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Lifelight

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File:Spirits are freedom.jpeg
Spirits returning to their worlds during the "Restoration" cutscene in World of Light, a literal depiction of the song's opening line

Lifelight (命の灯火, Life's Light) is the main theme for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The full vocal version and the theme's title were first revealed at the end of the November 1st, 2018 Super Smash Bros. Direct during the trailer for Adventure Mode: World of Light. Prior to this, an ominous snippet of the first verse was heard during the game's initial teaser in the March 8, 2018 Nintendo Direct, and an instrumental version of the complete melody played during the "Everyone is here!" trailer at E3 2018. The theme is composed and arranged by Hideki Sakamoto[1] and sung in Japanese by Erina Koga[2] and in English by Abby Trott[3].

In the game proper, an abridged version of Lifelight plays during the opening movie and is played in full during the true ending. Both the English and Japanese versions of Lifelight can be selected as alternate menu music in My Music after clearing World of Light. Lifelight's melody is also incorporated into most of Ultimate's original music tracks such as "Menu" and "Battlefield," as well as the Mii Fighters' victory theme.

Lyrics

The song's lyrics can be found on the game's official website, on the Music page. The lyrics can be accessed by clicking on an animated twinkling star in the background of the theme's banner.

English

Colors weave into a spire of flame
Distant sparks call to a past still unnamed
Bear this torch against the cold of the night
Search your soul and reawaken the undying light

On that day, when the sky fell away
Our world came to an end
In our eyes, did a fading sun rise in the dark?
Glimmering shadows

Silence grows, in the spaces between
stretching out beyond time
Rising up, as a chorus of souls find a voice
flickering through the void

These little sparks, cling on to life,
everyone caught in the struggle,
And then the storms of change, they fan the flames
scattering ashes to the wind

Every soul contains a whisper of light
gleaming faintly as it dwindles from sight
No escape, no greater fate to be made
In the end, the chains of time will not break

Colors weave into a spire of flame
Distant sparks call to a past still unnamed
Bear this torch against the cold of the night
Search your soul and reawaken the undying light

As fate spins a thread without end,
new life draws its first breath,
Blossoming in a soil reclaimed from the past,
where destiny holds fast,

Here where we stand, hand clenched in hand
everyone caught in the struggle,
This is the day we finally find our way
stepping into our tomorrow

Every soul contains a whisper of light
growing louder as it calls to unite
From the distance sings a chorus of souls
rising slowly, stirring heat from the coals

Colors weave into a spire of flame
Distant sparks call to a past still unnamed
Bear this torch against the cold of the night
Light will guide you, on your way to the ultimate fight

Every soul contains a whisper of light
growing louder as it calls to unite
From the distance sings a chorus of souls
rising slowly, stirring heat from the coals

Colors weave into a spire of flame
Distant sparks call to a past still unnamed
Bear this torch against the cold of the night
Light will guide you, on your way to the ultimate fight

Japanese

Kana Romaji Translation
とりどりの色たちがつむぐ 炎の螺旋

果てしなく続いてく はるかから受け継いだ光

toridori no irotachi ga tsumugu honō no rasen
hateshi naku tsudzuite ku haruka kara uketsuida hikari

A rainbow of colors spins into spiral of flame
Inherit the distant, undying light

空が落ちたあの日 目にしたのは

朽ちる明星か 尽きない宵闇か

sora ga ochita ano hi me ni shita no wa
kuchi ru myōjō ka tsukinai yoiyami ka

On that day, the sky fell away
Is there a fading sun in the endless night?

永遠(とわ)に続くような しじまの中

無数の魂が ほのかな鼓動を打つ

towa ni tsudzuku yōna shijima no naka
musū no tamashī ga hono kana kodō wo utsu

The everlasting silence in between
A myriad of souls, a faint heartbeat

命の灯火 全ての人たち

吹き抜けてゆく風に 身をゆだねたまま

inochi no tomoshibi subete no hitotachi
fukinukete yuku kaze ni mi wo yudaneta mama

Everyone's lights of life
Left their body in the wind blowing through

生けるものが かすかな光を放ち消える

悠久の刻の中駆ける さだめと絆

ikerumono ga kasukana hikari wo hanachi kieru
yūkyū no toki no naka kakeru sadame to kizuna

These living things release faint light
Unable to escape time, the chains of destiny

とりどりの色たちがつむぐ 炎の螺旋

果てしなく続いてく はるかから受け継いだ光

toridori no irotachi ga tsumugu honō no rasen
hateshi naku tsudzuite ku haruka kara uketsuida hikari

A rainbow of colors spins into spiral of flame
Inherit the distant, undying light

めぐる因果の中 息が芽吹き

新たなる命が包む この大地で

meguru inga no naka ikiga mebuki
arata naru inochi ga tsutsumu kono daichi de

As fate spins, a breath will sprout
New life will begin in this earth

戦い 交わる 全ての人たち

立ち上がり踏み出して 明日へ進みゆく

tatakai majiwaru subete no hitotachi
tachiagari fumidashite asu e susumiyuku

Everyone is caught in the struggle
Together we step forward, facing tomorrow

生けるものが かすかな光で織りなす星

悠久の彼方まで 魂たちは歌う

ikerumono ga kasukana hikari de orinasu hoshi
yūkyū no kanata made tamashi-tachi wa utau

These living things are faint light, joining into a star
Until the end of time, our souls will sing

とりどりの色たちがつむぐ 炎の螺旋

果てしなく続いてく どこまでも流れゆく光

toridori no irotachi ga tsumugu honō no rasen
hateshi naku tsudzuite ku doko ma demo nagare yuku hikari

A rainbow of colors spins into spiral of flame
Wherever you're led by the distant, undying light

Gallery

Theme video in English
Theme video in Japanese
E3 2018 version (unused in the final game)

Trivia

  • This is the first main theme to have an official title.
    • It is also the first main theme to not have its main version be officially revealed a significant amount of time after the announcement of the official game.
  • While the main theme of Super Smash Bros. Brawl has vocals in Latin, this one has vocals in both English and Japanese, a series first.
    • As a result however, and unlike Brawl, the vocals are not subtitled in any language when sung during the final credits. This causes Ultimate's main theme to have official lyrics in two languages, while Brawl's main theme had official lyrics in eight languages (including Latin) depending on the language of the game.
    • The Brawl and Ultimate main themes are also the only main themes that can be used as alternate menu music in their original forms (as opposed to remixes).
  • The English lyrics of the song on the game's official website used to contain an inconsistency in the seventh verse: the sung lyrics are "where destiny holds fast", while the printed lyrics were "where our future holds fast". On November 6th, 2018, this inconsistency was fixed on most English versions of the website, but it remained on the North American version, until it was fixed approximately two weeks later.
  • The ominous non-vocalized first verse of Lifelight heard during the game's first teaser trailer can also be heard in the World of Light opening cutscene as Kirby looks over the desolate landscape.
  • The E3 instrumental version of Lifelight, heard during the "Everyone is Here" trailer and on the Music section of the game's website, is absent, but not completely as the second to last vocal part of the song was used for the final boss fight between Galeem and Dharkon.
  • Abby Trott, the English vocalist of Lifelight, said in an interview that she had no idea she was auditioning for the role of the main vocalist in Ultimate. As a life-long fan of Nintendo, she stated that she cried when she realized exactly what she was auditioning for, and that the opportunity was "extremely special".
  • There is a grammatical error on the official lyrics. In the line "as a chorus of souls find a voice" the verb "find" doesn't correlate with the head of the noun phrase "chorus", but with its adnominal "of souls" instead.

References