"Effectively destroying the entire world and marking the halfway point of the game" would sound like a comical exaggeration if I hadn't played the game myself.

I like how the video is shorter than the song

All of that analysis and you didn't mention the fact that he embedded Kefka's laugh into the actual piece (it's in the SPC data of the actual soundfont/sound data! That is NOT a sound effect the game puts there after processing the music. It's *IN* the music!) right after the slow somber part. No, he's *not* lamenting about how he can't win against the motley crew. The fact that his laugh comes right *after* the somber part, just as the song loops back to the 'let's rock' gives me the idea that he's _laughing_ at the party. He decides to take pity on them and decides to go easy on them and then goes "NAH. You die now!" with a laugh when he gets bored. Kefka would never think he's in the wrong or that he's going to lose. He's a total psycho.

An 18 minute final boss theme that features a movement that switches between 7/8 and 4/4 every bar. This is the purest form of beauty.

I think the key thing to keep in mind with analysing Final Fantasy VI is the core thesis of the game: you can't change what's happened, you can only move forward. Every character has a past trauma that they need to grow beyond. They can't change what they've done or what's been done to them, all they can do is move forward, and make a better world. This thesis reaches its peak when Kefka destroys the world. There is no redo, there is only action. Kefka is someone who may have had past traumas, and never moved on from them. Just as you climb the tower and get closer to his godly form, you are equally ascending from the depths of his mind, to what he wants to display to the world, but that poisoning you spoke of, when his leitmotif worms its way into his most divine form's music, that's his subconscious, his past traumas, everything damaged and diseased about Kefka, boiling to the surface and eroding everything he's worked for, because he never faced his trauma, and never grew beyond it. He just built a godly scab over the wound. Granted, this is more of a literary angle. I don't know enough about music theory to comment on it to anywhere near the level you do. I spend most of the time watching your videos going "hm, yes, tonic, I know that word, and sharp notes and flat notes, yes, very interesting!"

I feel like the insertion of Kefka's own laugh during the fight is worth mentioning.

His inclusion of Kefka's theme to translate the third movement from major to minor is fucking so god damn brilliant I can't even comprehend what level this man is at.

As a musicology student i long ago intended to talk about ff6's musical themes evolution as a thesis defense with many examples explained in your great triptych presentation and parallels with composers. Teachers just laughed at the simple idea of considering Uematsu's work on ff6's ost as a part of music history. Thanks god it was decades ago and many students probably did it successfully since then. Very instructional and accessible videos !

I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS OMG

I love how effectively this game uses leitmotif. The fact that every single character’s theme is revisited in both their high and low moments shows just what a brilliant artist nobuo uematsu is

I was expecting a mention of ELP! They were a pretty big influence on the music for Final Fantasy, especially this track. Keith Emerson who was the keyboardist for ELP, loved quartal harmony and made it something of his signature. The climax of Dancing Mad that starts with stacked 4ths is almost a direct quote of the first measures of ELP's track Tarkus. That song could qualify as a boss theme all it's own and it's not even part of any game!

"It poisons the music" Great catch! :)

I think the sad piece at the end of the theme is supposed to represent Kefka's nihilism in full force. After all this time we finally get a full unfiltered sight into the true nature of kefka in the form of this chaotic melody. Notice that before the slower part can evolve into anything more meaningful is is consumed by the original chaotic melody that started of the piece complete with Kefka laughing maniacally, as the madness once again overtakes him before he can come to any sane conclusions. This piece could also be indicative of the party's hope for the future and the struggles they face to get here which would also pair nicely with Kefka's theme cutting that short, as so long as he's still there that hope will never be realized. A combination of an internal and external clash if you will.

I definitely didn't recognize the leitmotif on my first listening of the final battle. Now that you've pointed it out, I'm utterly amazed.

He's said it in interviews, but it is obvious Uematsu is a fan of prog rock. Amazing stuff.

I think perhaps the movement in the third tier is the most provocative. The imagery of the monster you are fighting is in such stark contrast to the depravity you've seen Kefka commit up to this point. Here is a reference to the Pieta, one of the most moving works of a master, depicting the broken body of Christ being held by his mother. And here, Kefka is trying to commandeer that type of imagery for himself, a monster who has massacred and broken the world. So at that point, to hear Kefka's theme again, but this time in a major key, it is incredibly jarring. Uematsu was masterful to use something as simple as a key change to evoke such feelings.

