Why do I always provide links to video game music in my blog? Am I that much of a geek? Well, there’s the short answer (yes) and the long answer to that. You see, when you’re playing a video game like The Legend of Zelda or Age of Empires II, you’re focused on the mission or task at hand, whether it be saving the princess and slaying three-headed dragons, or launching a ground offensive against the enemy. Sometimes you just can’t consciously focus on the music. But it’s there, and your subconscious mind is totally digging it while you’re owning Agahnim with his own evil magic energy by reflecting it with your master sword.
What am I getting at? Sometimes video game music speaks straight to the heart, because of its simplicity. There’s immense profundity…in its simplicity. This particular song is called, “Smells like Crickets, Tastes Like Chicken.” Why is it called that? I have no idea! But who really cares? When I listen to this, my heart lightens as I recall the many hours I spent building my civilization (I usually played as the Japanese), raising an army, and setting out on major conquests. I don’t think words – I think feelings, and nostalgia. That’s the point, words aren’t important with this type of music. I have appropriated the music as something special connected with my past; hence it’s a part of me, and no one else will hear the same thing I do when I listen to it.
But music is not just about the past. This song not only makes me nostalgic and remember my virtual conquests on the PC, but it lights a spark, and sells a bigger inspiration. An inspiration to conquer my dreams with the same determination and courage as the brave general who conquered his enemy in an epic battle. And forever behold and absorb this beautiful process of growth and learning known as life.
