Aria of the Soul
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The Aria of the Soul, also known as Hymn of the Soul or more literally translated as the Poem for Everyone's Souls[a] is a recurring musical theme in the Persona series. It primarily acts as the background music of the Velvet Room. The theme was composed by Shoji Meguro, first appearing in Megami Ibunroku Persona, and was the first composition Meguro created for Atlus during his training period.[1][2]
Game Appearances
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Megami Ibunroku Persona
The track debuts as played in the Velvet Room by Nameless and Belladonna. It is titled "Velvet Room"[b] in Japanese on Megami Ibunroku Persona Original Soundtracks (Complete Recordings Collection). In this game, the arrangement begins with the chorus. According to Meguro, he originally wanted a piano intro, but was told to put the chorus at the front and didn't wish to argue; this would be changed in later games. The chorus is also the only portion of the song to have vocals due to hardware constraints; Meguro said the voice was that of a colleague's friend who was an opera singer.[2]
A longer, more elaborate arrangement plays upon completing the SEBEC Chapter's good ending. It is this track that was originally called "The Poem for Everyone's Souls"[a] in Japanese, on Megami Ibunroku Persona Original Soundtrack & Arrange Album, and "SEBEC Chapter Good Ending"[c] in Japanese on the Complete Recordings Collection. It also received a special arrangement, "The Poem for Everyone's Souls (Arrange Version)"[d], by VerMeer on the OST & Arrange Album.
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona
In the PSP port of Persona, a new arrangement plays in the Velvet Room. The title was translated as "Aria of the Soul" in English on Shin Megami Tensei: Persona Original Soundtrack. Given that this version of the game released in 2009, it was sung by Haruko Komiya, the singer for the arrangement used since Persona 3; however, the PSP arrangement uses different instrumentation and is shorter, using only part of the verse and not repeating the last part of the chorus.
Persona 2: Innocent Sin
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Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
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Persona 3
Persona 3 introduces a new, fully orchestrated arrangement of "Aria of the Soul" which has been used as the "default" version of the theme in most games since. The vocals were performed by singer Haruko Komiya (mistakenly credited in some versions as "Tomoko Komiya", a different reading of her name). The Persona 3 arrangement still primarily uses piano and voice, but has added backing from strings, flute and eventually horns as the piece progresses. It features a piano introduction as in Megami Ibunroku Persona's "SEBEC Chapter Good Ending", followed by the usual verse, the pre-chorus, and the chorus, with the accompaniment gradually increasing.
"Aria of the Soul" plays in the Velvet Room normally, while when the Velvet Room and Igor appear upon defeat, a shorter, piano-only arrangement titled "The Path Was Closed" plays. The final battle against Nyx Avatar features a new metal version, though still incorporating Komiya's vocals in the chorus, called "Battle Hymn of the Soul", or in Japanese "The Battle for Everyone's Souls".[e]
Persona 3 Original Soundtrack also features a bonus rearrangement of the piece in a blues style, called "Blues in Velvet Room".
Persona 4
Persona 4 begins the tradition of reusing the arrangement from Persona 3. It is also used for the Velvet Room on the Game Over screen.
Similar to the prior game's soundtrack's bonus track, Persona 4 Original Soundtrack features a rearrangement of the theme in the style different genre, called "Electronica In Velvet Room" (in English) on the Japanese version and "Electronica of the Soul" on the English version.
Persona 5
Persona 5 continues using the arrangement from Persona 3. The song plays normally in the Velvet Room as well as on the Game Over screen. On the English version of Persona 5 Original Soundtrack, it was called "Hymn of the Soul", but in the Thieves Den in Persona 5 Royal, the title is still "Aria of the Soul".
If the protagonist equips the Ultramarine Outfit, then the music during battle will be replaced with "Battle Hymn of the Soul" and the victory music with "The Path Was Closed", both from Persona 3, despite the latter being played upon defeat in the original game.
The normal arrangement is also used as background music for the Velvet Room in the spinoffs Persona 5 Strikers, Persona 5: The Phantom X, and Persona 5 Tactica.
Anime Appearances
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Persona 4 The Animation
A new version called The Bonds Between Everyone's Souls plays during the true end, episode 26 when Yu Narukami fights Margaret and hears the voices of his Social Links around Inaba. It is track #10 on the Persona 4 The Animation Vol. 9 Bonus CD and track #16 on disc 2 of the Persona 4 The Animation Series Original Soundtrack.
Persona 4 The Golden Animation
Aria of the Soul plays as the ending song to episode 10 to simulate a game over screen for the Investigation Team in the anime.
Other Appearances
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
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For more information on this subject in Super Smash Bros., see List of SSBU Music (Persona series) on SmashWiki. |
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate features a new arrangement of "Aria of the Soul" in the acid-jazz style used by other tracks in Persona 5's soundtrack, by Mitsuhiro Kitadani of BANDAI NAMCO Studios. The original arrangement of "Battle Hymn of the Soul" is also featured as a track from Persona 3, and will correspondingly make the Mementos stage appear blue.
Trivia
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Nomenclature
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese |
全ての人の魂の詩 | The Poem for Everyone's Souls |
Gallery
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Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Japanese: 全ての人の魂の詩, Hepburn: Subete no Hito no Tamashii no Uta
- ↑ Japanese: ベルベットルーム, Hepburn: Berubetto Rūmu
- ↑ Japanese: セベク編グッドエンディング, Hepburn: Sebeku-hen Guddo Endingu
- ↑ Japanese: 全ての人の魂の詩 (アレンジバージョン), Hepburn: Subete no Hito no Tamashii no Uta (Arenji Bājon)
- ↑ Japanese: 全ての人の魂の戦い, Hepburn: Subete no Hito no Tamashii no Tatakai
References
- ↑ "Shoji Meguro: Right after I joined Atlus, I was put in charge of composing the BGM for Revelations: Persona on PlayStation. In Japan, new employees go through a few months of training before officially joining the company; the tune used in the Velvet Room, “Aria of the Soul,” was my very first composition during my training period." https://mollielpatterson.com/shoji-meguro-persona-4/.+Published+October 24, 2008.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Q: The only music that hasn’t changed throughout the series is the Velvet Room theme. / Meguro: Now that you mention it, I made that song right after joining Atlus. My colleague’s friend was an opera singer, and I sampled her voice to make the song. It was a struggle for the hardware back then, and in the end, I could only fit the vocals at the hook. I also wanted to have a piano intro, but the higher-ups told me to move the hook to the front… I didn’t have the clout to argue back at the time, but I thought that since people would spend a long time doing fusions in the Velvet Room, everyone would hear the hook even if it wasn’t at the beginning. I still think back to that now *laughs*" https://blog.kouhi.me/translation-persona-super-live-2017-pamphlet-interviews/.+Published+May 20, 2018.