I dont even need to play FFVI to appreciate this masterpiece. I found it through theatrhythm and it quickly became one of my all time favorite video game songs. One winged angel is also good, but when i heard this precedent, i got a bit envious that one winged angel is the song that gets all the fame.

FF6's critics tend to to say Kefka's a ripoff of the Joker, and there's so much wrong in thinking that. The similarities mostly end with their appearances as "clowns". First off, Kefka's an ambitious character, egocentrical, power-hungry and goal-oriented towards attaining, whereas the Joker cares about being Batman's antithesis and chaos. Kefka's main motivation is not actually to wreak havoc, but to fuel his own power to feed his ego. His nihilism is a result of his extremely inflated sense of self, which leads him to view humanity as his playthings compared to his own might. The motivation for their appearances also reveal different motivations. The Joker looks like a clown to create a persona or mask an accident. Kefka wears makeup and flamboyant outfits out of aesthetics, to increase his beauty - more comparable to a Kardashian or instagram model. Joker's a thinker, a strategist, a leader. He's a great manipulator, and charismatic enough to make his own psychiatrist fall in love with him, and in some way endear him to his arch nemesis. Kefka's emotional and impulsive. He's antisocial and unable to control his erratic behaviour which ostracises him from any person he could've related to. Just stop conflating these two rich characters.

The FFVI OST is Uematsu's favorite work for a reason. ❤️

What you said about the third part of Dancing Mad, the beautiful fugue, is exactly what I said when I played ff6. That part reflects how supreme and heavenly Kefka sees himself.

I don't understand any of this, but YYYYAAAAYYYY!!!

I did not realize that super deep bass line on the third tier also replayed Kefka's theme until you pointed it out and I listened for it. The song is even more amazing than I thought!

Tier 3 is my favorite section, I think. I love the motifs used and how the piece gets darker and more powerful as it goes on. It’s the most classically-inspired part too, and as a classical-music fanatic, I have to appreciate it. Uematsu is a genius. Busting out tier 3 on a piano is one of my favorite things to do. It’s the coolest piece I know! Also, I think “organ-shredding” is my new favorite term.

I was already a big fan of Uematsu, but this series gave me a newfound appreciation for his work. It's truly some great stuff.

One leitmotif that I think you missed - in the first tier, when the music pulls back after Catastrophe and the subsequent maintained-tension we get a part you describe as majestic but that I always associated with a funerary lament. I'm pretty sure that this lament part is actually the opening to "Save Them!". That section always gave me the shivers - each time we hear Catastrophe prior to Dancing Mad, the music pulls back and doesn't deliver on the promise of the rising tension. This time, however --- The music opens with those big bells (I'm a sucker for the bells tolling), theres a tense undercurrent with those triplets, then we get those big, assertive whole and half notes promising that THIS time there will be closure. THIS time we mean business. THIS time... we're being played a Lament. We've barely begun the fight, and I'm being hit with a profound sense of "But we already lost". When I realized a while ago that Kefka was actually mocking us with a track literally named "Save Them!" I had to put down the headphones for a while to let it all sink in. Remember how, when everyone's in Narshe and we had to keep the baddies from reaching Banon? Yeah. That music. By the way, Banon's dead now. So is everyone else who lived in Narshe. So are huge swaths of the human population worldwide. How's that whole "Saving" thing working out for you, heroes? But after that moment of dark reflection, Dancing Mad kicks it up a gear again as our heroes rally their resolve - Kefka MUST be taken down!

FF6 is my favorite game of all time, period. You did it justice, and I even learned something here that I had never noticed/heard before, despite my many playthroughs. Thank you!

I really love what you did for FF6. Thank you! I really wish you would have digged deeper into dancing mad, but than again I probably could listen to you for hours and still not have enough. Also wow.. you really put a lot of time, work and effort into transcriptions! keep it up PS The word play of Kefka poisoning the heavenly theme is genius :)

Man you got some great taste, impeccable taste. Love to see FFVI get the appreciation it deserves. Man that game is so good, like damn, I’d even say it’s the best game ever. Love it!

Not just any demon, but pretty much Lucifer himself - as pictured in Dante's Divine Comedy.

I've never clicked so fast in my life. Love your content!

