Wednesday Humpday Midday Music: “Hepatica (KOS-MOS)” from Xenosaga III

This was written, as was the entire Xenosaga III soundtrack, by Yuki Kajiura, who appears to be as prolific as Yoko Kanno in terms of soundtrack work. It’s a rather pretty song, and at first listen the pulsing electronic percussion starting up at 2:48 feels out of place for something so “natural” sounding. After hearing it so many times, it becomes part of the song, but I suppose that happens with odd sonic elements in music you like to listen to.

This song’s use in the game, like a few others I have posted, is bizarre: it’s during a boss battle. The enemy, named T-elos, is the clone of one of the main characters, KOS-MOS, a superpowered android. As with many clones in stories, T-elos is posed as an enemy of the original. You also know T-elos is an antagonist because her outfit is black in contrast to KOS-MOS’ white outfit, and just a tad sluttier. The whole story is an elaborate soap opera that I don’t quite follow, so I will spare you any more details.

There are two other versions of the song on the soundtrack, both instrumental, though I’m not sure if they are used in the game or not. They are good, but it doesn’t have the same impact without the singing. I feel like using these types of songs as a boss battle should have some narrative significance, like maybe the basic melody KOS-MOS’ theme and the weirdo percussion in the middle was part of T-elos’ theme, so when they are fighting together you combine the two elements. The song itself feels kind of tragic, and there’s nothing particularly tragic about the circumstances of the battle. Maybe if the battle was against an ally, like KOS-MOS, that the other characters didn’t want to go through with for obvious reasons, but that’s not the case here.

Speaking of singing, if you’re wondering about the lyrics, here they are:

morche ta mi iya mitanu atore

iiseta ti ita menseri amore

idia dieta sibiya tore imense idito adio

acorteha adio detta imense ni adito dita maria

imiadetta sibiya tore imense idito adio

abortea adio detta imense ni adito dita maria

abortea adio detta imense ni adito dita maria

Using Google Translate to autodetect the language says it’s Lingala, which is spoken primarily in the Congo. Only some of the words are translatable into English, and I’m going to doubt that Kajiura knows, or even knows anyone who knows, the language enough to write coherent lyrics in it. Let’s assume it’s just nonsense wordsounds.

Listen below or load the mp3 of “Hepatica (KOS-MOS)” in a new tab/window.