OMORI OST - 088 Lost Library

Composed by Pedro Silva.

[nintendokirby]

They weren’t kidding. There really is a library underground

[skirdus]

All the songs in the game that are just piano hit a lot different by the end

[kiracomfortinghishomie]

DAMN SHE WASN'T LYING

THAT LIBRARY CAN BE UNDERGROUND

[Soooooooooooonicable]

This library has such a palpably sad atmosphere. Many of the tracks in this game have that same feel. Cherished memories of a time you can't return to.

[chompypaw]

For some reason I never really made the connection on why Aubrey is always shown resting her head on Omori's shoulder (or at least attempting to). Obviously he did have a crush on her at some point but it's directly related to one of the excerpts here where Aubrey's head accidentally falls onto Sunny's shoulder, it's mentioned how he'll always remember this moment forever no matter what. I guess he never did forget it.

(This is probably a really obvious observation, it just took me a long-ass time to notice)

[FloydDrzy]

“One by one, they fell asleep on the car ride home. It was a long day at the beach, after all, and everyone was exhausted. Kel was the first one to nod off, then the rest. As the sun set over the freeway, Sunny’s head accidently drops onto Aubrey’s shoulder. The sudden jolt wakes him, but he doesn’t dare open his eyes. He pretends to be asleep and steadies his breathing. He listens to the sound of the road. He feels the soft sun resting on his skin, and the slight tinge of pain on his nose from tomorrow’s sunburn. He is happy... Very, very happy... And he makes a vow to himself, that no matter what, he will remember this moment forever.”

[ReyXit]

Any one else notice how the notes played here are the same ones played on loop in Pyrefly Forrest

[SnowdropHill]

Moments like these feel so much sadder after you realize they're memories from the back of Sunny's conscious trying to slip through and remind him.

[thestranger]

▢ I
▢▢▢ Kel
▢▢▢▢ Hero/Mari
▢▢▢▢▢ Basil
▢▢▢▢▢▢ Aubrey

*edited from hero/kel

[wurm-dv]

man...this song really hits the vibe of revisiting an old basement full of old childhood toys and memories after long forgetting it was there perfectly.

[oxiibwx]

Normal route: awww... this is so sweet, sunny's old memories that he cherished in his memory forever

Hikki route: *Horrific noises* "Sunny... I'm... sorry."

[MinyMiny]

Reading the book here was so touching but incredibly bittersweet at the same time . Love all the extra details and characterizations this game does ;n;

[FBIStatMajor]

The library is one of the best metaphors for a subconscious that I've ever seen in any form of entertainment. We all have our lost libraries full of memories. Some books are prominent, some are in the corners, but they're all memories waiting to be revisited

[canyoncave]

____ vows to remember this moment forever

[saltyswoofy]

its the small in-between that are filled with plot that really make this game a masterpiece-- its just so good, the atmosphere, everything

[franskel]

It's calming and a little unsettling. I love it.

[TheAdvertisement]

The Lost Library was when I really began to realize just how awesomely this game portrayed Sunny's memory. This nostalgic library that's been filled with happy memories, but the names have all been censored, to keep them from breaking the illusion. Even hidden away, precautions are made to prevent you from connecting back to reality. It's like I'm walking through this ancient archive, and hearing this song begin to play as the room was shown off was hauntingly beautiful. It feels like your only friend throughout the dark library.

And then of course, there's the memory where Sunny promises to himself to never forget this moment. And as if its fate of being buried and censored, but still preserved, wasn't enough, in the Hikikomori route you can entirely repress these memories. :(

[scootie_scoot]

one of my favorite tracks in the whole game, really starts the bittersweet tone, how somethings off but also not just scary, but incredibly sad

[-Commit-arson-]

I like to think that the Pyrefly forest was specifically designed by Omori to keep sunny from discovering the lost library. Hence why they mimic themes

[SucreAmygdalum]

