You're Not Alone! Final Fantasy IX's exceptional moment

An analysis of You're Not Alone, one of Nobuo Uematsu's most famous tracks, and a fantastic scene from Final Fantasy IX. I look at how You're Not Alone is so different to the rest of the soundtrack, why it subverts expectation to create surprise, and its relation to Final Fantasy IX in the greater context of the Final Fantasy series. I also compare it to and share my thoughts on Florence and the Machine's cover of Stand By Me, which was used as the theme music to Final Fantasy XV.

Game Score Fanfare is a show that celebrates music in video games. I want to explore and share the unique ways that games use music to instil emotion into pixels and code, tell stories through sound, and create unforgettable moments. I'll be shining a light on the games and people who have taken the medium of video game music seriously and pushed its limits to create one of the most diverse genres of music that we have.

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Thank you to my friend Rose, Final Fantasy IX superfan, for taking the time to help me better understand the scene. :)

[gallantblade]

The thief gave the princess a chance to make things right.
The thief gave the automaton a purpose to live.
The thief gave the knight the ability to choose for himself.
The thief gave the chef an experience to forever remember.
The thief gave the huntress a reason to fight for the future, rather than the past.
The thief gave the child hope for companionship and family.
The thief gave the criminal clarity towards teamwork and camaraderie.

And they, in return, give the thief his strength and identity. As they face death, they stand together, knowing that they're not alone.

[Merlandese]

I think the biggest importance about Zidane feeling alone is because the game is all about identity struggles for every character, or how identity is a reflection of who they are:

-Vivi struggles with being an automaton, the core of the them of the game
-Freya struggles with the fact that her lover lost his identity, and memory of her
-Steiner struggles to understand stand if he's the kingdom's knight or Garnet's knight
-Garnet struggles as an adopted child, with an identity in summoners and royalty
-Eiko struggles as the only living human and Summoner she knows of among moogles
-Amarant struggles to understand his place among power. He follows anyone he admires
-Quina is just a Qu. S/he has no identity, not even a gender identity. S/he's the freedom from this struggle.


Everyone is figuring out who they are, or in some cases, dealing with a direct result of being misidentified. Zidane, the whole time, is the only person who doesn't suffer this problem, and his levity carries everyone else through their issues. Until he realizes he's not even from this planet. That he's also a weird creature. And it's at this point that he starts to suffer the same issues he's been helping everyone else through. They pay him back by reminding him of something that Zidane himself has proven time and time again: you're not alone.

[PowDJoke]

The video can be resumed in that sentence : Nobuo Uematsu is god damn genius and many childhoods dwelled in his fantastic musical work.
FFIX is a philosophical masterpiece to me :)

[IfOUGHTpIRANHAz]

I never hated Necron like other people. He’s the physical embodiment of the fear of the inevitability of death. And that’s a powerful moment in the series.

[mjmelo]

IX is my absolute favorite Final Fantasy game.

[michaeloconnor]

Cried my ass of during this sequence on a recent playthrough. It had been some years since the last time I'd played through it, and due to the scarcity of the song in the game, I'd (temporarily) forgotten it. The passing of time the tragedy that life can be and my childhood came flooding back and I just fucking lost it, let alone the actual scene itself. Love it man.

[tristanmestroni]

When I got that curaga from Dagger I actually started to cry. I played it at a time when I was pushing friends away, but they refused to leave me. Never related to a game character more.

