Top 10 FF Character Themes: #10, Bartz's Theme

As an introduction to this, I'm going to be doing a regular blog update, each one about a different Final Fantasy character's theme as part of the 25th Anniversary Celebrations. Although some of us don't have the time or desire to play through a big long FF game anymore, I think we can all take a couple of minutes to listen to some great music and feel nostalgic. I'll be satisfied even if you skip over my words and just have the songs playing in the background as you go about your internet business.

First up, we have Bartz's theme.


For those of you who don't know who Bartz is, or even those who do, hop on over to this thread. It's incredible. Anyway, Bartz is the main character of FFV and like all good heroes, his parents have sadly died prior to the game. This song is called "My Home, Sweet Home", and plays when you return to his home village of Lix.

The song itself is really poignant and evokes memories, which is relevant to Bartz given his past, but I also think it would evoke memories in the listener. It makes me remember my childhood and my home.

I'd struggle to call it a sad song, but I wouldn't say it's particularly happy either. It is what it is. It keeps things simple and doesn't get overbearing, even though it is a touch repetetive.

I plan on posting different versions and remixes of the songs too. Here's one from Dear Friends:


The addition of the vocals is a little jarring at first, but after a while I started to get into it and enjoyed it. For some reason I can picture a Viking woman singing this. A girly, feminine viking woman, if such things existed!


This is from the piano collection, and I think it is really interesting how the tone varies, from melancholy to upbeat.

So what do you think of this song? What does it make you remember? Should it be higher than #10?