There's a couple songs in OMORI that really capture the bittersweetness of memory which the game is all about, and they all have engraved special places in my memory. This is one of them. I'll list out the ones and how they make me feel, feel free to do the same.
-This (Lost Library)
With the solemnness of the library and quiet beauty of the White Egret Orchids yet the happiness of the memories within the books, this place always stood out to me the moment I set eyes on it as quite a melancholy reminder on life as it was.
I never had a big group of happy, loving friends the way Sunny did. I lived away from everyone, spending summers alone with family, or maybe a few people on the rare occasion. This reminds me a lot of those summers - those rare flutters of happiness contrasting against staying inside day after day to avoid the 90 degree heats. It all went by too quick, and I'm sure Sunny feels the same about his summer.
I'll put a quote which sums up my thoughts with each of these, and for this, I feel like it best represents the feeling of "What you wish you kept closer is just going to get further away"
-Sugar Star Planetarium (50% Speed)
One story event in the game plays the Sugar Star Planetarium Theme at 50% Speed and it's absolutely magical.
This song is beautiful at full speed, but at 50% like in that scene (the first encounter with Stranger, I believe), it really feels like you've walked into somewhere cold, sad, and forgotten, yet with sprinkles of a love once vibrant being under the surface. The synths feel like they convey more meaning just by being slower and every note sinks deeper. Like "life's changing. I don't know if it's good or bad change, but it's change."
-Space Road 1979
This was the first ever song I fell asleep to (the second and third being A Home For Flowers Empty and August/Water). Something about it lets your mind wander and drift as it often does, but not to dark or existentialist dread, but to a state of calm remembrance that ushers in the dreams to follow. It's vast like space but trapped within your own mind - so I guess it really hits the nail on the head for describing headspace!
In all seriousness, though, I'd describe this song as being emotionally resonant with me as it feels like "a natural state of meditation - like falling asleep in the car as a kid, or lying in bed, imagining fantasies, or even looking back at our tiny little world from a space station." Such a wide range of things, I know, but this song does feel expansive.
-Trees...
The vastness of trees and the beautiful harps and whistles really remind me of the wide and wonderful nature trails I often walk, but what really makes this memorable for me is the little electric piano pads and the later sort of reversed harp. It feels nearly otherworldly yet inherently familiar, like "you're wandering down this path for the first time, and you're not quite sure what you'll find, but you aren't worried at all and comfort is right close by."
It's not as abstract emotionally as some of the other ones but to me it still remains one of the more reflective pieces of the sonudtrack.
-By Your Side
Even without everything about Mari this is still very relaxing for me. It reminds me a lot of my favorite month, October, in the way it feels nostalgic and bright in that early autumn way. There's a magic to it, you know? I guess there's a magic to all of these, though! The main thing for me is that gut feeling of relaxation - which comes for me in the form of "This song sounds like the taste of pumpkin".
-A Home For Flowers (Empty)
The third song I fell asleep to. This really does remind me of a crackling, autumn fire. The world's getting colder (similar to how I feel Nawa expresses) but you still have fond memories of it. That peculiar sensation of "it's changing outside, but at least we'll be together... right?" There's enough emotion to it to grant it that sense of memory but there's enough not there to keep it relaxing and a little sad. It really fits well, I suppose!
-Nawa
A little weird sounding but still nostalgic to me. I grew up by the ocean, and this reminds me a lot of seeing the waves crashing on a cloudy day, the winds whipping and the bells going around. This song, however, has such a distortion to it which makes it feel that much more magical - like you're far up north as summer turns to autumn and autumn turns to winter, but "as the months pass and time flies you still are left to reflect to yourself." It's quite expressive, this little song, despite its nature, and that sort of thing happens a lot in the Black Space music.
-Temple (50% Speed)
If you find the Docks from Black Space 2 on the True Route, you'll be able to enter a door which takes you to a version of Sunny's house with this music playing. Similar to Sugar Star Planetarium, it feels so much more ethereal and breathtaking when this plays at this speed. It really does feel like "I know this place but I'm visiting it in a dream", like if you're in a dream version of your house and you look out the window and it's as tall as a skyscraper. That feeling of fear contrasting against your comfort, which is really what OMORI is all about now that I think about it.
-See You Tomorrow
This one's definitely the happiest of all the stuff on this list. It really reminds me of taking nature walks - in fact, as soon as I heard this in the game, I took a nature walk down to visit my neighbor so he could listen to this song too. It really hits a chord which is perfectly "nostalgic childhood VGM, remembered once more" but it's so amplified in the context of sharing it with the people you care about. It really puts you in the shoes of Sunny, out there in town, sitting by the lake or at a friend's house, knowing the day is drawing to a close and soon everything will change.
-A Home For Flowers (Sunflower)
Similar to See You Tomorrow in its nostalgic vibe but a little different to me. This is my favorite version of Home For Flowers, and it really feels like remembering "the sweetness of being young and innocent." The way people describe their favorite game music as taking them back to the times when the biggest threat in life was homework, it really conveys that exceptionally through its happy tones expressed through almost lofi instrumentation. OMORI's soundtrack conveys nostalgia exceptionally well, and if it didn't I don't think this sequence of the game would have been nearly as powerful.
-Remember to Be Patient
My third favorite song in the game. The piano in this is used a ton in the late game OMORI ost, but honestly I feel like it only really conveys the weight it should when combined with the other instruments seen here. It feels more resonant, and conveys both the vast beauty of a winter landscape and the sadness which lies in the isolation it brings. It's rare to see a feeling envisioned so perfectly in a song, but looking out on a snowy day, maybe in the early morning before shoveling or snowplows come into action, it has this twinge of melancholy beauty to it captured perfectly. Like, "it took a lot to get here and you know it won't last, so enjoy the beauty of it all while it exists."
-Wake Up
This song brings out the tears. It really feels like something is over, the pain has been fought through and now you are free to live and love. There's no better thing I've ever seen express the sweet relief that comes with finally coming to terms with trauma and I mean it. This game really is life changing and somehow this song expresses that perfectly.

