Lifelight
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 the official reveal of the vocals, an ominous snippet was teased during the March 8, 2018 Nintendo Direct, and was later revealed in instrumental remix during E3 2018. Both remixes are unable to be played at all in the final game, though the ominous teased version plays briefly during the beggining cutscene of World of Light. The theme is composed and arranged by Hideki Sakamoto[1], sung in English by Abby Trott, and in Japanese by Erina Koga[2]. Both the English and Japanese versions of "Lifelight" can be selected as alternate menu music in My Music after clearing World of Light.
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 |
A rainbow of colors spins into spiral of flame |
| 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 |
On that day, the sky fell away |
| 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 |
The everlasting silence in between |
| 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 |
Everyone's lights of life |
| 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 |
These living things release faint light |
| 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 |
A rainbow of colors spins into spiral of flame |
| 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 |
As fate spins, a breath will sprout |
| 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 |
Everyone is caught in the struggle |
| 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 |
These living things are faint light, joining into a star |
| 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 |
A rainbow of colors spins into spiral of flame |
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.
- A part of the theme is used for the Mii Fighters victory theme.
- An ominous non-vocalized first verse of Lifelight can be heard during the game's first teaser trailer. The same remix can be heard in the World of Light opening cutscenes as Kirby overlooks 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".[3]
