I'd like to break my intermittent vow of silence on this blog to talk about Kyle Gabler's World of Goo Soundtrack. If you haven't heard of the soundtrack, go here. If you haven't heard of the game, go here (though you could just as easily googled it yourself).
If you've played World of Goo, you'll know that the soundtrack adds to the game in a very alimental way. There are influences from Elfman, Zimmer, and other great movie composers, and artistic influences from Tim Burton. You should really just play it; you don't have to be a gamer to enjoy video games after all. (The specific nuances and annoyances surrounding this stereotype are not something I'll go into right now.)
Sometime along the line, I thought, "Wouldn't it be great if there was a medley of these great songs? A fluid piece of music that celebrated Kyle Gabler's music." Well, turns out, someone did perform a medley of the soundtrack, and put it on YouTube... but he left out a lot. And the themes of each piece don't exactly segue into each other nicely. If you were to lean back, close your eyes, and listen to it, you could push a button every time the musical selection changed. A proper medley should have similar themes for each selection, and gradually change as the song progressed.
Unfortunately, I lack the musical skill necessary to arrange and perform my own medley, but I can tell everyone else how I would do it myself. This is the order in which I selected tracks from the soundtrack and arranged them in foobar2000 to play after another:
Imagine: you entered a concert hall. You hear something about a video game and a medley. You sit back, waiting for disaster. To ease the casual listener, the medley starts with a simple, relaxing piece that introduces the theme of innocence. It's a short piece, so it opens the way for the real theme song of World of Goo:
- 01. World of Goo Beginning
And then, immediately afterwords:
The above two sound so obviously similar that they just have to come next to each other in a medley. It would be disruptive if they didn't. But Tumbler ends differently then World of Goo Beginning. It has a longer, more easing end. Which leads to the next track:
The soft strings would ease up in volume, and the fast-paced accordians in Tumbler would segue into the fast-paced strings in Jelly.
Now, the next two are more of a toss-up, but the order I chose was:
- 08. Rain Rain Windy Windy
- 04. Another Mysterious Pipe Appeared
What is going on so far is a gradual transition from soft, innocent-sounding instruments, to hard, bold instruments. Strings are prominent in the first tracks, and organs and horns become the more prominent instruments later on. The next track takes this all the way with:
One of the themes of World of Goo is a progress from innocence to progress, and the increase of stress and disharmony as a result. The next track fits perfectly with this view:
- 14. Happy New Year (tm) Brought to You By Product Z
At this point, the medley takes on a more event-driven mood. Think of it like this: with bold, disharmonious dreams comes spiritual awakening:
...and with it, hard labor and devotion and sacrifice:
Of course, when arranging the songs, I wanted the songs to progress roughly by the order in which they were encountered: Threadcutter is the overworld theme of Chapter 2, and Cog in the Machine is the overworld theme of Chapter 3. There's one last song that occurs early on that I had to stick in here, because there was no other place to put it:
- 06. Regurgitation Pumping Station
I suppose it could refer to the general deterioration of the spirit with hard work. Or something like that.
This is one of those mid-medley pauses that releases the tension of the piece. It's the overworld theme of Chapter 4. The part where all the progress has paid off. The tension of RPS pays off in a metaphorical "look out on the horizon, this is what's been done."
Well, okay, I don't how I choose an order. But since Chapter 4 hosts a whole new series of specifically tailored musical pieces, this is a nice piece to start the second half with. After this piece comes its thematic counterpoint:
- 15. Welcome to the Information Superhighway
And, in my mind, the next piece would sound so perfect after this one:
Again, sound-similar songs should go next to each other in a medley. That's one of the few things you can learn from Nico Nico Douga without learning Japanese.
- 16. Graphic Processing Unit
This song starts on the same notes that Screamer ended on, so it forms a natural bridge. The next song uses similar-sounding instruments:
- 20. Inside the Big Computer
And then, with the same mood but different instruments:
I quickly dispose of order of first appearance if it sounds nice.
So, back to similar instruments with a slightly different mood:
- 20. Are You Coming Home, Love MOM
And now, for a song to use that same mood to pull us out of Gloomville (where the grass is dead, the old folks are dead, and your car battery is dead) and take us in a different direction:
- 25. Red Carpet Extend-o-matic
After that piece has pumped us up, one final piece to optimize us before the final themes are played:
- 23. The Last of the Goo Balls and the Telescope
Now, the optimistic theme of rejuvenation after sacrifice (or something like that, figure it out yourself after playing the game), and the second-to-last piece of music that you hear in the game (well, third-to-last if you include the credits):
At this point, it's time to revisit the old themes, and wrap things up:
- 22. Ode to the Bridge Builder
- 27. World of Goo Ending
That last track I always imagine would be more kickass in the concert hall, as there would more instruments, performing all the little themes that appeared throughout the medley, while the central theme blares above it, ending in a magnificent and satisfying closing.
Well, maybe someone "out there" will get inspired and tell me about this. In the meantime, feel free to arrange this in your own media player and save the playlist. Hope this entertains you as much as it entertains me.