-August/Water
This is my favorite song in the game. I never understood those comments like "this makes me feel emotions that don't exist yet" until I heard this song. Something about it... It feels liberating yet melancholy. A tearjerker yet inherently relaxing There's such a strong and emotional feeling generated from it which echoes through the beach area and others where it's found - like a "All that's left of it is what you remember." It really just triggers that spot in my brain which makes me feel so much at once that I can't help but adore it. People I've met who I'll never see again, places I've been which are forever different and forgotten, the change that forms our lives and the disconnect it brings, all perfectly realized in that song. And Stranger's dialogue sums it up so beautifully, too. Somehow a song so simple can convey so much to me, like it's telling me memories of the past, present, and future all at once. It really is a remarkable achievement on an already remarkable OST, and I really do cherish each and every one of these songs.

Here's a couple other ones which are pretty emotionally resonant for me
Space Boyfriend's Mixtape - It samples Earthbound and Chrono Trigger, two of my favorite games, so it's bound to give me memories!
Lovesick - 50, 000 Lightyears - Somehow the effectiveness of showing the pain of love is even more present than the space-y elements to me.
A place by a lake - Similar to Space Road 1979 in its reflectiveness, though feels like you're out there in the wide outside world while reflecting instead of your bedroom.
H20:Hcl - A really beautiful yet melancholy take on forgetting and the faults of memory.
Calm - It really is just that - calm, but in a vast sense akin to Space Road 1979 while being very melancholy.
The Violin - Not much I can say, similar to August/Water it makes me feel emotions I can't describe.
The other Home for flowers tracks - they're just as good as making you feel nostalgic!
Crossroads - A more reflective take on the nostalgic See you tomorrow, like listening to an old favorite song at 1 am.

OMORI is really good at making music which connects with your memories, and I'd love to hear if you have any songs you love like the ones I mentioned, or any expansions on things I've said!