The Making of ‘What Could Have Been’ from Arcane | Sting ft. Ray Chen

Hope you enjoy! An inside look into the inspiration and process for writing the songs of Arcane. Through the final song in the series, “What Could Have Been”, we're hoping to bring people behind the curtain and talk about the entire experience of a single song from start to finish. From lyric inspirations, first demos, production hiccups, working with our artists Sting and Ray Chen, and developing the instrumental, this is the full story of What Could Have Been.

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00:00 Intro
2:02 Meaning/Inspiration of the song
5:47 First Steps 
6:50 The First Demo
8:57 Songwriting to Picture
11:32 Figuring Out The Full Arrangement
12:35 Making Mistakes and Finding a Way Back On Track
17:44 Working with Sting
21:37 The Instrumental

#ARCANE #SOUNDTRACK #LEAGUEOFLEGENDS #RIOTGAMES

[wearemako]

thanks so much for listening everybody ❤️ lmk if we should make more! im trying to convince sebastien to do one for the production on Dynasties and Dystopia and this will give me ammo 😈

[thegameawards]

We were so honored to have this performed at the show!

[samuelkimmusic]

Thank you so much for this Behind The Scenes video!
This was so inspiring and I learnded so much!
Can't wait to hear your new songs for Season 2!

[plainlake]

19:22 Completely agree. Because of Stings "fatherly" voice the song also felt like it could be a farewell song from the perspective of Silco. And he could have been singing to both Jinx or Vander. Gave it a whole new layer.

[josiahpeterson]

"What Could Have Been" is one of the best soundtrack songs I've ever heard. I was absolutely blown away by Arcane, and a huge part of that was due to the musical storytelling and remarkable soundtrack. As I continue to rewatch Arcane, "What Could Have Been" hits harder each time. Never been emotionally impacted by a song as much as I have been by this one. Fantastic job.

[JacobProRecords]

Creator being sentimental and emotional about his own creation is the most beautiful thing ever. Now we know exactly why the song is hitting so hard every time you hear it

[GerblerM]

14:03 as an artist, it takes some real guts to showcase a "failed" version. But it's amazingly elucidating to see how foreign the early drafts were from the end result. You and your team knocked it out of the park

[JNDoe]

As much as I love Sting version, I think your vocals give the track an entirely new wholesome mood

[ashrose]

There's something very striking about the long held out "why" in the line "why don't you love who I am" paired with the image of the missile flying toward the city. The missile flying across the sky represents Jinx's emotional release visually, while the music echoes that emotional release sonically. This combo amplifies the emotional impact of this scene as a whole and helps us to deeply feel Jinx's desperation.

[Just_Kumoki]

8:35 DAMN. Your voice made me break down, the raw emotion you put into it is so strong, no wonder you got emotional every time you shared the song with others.

[RachelHardy]

This is fantastic. It’s so great to see all the steps in the process; especially for composers who are starting out and feeling a little intimidated by the whole process. the song turned out flawlessly, congratulations 👏🏼

[EliottTordo_Erhu]

Legendary song, powerful in it's calmness

[smlgd]

Sting nailed it so much. It's amazing to see how even though he's 70 he can still give so much passion to the music

[Rosenbis]

You can't imagine how many times I've listened this song. This is a masterpiece.

[fhmconsulting]

As a 60 yr old guy you certainly ripped my heart out with this song. Still brings a tear to my eye weeks & every cover version after. Thankyou.

[parkerking]

I would absolutely love to see a “Making of” for Dynasties and Dystopia. It is my favorite song from the show. The music is awesome and the scene it plays in is so fantastic. Please please please do it!

[wattsonthetube]

I feel like that line, or moment in the song *"Why don't you love who I am, "* is the most poignant, encapsulating and emotive moments of the whole song. There's just something so raw and so perfect about the fact that the phrase is not repeated, yet captures the entire spirit of the song and the plot on screen. It's not only just Jinx crying out emotively in the song, but also physically setting things into motion that can't be undone. It's like that rocket is symbolic of her irreparably breaking apart, because not only is she forever changed but so is the world around her, from the devastation that she has unleashed on herself and those around her. She is so alone in that moment, and I think you all did a phenomenal job, this was one of the best and most memorable moments onscreen moments I have ever seen in creative media.

[TrialFireWork]

6:50 i wish there was this version available somewhere, its amazing!!

[VortexMagus]

Sting had a gorgeous voice but I really think Ray Chen playing opposite to him added an incredible amount of complexity and texture to the piece. Big fan of the mournful, almost grief-stricken counterpoint melody coming from Ray's violin. Whoever wrote those violin parts was top notch.

[sgho]

6:59 13:33 16:43 everytime I came here to hear your voice it's perfect!