which helped, and I would have liked to hear more; I think that would have given the song a little more oomph without going overboard.
At any rate, that's my nitpicking...overall it's still a beautiful track and represents a great effort from its contributors.

- Arwen on April 12, 2007
This is absolutely amazing. I really love the vocals in this, it kind of reminds me of Celtic Woman and Enya...

- nonsensicalexis on March 26, 2007
this is the first song with Jill Goldin (aka pixietricks) i ever heard, and i must say, its one of the most beautiful remixes on this site. Jill's a VERY talented vocalist, and i look forward to hearing more from her.

- Pandora Xero on February 19, 2007
What can I say that hasn't been said already, heh. Well, I've been a bit of a fan of pixietrick's voice for sometime now, partially because of the choral singer/musician in me and another part because of the Final Fantasy fan that I am, and yet another part because I'm human and this is quite an emotionally stirring piece.
I began to think that pixietricks should sing professionally until I read her biography, and I am so glad she has been doing this since she was young and continues to do so today. I would hate to think of such a talented young musician/singer/songwriter/playwright to go unnoticed and untapped (Do I sense the next American Idol? haha). I sadly did not persue a career in music after high school but I still enjoy it as a hobby. This isn't about me, however, so moving on... :)
While many may argue that this video game was not the best in its series, I must admit I was very touched at the end of the game and yes, even teary-eyed, and this song does so much to bring forth those feelings again. Any musical piece that has the ability to move one emotionally is truly a work of art. I don't think that it would be a far stretch to compare some of the musicians on this site to that of Mozart, and the ability he, too, had in moving others with music. I have to agree with BreakTekk that this song definitely reminds me of the game that spawned it.
My hat is off to you pixietricks, as well as GrayLightning and Sephfire. Please continue to do great work as it is often a welcome retreat in this busy and hectic life/schedule of mine :wink:

- Infinite HP on December 12, 2006
This is one of the best cuts off of this site. Some of you didn't like the lyrics, but I think they're the best part of this song. I've listened to this quite a bit when I've been depressed. It kind of takes you out of yourself. Anyway, it's a great download, and I listen to it a lot.

- BIGSTEVE on August 24, 2006
While i find Final Fantasy 10 to be one of the worst in the series, this mix if BY FAR the best Final Fantasy mix i have heard to date. After initially listening to the song i was awestruck. It is calming, but powerfully moving all at the same time. I also loved how the song evolved from the first draft to final draft thanks to Sephfire's posting of the original versions. Sephfire did a wonderful job with the base arangement, though initially somewhat bland/repetitive, it was beautifully done. GrayLighting's contribution helped round out the overall mix while giving it an extra push toword the ethereal and making the mix technically sound, but, the vocals are what brought it all together. Pixitricks' voice is that of an angel and it adds so much depth to an already deep and moving piece. The lyrics are beautiful, if somewhat repetitive, and relate so well with the game. When i listen to this song i can picture the scene with Tidus and Yuna swimming in Macalania Woods, and the lyrics are yuna's thoughts throughout the scene. It's the only mix i have listened to that mentally transports me back to the game. That being said, the only qualms i have about the drums at 1:24 the seem to divert attention away from the rest of the song. Whether it was intentional or not i think it would have been better for the drums to be less noticable. All-in-all very VERY well done. 9.5/10 stars.

- theskornd1 on July 26, 2006
This song, more than almost all other songs I hear on this site, reminds me of the game which spawned it. This is not to say that the piece stays too close to the original, far from it, it just captures the essence of the game(especially its end), and goes in a new direction. The lyrics are top notch, the drums don't piss me off too much, and I'm in love with the time signature. This song easily gets five out of five chairs.

- BreakTekk on July 14, 2006
Ooo Thanks, Yea this song is awesome :O

- heaven on July 9, 2006
Sounds very... well, Final Fantasy 10-ish. I love the original melody and this truly captures the mood. It's icy, sad, somewhat ethereal and surreal. Loving especially those drums from the beginning, those which sound like they echo from under water. Reminds me about Baaj Temple. The lyrics are simple but enough to descripe the story of Yuna and Tidus.
I'll give this 9/10.

- isthan on June 20, 2006

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