I remember how when I first heard ELP Tarkus I immediatelly thought of Nobuo and, amongst others, the prog rock part of this piece. Just a random thought on Nobuo's likely inspiration that shows a lot in his different works as well lol

I've been listening to this song in various differing interpretations since the announcement of this video. I believe there's no better piece of video game music anywhere. On the last part I do have to share my opinion (even though no one asked for it or cares), which is that it represents the human sadness that is inside Kefka, that has, despite him being disconnected of his feelings altogether (since he is a psycopath). Sadness, that is present in all humanity, of how hard life really is. There is something there, that resonates to every listener, even though it's in the form of Kefka, a monster. There still exists something in him that anyone can relate to, and it defines him more than you realize. In no shape or form we see in the game Kefka showing any of these emotions. So yeah, that's what makes this piece so great in my humble opinion.

Musical Motifs always give me chills, which is one reason Dancing Mad is one of my all time favorites

I just wanted to say that music and video games are my two favorite things...like...ever. This channel really does hone my love for both topics to a degree where I get giddy when I watch your videos. You take everything I’ve learned about music and apply it to something a previously never felt possible. By opening up a new world to explore in music theory, you really have become my favorite content creator (even though I hate that term) and I just wanted to say thanks!

I wish I could ever shake Uematsu-sensei's hand. And boy, I would probably cry doing that. I love his music with my whole heart!

This just proves that Nobuo Umatsu is a music genius. My favourite game composer EVER! I wish I could ever shake Uematsu-sensei's hand. And boy, I would probably cry doing that. I love his music with my whole heart!

Finally! After 10,000 years! I can die in peace now. Unless you wanted to tackle One Winged Angel. I could stick around for that.

Final Fantasy 6 has always been a great part of my life. Between the emotions of isolation relating to Terra and Celes, the Sadness that befalls Cyan and Locke, the flames of rebellion driving the Figaro brothers. Finally the madness and depravity that is Kefka. This game was a ton to take in when i was a kid and as i grew older i always found my self appreciating subtle nuances in the story i just didn't get as an Eight year old. The music, the characters, the scenery where all masterfully put together. I'm grateful that 24 years after it's release it's still being analyzed, revealing more depth that i would have never realized on my own. Thank you for making this series, you did a wonderful job breaking down the songs and explaining them in a easy to follow manner. If you are planning on doing another Final Fantasy game i'd like to toss FFXIII-2 into the pool. Caius was a wonderful villain who is quite possibly the most relative character ever written. His goals, his emotion, his musical themes all capture this in a wonderful way. His Main theme is epic, heroic even but also weaved with Sadness and resentment. A hero blessed with a role he would come to know as eternal torment. The songs based on him all revolving around his duty to protect the Seeress who is repetitively born to only die again and again without end. Meddling from the very Goddess who blessed (Cursed?) Caius with immortality and Yuel with infinite rebirth shortens her life more and more. His resentment of this resounds through out the game as you travel through time to see it take root little by little. This development along with the musical themes are just incredible and powerful. I would love to hear a break down of his themes in a similar fashion. I apologize for rambling on about the plot behind his character but I understand a great deal of people have not played it due to mixed feelings over it's Predecessor and I wanted to shine a light on it's positive qualities. Thank you again for a wonderful Series on such a great and honestly, video game culturally impactful game.

Time to analyze the 4/4+7/8 of Final Tier. I love this piece a lot.

I've played this game so many times, and listened to the soundtrack so many times, but it still gives me chills every time I hear it.

Not sure if this has been pointed out but transition from the end of the section playing when you fight kefka's divine form to his final form descending is a direct call out to the final fantasy battle encounter theme. It begins with the flying upwards run repeated three times to emphasis then it jams on the prog rock drum and bass for a few bars before beginning the final version of kefka's theme. This is an embellished variation of the theme that goes across all the early final fantasy battle encounter themes just like you point out in your FF7 battle theme video.

@8:14 love the video, I also love huge reference to the opening of EVERY SINGLE battle theme in FFs I through VI in the diminished chords (measures 145 and 146) Likely foreshadowing that the real, final battle is the next one. Thanks again!

"driving triplet synth bassline" should be alternating between high octave accent and fifth accent. So, it would be do, do, do, DO, do, do. do, do, sol, do, do. and so on.

The way this piece weaves the various game's themes and shirts them to match the tone of each phase is pure genius

I was really hoping to see some videos about FF music on this channel. This was what I wanted.

Great videos. I am struck by the prevalence of the minor second in the pieces surrounding Kefka, from that iib chord to all of the bits of melody that use the semitone step to generate tension, to even the change from c to C# between movements. It is fascinating to see how much of Uematsu's composition boils down to the thoughtful use of specific intervals. Thanks for showing this to us.

