Music of The Video Game: Soundtrack To A Generation

For the last 60 to 70 years, western society has drawn links between a generation of young people and the popular music created during their time as young people. We tend to collectively assume that the music produced during someone’s formative years, especially music designated as “iconic”, is that generation’s music. It belongs to the people who came of age when it was released, and therefore cannot be understood or appreciated as much by people from outside their timeframe. The Beatles belong to the youth of the 1960s, in the same way that Nirvana belonged to the youth of the 1990s. You could make the case for artists and their young constituents today: Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran spring to mind. But this does not seem to be as clear-cut as being the only place in which young people draw out the music they find inspiring and symptomatic of their circumstance. A big reason: the Internet, where people have much more music from which to choose, thus interpretations of what they consider to be ‘their’ music will differ more greatly. There is another place where young people have drawn inspiration from outside the sphere of pop music, and although definitely facilitated by the Internet, it has – in many ways – run parallel to it. It has crept slowly into the public consciousness to be viewed independently of its format, and enjoyed as both recreational and inspiring listening. I’m referring to the music of video games.

Not too long ago, I was teaching an acquaintance some guitar skills. Though this individual did not know any chords, they knew a piece of instrumental music composed and written for the video game, The Last of Us. It struck me that everybody of the same age group as me were familiar with both the video game and its musical score. Because of this, I decided to undertake a bit of research into this sphere. Straight away, I noticed that seminal musical scores have been a feature of video games for as long as there have been video games. From the earliest days of Pac Man, Donkey Kong and Tetris, their respective themes were largely synthesiser-driven little melodies. Throughout the decade from the 80’s to the 90’s, the scores become a little more sophisticated. A good example of this is the “Overture” from the original Dragon Warrior game; you can sense that the designers were trying to do something on a slightly grander scale, or at the very least something different. It is still largely synth-based, but you can hear a myriad of classical influences in the structure. This would soon be built upon and surpassed by famous titles such as The Legend of Zelda with its “Overworld” theme and Final Fantasy with its “Prelude” and “Victory” themes.

By the 1990s, musical scores had become routine features of video games. During that decade, game music was influenced by chart music and attempts were made to even compete with it. Before that, scores were either cute, simplistic tunes, or attempts to emulate archaic classical styles to fit with the theme of the game (both of which were most welcome and continue to be important up to the present). Direct attempts to reflect popular culture, such as the “DK Rap” from Donkey Kong 64, were informed by hip-hop, while “Escape from the City” from Sonic Adventure 2 held a pop/rock-influenced sound. It is also notable that the two games incorporated lyrics in to their music.

Into the millennium and 2010s, game scores became increasingly sophisticated. This was the era in which game companies began to accrue larger budgets on a similar scale to Hollywood films and television. They could afford to be more sophisticated. The Halo franchise and its main theme included multi-harmony songs reminiscent of medieval choral music. Other examples include the release of the Elder Scrolls V Skyrim and its “Main Theme”, where an entire orchestra was employed along with crescendos and Wagnerian Viking-age chants. Considering how much of a success these two franchises became, it’s not surprising that their music became emblematic for an entire generation. As mentioned in my earlier anecdote, The Last of Us is a classical guitar piece with a Renaissance-era feel, which I highly recommend giving a listen to (if you’ve not already done so).

Other forms of media have knocked popular music from its perch during the late 20^th century. Although it will not be the whole story, when looking back and taking the time to consider what is “their” generations’ music, it is likely that the music of video games occupies more than just a passing chapter in that tale.