I didn't play Majora's Mask when it first came out, and thank heavens I didn't — I probably would have just quit playing video games then and there. I mean, I used to have nightmares about the wind sound effects in Ocarina of Time (in my defence, they're creepy); I don't know how I would have handled the existential dread and constant threat of death that permeates Majora's Mask.
But now that I am an adult, and I am very brave, I have completed Majora's Mask — thank you, thank you, I am a hero — and the music, I have to say, is one of my favourite Zelda soundtracks ever. Despite that, I will almost never listen to it, because I am guaranteed to be on edge for the rest of the day.
It all begins with the Clock Town Theme, which is also the theme on the title screen; in keeping with the general narrative device of "time", it gets faster and more frantic each day. You might not even notice (at least, I didn't; I said I was brave, not observant), but instead feel a general sense of anxiety and tension on the Final Day, when there is so much to do, and literally so little time.
The soundtrack as a whole is stuffed with ominous horns, cymbal clashes, weird dynamics, and dissonant noises of all kinds, representing the unease at the heart of the game's story: two kids, Link and the Skull Kid, struggling with identity and not knowing where they belong. Majora's Theme, which plays as soon as you meet the Skull Kid, sets the general ~tone~ of the game's music: a slow dirge, unsettling and tense, but with a core of melancholy. Much like discordant music in general, it feels like it needs fixing — which is precisely what you need to do.
This unnerving music is, of course, balanced by the Song of Healing, a gentle melody that acts as a balm for your ears, just as it's supposed to. It's the knot that keeps Majora's Mask together: Link plays it to fix a lot of things, but largely he uses it to make people know that it's okay that everything is a little broken, too.
The Song of Healing is incredibly melancholy, because the game is, too: even in its brighter moments, the message is still one of finding the strength to move on. The Song of Healing tells us this with its sorrowful, bittersweet sound: it's a song of accepting that change is heartbreaking, but necessary. Healing is not making the hurt go away, but learning to live on, with hurt in your heart.
The Majora's Mask soundtrack reminds me of the Japanese art of kintsugi, which is all about fixing broken pottery with gold, thereby making the "broken" piece even more beautiful than before by highlighting its flaws and its history. Termina needs saving, but many of its issues existed long before the moon began to crash down, and it's Link's job to fix those cracks before he can even think about saving them from the much larger threat.
Likewise, the songs feel like they've been broken and reassembled; like a warped bench, they're supposed to make you feel uncomfortable. The game is the same: with a one-year time limit, they were forced to repurpose a lot of Ocarina's assets to save effort, and the result is something that's a little messy, extremely weird, and all the more beautiful for it.
But if Termina at the start is unbroken, and Termina at the end is broken, but stitched together again, then my favourite pieces are the ones in the middle, where everything is in tatters. And none of them are more emblematic of that fragmented state than the Elegy of Emptiness, which comes at the apex of tension in the game: right after Link has unlocked the Deku Mask, the Zora Mask, and the Goron Mask, all of which allow him to change his form.
The Elegy of Emptiness is a funereal song, which is fitting for a tune that allows Link to create lifeless statues of those who have died to help him. It is taught to you by a boss who turns out to not be evil at all — just cursed. He tells Link to believe in his friends, and forgive failure, and provides him with the Elegy in order to summon "a soldier who has no heart". The text refers to the statues left behind as "shells" — as if Link himself is shedding his skin.
When you learn the Elegy of Emptiness, everything is real sad. A bunch of people you've met are dead. You've witnessed loneliness, heartbreak, loss, and grief. You know what you need to do — summon the four giants — but you've seen so much misery that it's hard to press on. Everything is broken, but you have all the pieces, and the only thing to do now is put them back together again.
But that nihilism and exhaustion is perfectly rendered in the Elegy of Emptiness. It's the absolute nadir of the game's story, and it's easily the creepiest of all the songs as a result... and yet, despite the misery of it, the harsh horns, and the uneasy strings, there's that delicate piano in the background, and the resolution of it almost sounds reassuring. If this song could tell you a story, it would be one of pushing on, taking that first step, and picking up the pieces, even if you don't want to.
