Musical Motifs

Given her impact, it’s unsurprising that Serah has multiple themes throughout the subseries. However, Serah’s titular themes are unique to the Final Fantasy franchise’s traditions: her themes are vocal, a first for an NPC turned player character, and these vocal themes are arrangements of songs that play on the game’s title screens when the game is booted, which means they’re respectively the game’s leading motifs.

Let’s start with Final Fantasy XIII. XII’s title theme is known as The Promise, with Serah’s Theme as one of its arrangements - there are others, naturally, but aside from Serah’s Theme the one most well known is probably The Sunleth Waterscape. Serah’s Theme has differing lyrics in the Japanese original and overseas versions. This is likely because the Japanese version doesn’t make much sense to an English speaker (really, really doesn’t. Gotta love that engrish).

The lyrics below are to the English version, as sung by Frances Maya. You can listen to it here.

Make my wish come true, let darkness fade to light
Show me there’s still hope, show me it’s not over
Battles we can win, our struggle lies within
Will we live to greet the dawn?

Love will not leave you
Hate will not heal you
Promise me one day that peace shall reign.

Promises also features in Lightning Returns whilst traversing Yusnaan - one of the NPCs plays it on a trumpet upon the completion of his fetch quest. Lightning comments that Promises was one of Serah’s favourite songs, one that she often used to hum to herself. Promises’ motif also sneaks its way into one of Lightning’s latter themes in the game, Claire Farron. Don’t think I didn’t notice that subtle inclusion, Square.

It’s not strictly a themesong for Serah, but a song that disappeared in the overseas versions was Eternal Love, a song about Serah and Snow. Eternal Love plays over the FMV scene where Serah and Snow ride through the Fireworks display at the festival in Bodhum - international variants replaced this with Serah’s Theme. There’s no English variant for Eternal Love, but there is a fan arrangement that you should acquaint yourself with because it gives me the feels. Villiers Farron, everyone, the truest of OTPs with their own in-game track. Single tear.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 adds to Serah’s musical theme repertoire. XIII-2’s title theme is Wishes, and Serah’s Theme - Memories is an arrangement of The Future that is in turn an arrangement of Wishes - The Future is a non-vocal version of Memories, but, that’s the official apparent order. Weird. Like Serah’s first vocal theme in the original, Memories is also sung by Frances Maya. You can listen to it here.

You rest inside my mind
Since the day you came, I knew you would be with me
All the time we spent, what we shared was surely
Warm enough to know you cared for me

Light flies through memories
Helps me walk my path, I’ll keep my head up high
Words of faith and love
Your strength gives me hope
Someday I’ll find you with open arms.

I’m quite a big fan of Memories, because it’s so utterly Serah. It marks her journey and the wishes of her heart, and the goals that she strives for. It’s her want song, her need for a reunion with her dear sister... which is the general theme for all three games. I need another moment here.

You can also have your heart broken minutes after learning Promises was a song that Serah used to hum when a songstress starts to sing Memories in Yusnaan. Yes, sing. Tears were shed. Thanks, Lightning Returns, you weren’t already upsetting enough.