Great series. A major part of what makes these songs so powerful are the specific timbre choices made using the SNES's limited sound chip. I can listen to a million midi "upgrades" and they never carry the same emotional impact. You might call this nostalgia, but my 9 year old nephew seems to agree. I was also disappointed to not get an analysis of "the decisive battle" but that's just my obligatory youtube comment.

Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI are the best examples of a good game soundtrack. After I finished hearing and transcribing every instrument of those songs (especially Dancing Mad) and how it connects to the gameplay it just blew my mind! Kudos my friend!

I dont understand 99% of what I say, but this channel is deeply under rated

Incredible music, Uematsu is such a master at the craft. Its amazing how the final movement uses the crazy (but not previously out of control) Kefka theme in such a high-energy way when his power is fully unleashed with the fast paced rhythms, although the rhythms are altered enough to not invoke "listening fatigue." Uematsu's use of leitmotifs truly does set this up to be as grand of a finale as you can hope for.

I knew Dancing Mad was incredible, but god I had no idea how DEEP and levelled it was with complex imagery like this. The use of ending this song with a prog-rock riff is also the same thing that Uematsu did with FF8 where the first two of Ultimecia's three final boss themes are these strange deep almost tribal themes of an ancient god, then ending with a strangely floaty rock piece as the heroes' modern influences bleed into her sphere of power. I love when Uematsu does this, it's gloriously multi-layered and thank you for making me appreciate this soundtrack more.

I've been waiting for this! This theme has been in my head, as this was the final Savage raid in FFXIV just a few months ago. They way they translated this 2d fight into a mmo end-game raid really exemplified this theme once again.

OH man, you really did good here. I like how you show us the musical notes and the progressions and everything happening in the music alongside the battle. AS a kid, this composition was wild and epic but as an adult I can understand the artistic choices and creative genius that Uematsu put into creating this especially as limited as the SNES! Best damn piece of video game music out there.

Heed the first movement, remember the destruction of the world. Now, behold the destruction of life, dreams, hope; it is the fate of all things. Heed the second movement, and stand in awe. Now, behold your former vain attempts at stopping the inevitable. Heed the third movement, this is the power you oppose. Now, behold your savior and god; there is no salvation, prayers fall on deaf ears. Heed the fourth movement, the skies are tearing apart. Now, behold the wild dance of a calamitous star. As I said in the first episode of this series: You could've easily turned this episode into an hour-long special, but I appreciate that you kept it short and concise while still managing to cover everything that makes Dancing Mad so very, very great.

Hi - I just wanted you to know that I LOVE your channel and that this video inspired me to learn piano about a year ago…I can now play all of Dancing Mad and the leitmotifs bring me sooooo much joy. Thank you for your work!!!!

I never thought i have fun with a educational music video, but you said it yourself, this is the greatest boss music of all time. Excellent!

I found this video a bit more accessible than some of your others, and it gave me a whole new appreciation for a song that I already liked and a composer I already adored. Please do more Final Fantasy music!

I have always loved Uematsu's compositions. This breakdown shows how much genius he displayed and how he indirectly influenced me as a musician since FF6 was the first I played in the series. Being able to play with existing ideas and keep the feel or even jump genre within the same song structure is one of the things I just thought I happened across but I was unknowingly inoculated with Uematsu's genius. Now that I think about it, I started playing the piano shortly after but within the same year I played FF6.

I still think the crowning Gem of the song, is how they worked his trademark giggle, into the freaking music.

What a brilliant, shining treasure of an artist Nobuo is.

That leitmotif arrangement in the last movement blew my mind. Awesome video!

Thank you so much for this. I love this song. And I've always loved how previous themes from the game were recycled in this version to elicit a different emotion. But not being a music major myself, I've never been able to interpret the technical musical nuances myself. Your video is awesome.

Been waiting for this glorious video. Thank you so much for this upload, it is fantastic.

Been waiting on this one for a while ty!

Awesome. Just awesome. This is probably the first time I've watched one of your videos and felt I knew most of what there was to know about a piece of music already, and *still* I learn more. Can't wait to check out the transcriptions after work tonight. Thank you for this series!

11:31 I think of the dirge at the end as both the lament for a dying god,, but also the mourning of the man who was turned into a monster by the empire's experiments with magic.

Oh god how I love this series. You’re really great

I may be completely wrong, but I think that the middle section (the one alternating 7/8 and 4/4) of the last movement is heavily inspired by Emerson Lake & Palmer's Tarkus (somewhat harmonically and rythmically, with the following abrupt interruption that is Kefka's Theme and the gong thing from Tarkus).