Looking back at Ocarina of Time, which took over twice as long to make than Majora's Mask, the music is mostly grand, sweeping, heroic stuff; very fitting for an epic adventure that's straight out of a fairytale, with good guys versus bad guys. (I still think Temple of Time is creepy, but that might just be me.)
Ocarina follows a very typical hero's journey, but Majora's Mask is a story about a nobody who failed, time and time again. He has been abandoned by his fairy guide. For most of the game, he's not battling a "bad guy"; the main antagonist is just a lonely child that goes a little bit crazy with power, but he's not evil. And on top of it all, this Link has not saved the world — in fact, he only just manages to save one small town in the end, and according to the Zelda Encyclopedia, Termina actually disappears after Link leaves:
"While the hero's pure heart allows the world of Termina to momentarily revel in its salvation, as soon as he departs, that world ceases to exist."
You can't really make the point that "everything is futile" any stronger than that, eh?
The greatest strength of the Zelda series has always been its music — there's a reason everyone knows the iconic Fairy Fountain, after all — but great music doesn't always mean it's fun to listen to. Majora's Mask achieves its aims of completely creeping you out by making you wish you were listening to just about anything else.
If you want to read more about Majora's Mask's music from an actual musician, you should definitely check out Jake Butineau's breakdown of why the soundtrack is so great. And if you want to read more of our VGM Fest features, you can find them all here — including interviews with the composers of Minecraft, Hades, Celeste, and Journey!
Comments 29
You know, I think I might actually find Ocarina of Time’s soundtrack creepier. Forest Temple, Shadow Temple, Temple of Time, Fire Temple (original) and Dodongo’s Cavern are all pretty creepy sounding. Ikana Valley is pretty horrifying though, eugh.
It might be well known, but Materia collective put out a Majora's mask remix album a few years ago that has several great tracks. https://www.materiacollective.com/music/fate-a-tribute-to-majoras-mask
The game has some of the most haunting tracks but it also has some of the most beautiful, which makes the contrast between them have the haunting ones stand out all the more. The song of healing going back and forth with minor and major tones is fantastic
OOT had more variety to the music. It felt like the music of a world.
MM however had stronger music to fit a theme. All the songs felt like they were part of the same movement.
This is one of my favourite games. I didn't like Skyward Sword and
Breath of the Wild very much but this, Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess are almost perfect games. I checked the unofficial Redux Edtion and I was wondering if Nintendo will ever remake Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. I love the 3DS version of Ocarina of Time, a resolution boost would be welcome, though, but Majora's Mask was watered down on 3DS.
Anyway, this is the Nintendo I fell in love with but yet it's quite different to today's Nintendo.
I think the theme of Majora beats most video game soundtracks and their entirety on its own. When Nintendo does true evil, it does it very well. I welcome breath of the wild 2 to be the most horrid and scarring thing since Majora by a long shot. I love evil Nintendo. Not Bad Bowser Nintendo.
I remember getting transported to the glade with the tree near the end and being gobsmacked by the silence after spending so many hours in a world where every space has a melody. I love how MM plays with the idea of contrast in so many ways.
Probably the saddest remix I made https://youtu.be/YRXialCs1L8
Twilight Princess music is spooky too. Real Silent Hill vibes.
As someone who got the game as their first game they owned themselfs instead of belong to their brothers. I got it on my fifth birthday and yes, I got a looot of nightmares because of it. Just seeing the mask was enough.
But after a bit more than a decade I'm over it and it has one of my fav soundtracks in gaming.
While the soundtrack may not be as iconic, when compared to Ocarina of Time I still prefer the soundtrack, but I am a fan of songs in the minor keys. They tend to convey more emotion, at least to me.
