Phils Game/Pop Music Similarities #167 - Roaming Ghosts

[PhilsPhindings]

Greetings fellow game music lovers,

I admit, I always fall back to Final Fantasy VI (1994) in the end. This is not for dislike of the others, but FFVI was one of the first Final Fantasies I played and the one whos soundtrack I memorized best. With virus-induced lockdowns everywhere one might be tempted to take a walk in the nature. Like the woods. Which is all good and well, as long as you restrain yourself from boarding any randomly appearing trains that, according to the state railway program, should not be there or might might land right inside

THE PHANTOM TRAIN:

When I got my Final Fantasy 1987 - 1994 CD back in the day, I was surprised to hear a song on it that has a surprisingly similar structure: "Roaming Sheep", which did not appear on the OSV but the Eternal Legend of the Wind CD:

I think that both songs are rooted in standards from waltz music where several songs with similar curvature can be found. And I don't only mean the 3/4 time:

The Waltz You Saved For Me - Wayne King (1940):

Èmile Waldteufel - Gaite, Op. 164 (1878):

Emile Waldteufel - Acclamations,Valse Op.223 (1888):

For closure, I choose japanese ecclectic artist Magical Power Mako and his song 12 Sweet Strings from 1982:

Wednesday more Mario!

Phil out.

 

[Dionysos]

Phantom Train is one of my favourite tracks, and also a very memorable scene. How can anybody forget the ghosts serving dinner and wine? That’s a far more agreeable trip to the afterlife than a lonesome trip on a leaky boat with Charon.

More importantly, however, how on earth have I never heard of Roaming Sheep?! That’s a great song, and I agree it shares some similarities with Phantom Train.

The waltz comparisons do suit the general theme of the Phantom Train track. The the train of the game is definitely of that era and class. The ghosts are also quite playful and you could imagine them waltzing.

I can see that the tune of the Magical Power Mako track is quite similar to the Phantom Train too, once sped up.