Should Square fix "Eyes on Me" lyrics?

[johnwalker1]

"Eyes on Me" was Square's first attempt at a theme song with lyrics, yet it's plagued with silly grammatical mistakes that make it really akward so far for other singers to cover it, especially native English-speaking singers.
I have listened to Angela Aki and Susan Caraway attempt at fixing the mistakes when they covered it but it really sounded off. Whereas, some singers have covered it true to its lyrics and honestly, it just sounds silly.
I still can't believe Square actually released this song back then without any proofreading involved as they actually had Alex O. Smith to localize the game and could simply consult with him. I don't see this problem in later series either with "Melodies of Life," "1000 words," or "Answers" being fine with their lyrics.

[Mr Gashtacular]

theres no reason to fix it

who cares if it has grammatical errors? what? it was written by non-native english speakers. its a product of that particular time and environment. why would you want to fix it? to make it easier for cover artists?

you might have your hopes set too high if you expect your 30 year old jrpg songs to be non-silly

[Mr Gashtacular]

Incidentally, and mods please keep this as a double post, this is the best and only worthwhile cover (timestamped 7hr58min) :

https://youtu.be/sSF9-3KdauA?t=28642

Wait for the musical solo. Beautiful and haunting.

[Aulayna]

I think at this point people are so used to it being the way it is that anything else is going to sound awkward. It's a product of its time.

[Wolf Kanno]

I feel its fine, the song is twenty years old now and no one seems to be really bothered. I do feel that if the game was ever remade though, it would likely either get a new rendition or more likely, be re-recorded by a new "popular" singer, but we'll see when that ship ever sails.

[Lord Golbez]

As best I recall, most of the problems with Eyes on Me lyrics are examples of awkward phrasing, rather than true grammatical errors. Like there's some truly unnatural sounding use of passive voice, but that's not actually a grammatical error.

[Fynn]

“Whenever sang my song” is definitely a grammatical error

That said, no, it doesn’t need to be changed

[Lord Golbez]

Yeah, that is, although I didn't know that was the actual lyrics at the time. I'm pretty sure I thought she said "I never."

By the way, I've definitely seen "whenever" in the lyrics found on the internet, but "I never" actually makes sense for Julia in FFVIII. Are you certain that's not the correct lyrics?

I was thinking more of "if frown is shown then" which is about as awkward a line as one could devise without actually making a grammatical error.

[Mr Gashtacular]

if frown is shown then is my favorite part of the song because it took me literal years of playing the game to realize those were the words she is using, lol

[MJN SEIFER]

Aside from "I kind of light it your way" (if that's what she says) I never even found anything grammatically wrong with it (which says a lot about me), but reading the examples, yeah - I get what you guys mean. To be honest, it still isn't bad it kind of sounds like she's just "cheating" a little to make the song work (even though it's more likely to be a translation thing) - like "Whenever I sang my songs" and "If a frown is shown" wouldn't fit the melody, so it kind of makes sense to "cheat" there - it still makes enough sense for it to work, in my mind.

I mean, my favorite real life song has the line "I am not always you, and you are not always mine" which isn't the best grammar - either replacing "you" with "yours" or "mine" with "me" would make more sense (more so the former, I think), but the writers have "cheated" in order to make the line rhyme with the previous one, which contains the words "blue" and "shine".

Which brings me to something I realised about "Eyes On Me" last night, which I never noticed, despite loving it for years - it doesn't rhyme. I don't mind that it doesn't, but I'm surprised I didn't notice before (I wonder if rhyming is still the hardest part of song writing for me...?)

Also, it would indeed make more sense if it was "I never sang my songs" being from Julia's perspective.

[Lord Golbez]

I'm pretty sure it's "liked" not "light."

[MJN SEIFER]

Yeah, I always thought "liked" to be honest, but then I saw someone saying "light", though they could have been joking ("liked" would make more sense.)

[Lord Golbez]

Yeah, I always thought "liked" to be honest, but then I saw someone saying "light", though they could have been joking ("liked" would make more sense.)

Well considering a google search for "I kind of light it your way" literally only returns this thread as a result, no one who's even bothered to put out lyrics for the song thinks that's the line. It's also not technically grammatically incorrect, just rationally (as in what the heck is it even supposed to mean?).

[MJN SEIFER]

Got it. They were probably joking/saying it sounds like "light" then (like when you mishear a lyric as something really silly - you know it can't be that, but that's what you here. I'm sure we've all done it at some point...)

[maybee]

If they remade FFVIII then why not ? Always thought that the song would work much better as a duet too.

[Cell]

I honestly hated the song so I don't care, so w/e is my opinion.

[Vyk]

Reminds me of some country songs where they slant their rhymes or bend words into rhythm in unnatural ways. At least it's excusable here. I think a re-imagining of the lyrics would be nice, but I don't feel offended by them. There's a lot of things about 8 that grate my nerves, this song never bothered me. In fact I never really noticed, but it's probably because I could tell the song was Japanese to start. At least it's better than Google translate

[maybee]

I gave it a go ^^;



Whenever I sang those songs
On the stage, on my own
Whenever I spoke those words
Praying that they would be heard
Looking up I saw you there smiling at me
Was this ever real or just a fantasy ?
You'd always be there in the corner
Of this tiny in little bar

Is this my last chat here with you
I can sing these old songs just once more ?
Is this my last entwine here with you
I just don't know
You know, looking back I remember
How you shyly placed your eyes on me
Oh, did you ever know?
That I had mine on yours

Darling, so there you are
With that look on your face
As if you're never hurt
As if you're never down
Shall I be the one for you
Who pinches you soft and sure ?
If your frown is showing then
I will know that you are not dreaming

So let me come to you
Close as I want to be
Close enough for me
To feel your heart beating fast
And stay there as I whisper
How much I loved your peaceful eyes on me
Daring, did you ever know
That I had mine on yours

Darling, so share with me
Your love if you have enough
your tears if you're holding back
Or pain if that's what it is
How can I let you know
I'm more than the dress and the voice
Just reach me out then
You will know that you are not dreaming

Darling, so there you are
With that look on your face
As if you're never hurt
As if you're never down
Shall I be the one for you
Who pinches you soft and sure
If your frown is showing then
I will know that you are not dreaming