Kiss me Good-Bye

Kiss Me Good-Bye is a main song featured in the video game Final Fantasy XII (Playstation 2). The song was composed by Nobuo Uematsu, arranged by Kenichiro Fukui, and with lyrics by Angela Aki, who is also the vocalist.

I had started this project almost two years ago and have been arranging it on and off but haven’t found time to typeset the actual score until now. These projects can take anywhere from 4 to 40 hours, depending on the inherent complexity of the source song or composition, and this one was definitely one of the more challenging ones. Incidentally, since my last video, I have upgraded to Sibelius 6, which allows for very complex slurs. You will first see them at measure 24 and then throughout the chorus. Measure 49 shows a more advanced usage of the slur.

You may notice that I have provided two introductions. Introduction I is heard in the English version. It is slighly easier and slower. Introduction II is heard in the DVD Japanese music video that comes with the limited edition CD release of “Kiss me Good-Bye.” It is accompanied by strings with some nice, artistic close ups of Angela Aki performing at the piano.

In this arrangement, the tricky part is bringing out the melodic line as it often crosses under the other parts which serve to harmonize and emulate the orchestral parts. It is important to keep a steady beat and not to rush. At bar 30, there is a chord that immediately comes after an ascending scale, which can be challenging to play correctly. It is advisable to take a slight ritard and roll the chord if it helps.