"Unbending Steel" (曲がらぬ刃 〜蛮神ラーヴァナ討滅戦〜, Magaranu Ha ~Banshin Rāvana Tōmetsusen~?, lit. Unbreakable Blade ~Savage God Ravana Showdown~) is a boss theme from Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward for the primal Ravana, Lord of the Hive.
It was composed by Masayoshi Soken and arranged by Yoshitaka Suzuki and Soken. The lyrics were written by Michael-Christopher Koji Fox and the vocals were performed by Dan Inoue.
Lyrics
The official lyrics are taken from the Heavensward: Final Fantasy XIV Original Soundtrack.[1]
During the first time Ravana uses his ability rotation after casting Bloody Fuller, his attacks are timed to go off at the same time as their respective lyrics: he casts The Rose of Conviction, The Rose of Hatred, and the Rose of Conquest. This is not a typo; the singer's voice is clearly saying "the rose of conquest", but the official lyric, confusingly, is "the rose of contest".
- English
- High, on high I stand
- Gazing down to see
- The endless garden
- Awaiting me
- Red bloometh the rose of conviction
- And red bloometh the rose of hate
- Yes red bloometh the rose of contest[note 1]
- Firmly bound to its fate
- And the war, it wageth on
- The storm, it rageth on
- The bold ever fight on
- Their lives echoed in song
- Fall, like snow they fall
- Petals plucked and strewn
- Yet from their seeds grow
- This war anew
- Blood trickling down from my fullers
- And blood trickling down from mine hands
- Yes, blood trickling down to Hydaelyn
- Until I alone stand
- The war, still wageth on
- The storm, still rageth on
- The bold blindly march on
- Their lives, lost in a song
- Japanese translation
- 高みに立ち
- 見下せば
- 終わりなき園が
- 我を待つ
- 信念の薔薇は赤く咲く
- そして、憎悪の薔薇も赤く咲く
- そう、抗争の薔薇も赤く咲く
- 運命に囚われ......
- そして、戦争は続く
- 嵐は続く
- 英雄は永遠に戦い続け
- 彼らの偉業は、詩の中で鳴り響く
- 雪のように舞い落ちる
- 花びらは千切られ、散りゆく
- そう、彼らの種から育つのは
- 新たな戦争
- 我が剣の血溝より血が垂れ落ちる
- そして、我が手からも血が垂れ落ちる
- そう、ハイデリンに血が垂れ落ちる
- 我独りが残るまで
- 戦争はまだ続く
- 嵐はまだ続く
- 英雄は意味もなく行進を続け
- 彼らの偉業は、詩の中で失われる
Game appearances
Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward
"Unbending Steel" is Ravana's second theme in Thok ast Thok. It starts playing after he uses his ultimate attack, Bloody Fuller. It is track 21 on the Heavensward: Final Fantasy XIV Original Soundtrack.
Arrangement album appearances
Final Fantasy XIV: Duality ~Arrangement Album~
A band arrangement of "Unbending Steel" is performed by The Primals which appears on this album.
The Primals
An arrangement of "Unbending Steel" appears on The Primals' debut album.
Live performances
The Primals: Zepp Tour 2018 - Trial By Shadow
"Unbending Steel" was performed by The Primals in a live concert.
Compilation album appearances
Square Enix Music Sampler CD Vol.11
"Unbending Steel" from Final Fantasy XIV: Duality ~Arrangement Album~ is track 9 on the album.
Untempered: Final Fantasy XIV Primal Battle Themes
"Unbending Steel" is track 2 of disc 2 on the album.
Behind the scenes
During the development of Heavensward there were plans for "Unbending Steel" to have Gnathic or Dragonspeak lyrics before ultimately settling on English. Portions of these lyrics were shown during a panel at PAX Prime in 2015,[2] though they only corresponded to the first three verses of the song's English lyrics.
English lyrics
- High, on high I stand
- Gazing down to see
- The endless garden
- Awaiting me
- Red bloometh the rose of conviction
- And red bloometh the rose of hate
- Yes red bloometh the rose of contest
- Firmly bound to its fate
- And the war, it wageth on
- The storm, it rageth on
- The bold ever fight on
- Their lives echoed in song
Gnathic lyrics
- Dulin ast dulan ast doth
- Kalin ast Kalan ast Koth
- Thok anyx ast Ranish ast doth
- Thok vathik ast gnathik ast Koth
- Thoth oka thoth y sa kenne
- an in-a an in-a in-eth
- Thoth oka thoth dula kenne
- an in-a an in-a thon-eth
- Ast Ravana Gnath Ravana
- Gnath Ravana Ast Ravana
- Ast Ravana Gnath Ravana
- Gnath Ravana Gnath Ravana!
Dragonspeak lyrics
- Tahn aih an aih an
- Hess loh hess ala
- Whei an gron afah
- Whei an afah
- Haff gron y shall loon rhe na-a
- A haff gron y eil loon rhe na
- Ess haff gron y whor loon rhe na
- Taih ong akh ah ala
- A kohl whor ala na
- A kohl stoh ala na
- A whor gahn ala na
- Ohsk ahm in akh in na (na)
Notes
Annotations
- ↑ The official lyrics say "the rose of contest", even though the attack name and vocalist both say "the rose of conquest".
Citations
- ↑ se (2016). 'Heavensward: Final Fantasy XIV Original Soundtrack'. p. 7-8. Square Enix.
- ↑ Square Enix (n.d.) . FFXIV Koji & Soken's Wild Ride (PAX Prime 2015). YouTube. Archived from the original on August 8, 2021.