Ah, bass lines and rock organ on the SNES fill me with such joy. There's just something so special about it that makes me feel good, and SNES Final Fantasy games just keep serving them up. A very satisfying breakdown. I had this moment in recent years when I realized just how much I was predisposed to like prog rock because of games like this.

This.Is.Amazing. The time and love put into this...wow. Congrats. Seriously. Can't wait for a full Super Mario RPG or Secret of Mana music analysis!

Thanks for this.. really! The passion you put in the analysis is inspiring and the way you format images, sheet, and sound is very clever! The explanations, examples and train of thought makes it very digestible, and I guess even for people with minor theory background, since it's all greatly well put. Got a lot of respect for your work! Congrats

11:40 it reflects Kefka's core motivator of existential nihilism. a brief glimpse of his internal sadness, the crying clown, before he laughs it off and the song returns to the upbeat part the dialogue before the battle feels like someone's group of friends trying to talk them down from suicide

Absolutely brilliant analysis!! Unbelievable amount of dedication, thought, and even visuals. Well done, sir!

This is my favorite channel on YT by far. The content is always so great... thanks for putting out these vids!

This has been one of my favorite video game pieces for years. Thanks for the deep analysis, and helping me to appreciate it and Uematsu that much more.

By far your greatest video so far! Keep up the good work.

Thank you for your videos. I wanted to let you know your vidoe on Modes in Persona 5 has really helped shed a light on why modes are cool, and important. I actually understand how to apply them, and have begun practicing their application and contrast. Thanks again!

Brilliant video, brilliant series, brilliant channel. Thank you so much. :)

loved this whole series! Thank you for it :D

Thank you so much for making these 3 videos. It has given me some insight into the work of my favorite composer and biggest inspiration.

Echoing others, been waiting for this video, and thank you for doing this one.

WOW, man! What a great job you did! THANK YOU!

Thank you for this. It was the first thing I thought of when I found your channel.

This multi-part deep dive may have been my favorite thing you've done to date. Great work! Here's to more in the future ^_^

OMG THANK YOU, I've always wanted to watch/listen to an analysis of Dancing Mad, it's such an amazing theme

Finally! I almost wish it was longer, I could listen to you analyze music for hours! The fact that the last movement was kafka's theme as a harmonized diminution blew my mind. I can't believe I haven't noticed that. Truly genius stuff.

Your channel is great! Thanks for you work

I loved this 3 part series. Great job, man.

OHHHHHHHH MY GOOOOOOOOOD!!!!! I can't thank you enough for making these videos, and especially this one. Dancing Mad have long been on my mind, trying to make sense of it harmonically and thematically and you just made everything so clear. Thank you so much!

This might be my favorite video that you've ever put together. It's just brilliant. I've always loved this game and this theme, it's been a favorite since I was 10. I consider myself more musically aware of leitmotifs and the kinds of stuff you discuss here than your average person... And I had somehow never consciously noticed the connection with the opening and Catastrophe, or the appearance of Kefka and the title theme. Just... Brilliant. Thanks for making this!

Always super excited for your vids!! Much love

Image developing for the SNES. You have limited bytes of available storage and no, you MUST not only compose a comlex 17 minute song, but you MUST also have the game coded to properly transition each movement as the fight progresses. What a madman.

This is a pretty incredible analysis. I haven't ever really gotten into music theory but this is incredibly fascinating. Thank you for all of this work!

Incredible analysis! I'm impressed and incredibly satisfied! I made a small analysis of a couple of pages of the Piano Collections' version of this song, at college, but you've mastered it's contents. Congratulations!

This was fascinating and anducational. I enjoyed every bit of it and learnt a great deal form it thanks.

BEST RUNDOWN OF THE BEST END BOSS MUSIC EVER!!! You did so well dude, keep it up!

This is a great analysis of this piece. Speaking of prog rock, there's a huge influence from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer in "Dancing Mad," particularly from the ELP song, "Tarkus."

This is soooooooo good!! Also, the final movement, the "prog rock tune" is totally the "f*** yeah" battle theme. It's like when an anime opening tune comes back in a final battle. Beautiful.

I can’t hit that like button hard enough!! Thank you so much for doing this!!

Man, thanks for reminding me how mind blowing this sequence was as a kid. I wasn't ready. No one was. And looking back on it now with all the things you've pointed out, holy shit. What a masterpiece.