[mysparkselectricalinstalla]

I’m 34 years old and played this in my early teens still brings tears to my eyes 😢

[tnwl]

The first time I witnessed this scene, it made me feel the most powerful emotion I had ever felt in my 17 year old life. The music was the single most powerful part to me (not to discount the other aspects of the scene and the buildup to it and the events of it, of course). For me, this theme enveloped the emotion that Zidane was feeling as he was thrown for this twist. Despite the truth of his birth, he pushes on to save Gaia from Garland, despite all odds of him being able to take Garland on alone being stacked against him. He felt terrible for involving his friends and he was determined to make it right with them. This was the most intense feeling that Zidane had ever felt to this point. The most raw emotion ever known by him. And seeing him go through his journeys and experiencing the world of Gaia and its inhabitants had made me feel like I was Zidane at this moment. So connected with the character that you knew exactly what this bundle of polygons was feeling. So engaged with this story that this scene kicks you in the chest just as hard as it does to Zidane. The music unleashes this emotion; makes you realize it more than just feeling it. It makes you recognize the emotion. This is a part of the game where it would be preposterous to put the controller down at. You're attached completely at this point, and you know for a fact, at this point, that you will beat this game.

[Christopher-eqrn]

Best final Fantasy game to ever to be released
Started tearing up the moment I heard the ost again

[Skydog]

This song represents my favorite moment in a video game. It’s a big reason Final Fantasy IX is so important to me.

[slchi]

Second favorite tune of FFIX, it blew me away I had no idea how to even comprehend that entire scene, it was so emotional. My favorite being Place of Memory, Memoria's theme. It sets in everything that happened throughout the game into a very somber vibe that leads to some amazing tunes to end the story.

[Luchini]

I'll defend the Stand By Me moment in FFXV til the day that I die. That opening scene itself subverted expectations in that most FFs started in media res, and here you are pushing a dead car with your grumbling friends over a gorgeous rendition of the theme song of one of the best coming-of-age/friendship movies ever made (not to take away from how classic the song is in and of itself, but it was clearly homage to the movie). I thought it couldn't have been more perfect and I had the biggest smile on during that whole scene that I've had since playing video games as a kid.

I feel like most of the bad feelings are because people are too used to the traditional FF convention and were too upset about the anticlimactic opening to realize how well done that was.

[justinao]

this is for real my favorite game ever, and as a musician, I flipped shit when I saw this vid. mad props to you, and keep up the great work!

[djlu]

This is why Final Fantasy IX is easily my favorite in the series. There is so much character development in this game. Each character had their own unique flaws and problems and Zidane helped each of them through their problems. These character developments was so important for the You're not Alone scene because when the roles were switched and it was Zidane that was in need, you see everyone help him come back to his senses. You don't see character development like this in FFVII or FFVIII. I honestly did not care for Selphie, Zell, Irvine etc. FFVIII focused too much on the relationship between Squall and Rinoa and ignored all the other characters. Squall barely had any interaction with the other characters. Same with FFVII. Too much focus on Cloud, Tifa, and Aeries and not enough on the other characters. FFIX and Zidane were so underrated. I hope Zidane appears in the new Kingdom Hearts. He deserves it.

[Sega-TK]

I envy you your insight into this music. It's like a door I always wanted to peer through but couldn't figure out how to unlock. What you were saying clicked for me as soon as Aeris's theme played and I knew, as soon as I saw that scene, that we were going to see the fight with Jenova. And I thought to myself "This man gets it!" I'm very much looking forward to your next video!

[Sega-TK]

A few weeks ago I listened to the FFVIII soundtrack again after several years and all the old emotions returned and nearly overwhelmed me. I thought to myself "That's how you know it was a good game and good, good music." Now you've done the same for me with FFIX. I'm going to be going back over the entire soundtrack tomorrow (it's late as I'm posting this). Thank you!

[scottcomputert]

Man, that moment... that music... all these years later, Its still one of the most beautiful moments from any game I've played.

[benfluke]

I have watched this video so many times, in its entirety, I genuinely can't count. But it must Must be over a hundred by now. It defines my love for Uematsu. This video itself is a love letter to his style and I tear up every time.

If the project our studio is working on (still a secret atm) has even half as much love for his style displayed through it's musical composition..I will die very happily.

Thank you so much for making this!

[rg]

Probably my second favorite moment in the entire game (1st goes to B&S protecting Alexandria).