LONG BLOG
Phils Game/Pop Music Similarities #303 - Kupop
Featuring Final Fantasy Moogle theme and several genres.
Greetings fellow game music lovers,
christmas time is Final Fantasy time! And we start right away with a very special song in the franchise: The moogle theme! The fluffy bear-like species that appeared in almost every entry in the franchise since Final Fantasy III and some spin offs. They can be considered something of a poster species of the franchise along with chocobos and Cid ( :) ). The central theme of the song is usually the same but has been arranged in different styles throughout time.
As an example, we'll take the incarnation of the theme from Final Fantasy VI (1994), starting with the early part:
My hypothesis is that the song is based on common structures from music genres that are considered "funny", most prominently Ragtime, Polka, old-time fiddle. Some examples:
Earl Burtnett - "Wedding of the Painted Doll" (1929):
And for the later part of the song:
Clarence Tate - "Hoedown Polka" (1978):
"New Broom" (traditional, version by Byron Berline):
A handful ot notes from ragtime:
Wilbur Piper - "The Red Mouse Rag" (1910)
Charles Burns - "Mae Burns Fox Trot" (1916):
A special mention deserves a guitar progression by the great argentinian tango composer Carlos Gardel - "Caprichosa" (1930):
And we're just getting started!
Phil out.