Otherworld (theme)

"Otherworld" is a song from Final Fantasy X. It was composed by Nobuo Uematsu, arranged by The Black Mages' rhythm guitarist Michio Okamiya, with lyrics by Takuya Sugimoto and performed by Bill Muir. It plays during the first FMV of the game and a looped version plays during the battle against Jecht as Braska's Final Aeon.

Lyrics

 * Go now, if you want it
 * An otherworld awaits you
 * Don't you give up on it
 * You bite the hand that feeds you


 * All alone, cold fields you wander
 * Memories of it, cloud your sight
 * Fills your dreams, disturbs your slumber
 * Lost your way, a fallen knight


 * Hold now, aim is steady
 * An otherworld awaits you
 * One thousand years, you ready?
 * The otherworld, it takes you


 * Go, into the sand, and the dust, and the sky
 * Go now, there's no better plan than to do or to die
 * Free me, pray to the fayth, in the face of the light
 * Feed me, fill me with sin, and get ready to fight
 * You know you will...
 * You know you will...
 * You know, you know, you know, you know, that you will...
 * You know, you know, you know, you know, that you will...
 * You know you will...


 * Fight, fight, fight
 * Fight, fight, FIGHT!
 * Fight, fight, fight
 * Fight, fight, FIGHT!


 * Hope dies, and you wander
 * The otherworld, it makes you
 * Dreams, they rip asunder
 * The otherworld, it hates you


 * Free now, ride up on it
 * Up to the heights, it takes you
 * Go now, if you want it
 * An otherworld awaits you

Interpretation
"Otherworld" is generally thought to be a retelling of Tidus's journey. All lines do point out facts and events in the game.


 * Go now, if you want it and Don't you give up on it

Tidus initially wants to go back home to Zanarkand. He joins the others in hope of returning back.


 * An otherworld awaits you

Spira.


 * You bite the hand that feeds you

Tidus hated Jecht and, to a certain extent, Auron, both of whom raised him.


 * All alone, cold fields you wander

Tidus finds himself alone upon arriving in Spira.


 * Memories of it, cloud your sight

Dream Zanarkand and Tidus's only intention of returning back home.


 * Fills your dreams, disturbs your slumber

Zanarkand fills the dreams of the Fayth.


 * Lost your way, a fallen knight

Auron tells Tidus that Jecht is Sin.


 * Hold now, aim is steady

Tidus in Blitzball and his attempt with the Jecht Shot.


 * One thousand years, you ready?

Tidus initially thinks that he has been flung a thousand years into the future.


 * Go, into the sand, and the dust, and the sky

The various areas that Tidus and the others travels to. Sand refers Bikanel, dust refers to the temples, and sky refers to the airship, the Fahrenheit.


 * Go now, there's no better plan, than to do or to die

After fully realizing that there's no way back to Zanarkand, along with the fact that Yuna and the other Summoners must sacrifice themselves in order for Sin to be destroyed, Tidus resolves to keep moving forward and helping Yuna.


 * Free me, pray to the fayth in the face of the light

Yuna is freed from her sacrifice.


 * Feed me, fill me with sin, and get ready to fight

Jecht becomes Sin and feeds upon death and longs to die.


 * Hope dies, and you wander

Tidus wants to believe that there's a workaround for the sacrifice that Summoners have to do.


 * The otherworld, it makes you

Tidus is created by the Fayth of Spira.


 * The otherworld, it hates you

Tidus upturns Yevon with his ideas.


 * Free now, ride up on it
 * Up to the heights, it takes you
 * Go now, if you want it
 * The otherworld awaits you

The entire stanza is a reference to Tidus's disappearance at the end of the game and his return (his return is shown briefly at the end of Final Fantasy X and is shown entirely at the end of Final Fantasy X-2).

Final Fantasy X
"Otherworld" plays during the match in Dream Zanarkand when Sin destroys it and during the battle against Braska's Final Aeon. The PlayStation 2 release has a different version for the battle against Braska's Final Aeon; among the changes are a new percussion section and the baseline. The FMV version replaces this version in Final Fantasy X HD Remaster.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
This song appears in Dissidia Final Fantasy. It appears as a background music that can be chosen for a battle, or may be automatically chosen when Tidus or Jecht are fought, or if a battle is fought at Dream's End.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
"Otherworld" reappears in Dissidia 012.

The Black Mages II: The Skies Above
The Black Mages created an alternate version of "Otherworld" in their second album featuring Kazco Hamano as a guest vocalist.

Final Fantasy X Chips
Identified as "OtherWorld", it appears on Final Fantasy X Chips album arranged in the 8-bit form. It is 9th track on the disc.

Final Fantasy Orchestra Album
"Otherworld" is the tenth song of the final track of this album, "Battle Medley 2012 (Final Fantasy I – XIV)", arranged by Hiroyuki Nakayama.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
"Otherworld" appears as a downloadable song as a Battle Music Sequence. The battle background is Dream's End.

Trivia

 * At the end of the original version, Muir is heard screaming "Straight edge! Till I die! Lost Cause!", a reference to his subculture, his band, and his last recorded album with it.
 * A common misconception is that the German band is the performer of this song. This could easily be proven false, however, due to Muir being credited as the performer of the song in every official release, as well as the ending credits in the game.

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