Waxing Lyrical: Dearly Beloved by Yoko Shimomura

Back when I was 16 years old I had a job of placing flyers into newspapers. It was a long, hard and dirty job and I hated it, but being 16 and in school, it meant I had my own money to play with and buy whatever I wanted. After work on New years Eve of 2012 I went to the local Wal-Mart, with my hard earned money in hand, I went in and bought myself a Ps2 with Kingdom Hearts.

Going into Kingdom Hearts, I was skeptical about the game. At the time I was of the mindset that Squaresoft could do no wrong (hah!) and that partnering with Disney was nothing but a big mistake. No one in their right mind would think Disney character's such as Goofy or Donald could be as badass and cool as a Squaresoft character. Again, I was 16 at the time and going through that phase.

Upon putting the disk in and starting the game up, I was surprised when the title track started to play. I half expected some overly cheery, Disney-esque pop song performed by the latest child starlet. What I got instead was a rather morose piano work by Yoko Shimomura. I sat back and listened to this track and realized that this game was going to be something different. The music was far more soft and melancholic compared to the recent Squaresoft title tracks.

Dearly Beloved is a wonderful piano piece. At first listen you think that it doesn't fit the title screen of a game as it doesn't instill the player a sense of excitement and awe. It is a calm and morose theme and makes you question why. It is that reason that I love the song.

Kingdom Hearts holds a dear place in my heart. It was the first game I had bought with my own money on a system that I had bought with my own money. For the first time in my life, I finally had my own console to play with. I did not need to share it with anyone and those memories are tied with Dearly Beloved.

It could be argued that Dearly Beloved was my passage into adulthood. Unless I had gotten money from an allowance or as a gift, I usually relied on my parents to buy me a game I wanted. That was when I was a child but when I bought my own system and game, I was grown up. I had money to buy what I wanted and didn't need my parents permission. The Ps2 was less a game system and more of a symbol of me growing up and becoming an adult.

This is Daimo Mac and I am Lost in the Music.