Yeah, the music in Majora's Mask definitely elevates the eerie, offbeat tone of the game. I love how the music in Clock Town gets more ominous and sinister as you get closer to end of the final day. I really enjoy this orchestral rendition,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYBimc0zBQk
Nice read.
This really brings me back. My favorite would actually have to be the Boss Battle music. It's simple, catchy, and upbeat with a sense of urgency.
I’m a doctoral student in piano. The reason Majora’s Theme and tracks such as the swamp, etc. are uncomfortable for your ears are because of an excess of the interval of a tritone, splitting an octave exactly halfway and creating a dissonant effect (such as C to F-sharp). This interval, transposed to a G to C-sharp, is also the namesake of Pokémon’s Ghetsis (Ghe = G, Cis = C#) and this is reflected in his battle theme, which is mainly timpani and choir banging out G/C#. The tritone was actually banned by the Catholic church in the Middle Ages because it was thought to be the devil’s interval.
The Elegy of Emptiness is so dissonant because it starts out with not only a tritone (B-flat to E) but also a MAJOR SEVENTH on top of that (A). The major seventh is the most dissonant interval possible next to the tritone. To have a video game piece start on this “chord” is absolutely incredible and inventive, and things like Majora’s Mask are really appreciated by musicians because of it.
Also, the Great Bay Temple is probably my favorite dungeon music in the series. Such a great ominous atmosphere.
@SlowPokemon Nice writeup! I'm a pianist myself so I had to poke out the notes of the Elegy on my piano to see how it fit together.
That said, the devil's interval story, while a lot of fun, is just an urban legend. Might've got passed around due to the uneasy nature of the chord, but there doesn't seem to be any history in Catholicism of it being banned. https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/did-the-vatican-outlaw-the-devil-in-music
@MatthewTaranto The more you know! I’ll have to take that up with my undergrad professors 🧐
@Ocaz i doubt Nintendo is gonna make Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 as the scariest/darkest Legend of Zelda game, just look at the E3 2021 trailer of the game, there no darkness on it.
You missed Astral Observatory! The real MVP of the Majora’s soundtrack.
In all seriousness, the fact that they turned around MM inside a year is simply incredible. I get the reusing of assets and characters, but it’s so tonally and structurally different from OoT that it’s hard to imagine something so intricate and complex being constructed inside 12 months. I entirely concur with you Kate, the soundtrack is also the series’ best. It’s so evocative of the game’s mood whilst still sounding like Zelda.
But that was MM’s genius. That a game made 20 years ago, with all the restrictions that entailed, could be so thematically deep, and come as close to the “games as art” subculture that has developed in recent years is testament to just what an achievement MM really was.
I know many would love to see remakes of the N64 games, but I feel they’re so of their time (no pun intended) that any attempt to remake them would feel wrong.
I love majoras mask, but I think it has one of the weaker Zelda soundtracks. The Termina Field music is just a copy of the original Zelda theme and seems inappropiate given the alien setting. Also, the music of most remaining regions are just slight variants of the same track.
The version of the song of healing when you're inside the clock tower at the start of the game (or feel like going back inside to listen to it) is just incredibly haunting. It's one of my go-to mentions when people ask for this sort of thing, where it just feels like something is... wrong.
@ap0001 Haunting as heck, right?
Coincidentally, this was written as I’m playing Majora’s mask (the 3DS version) for the first time!
Honestly, aside from the opening scenes and the occasional flashbacks, the game doesn’t strike me as creepy, just sad. Every character you help out or meet (well, most) is simply lost. Lonely. Maybe needing a friend. But creepy? I’d argue that does this game’s music a disservice - but, then again, maybe I haven’t played enough of the game yet.
@SlowPokemon Thank you for putting into words what I couldn't! I'm just like "the notes are spooky because they sound bad" 😅
@KateGray Not bad—dissonant!
@SlowPokemon good point! Dissonance is a useful tool!
Great article. I think Termina ceasing to exist after link leaves implies it was some kind of delusion or psychosis that only existed in links head. But I don't want to believe this, Termina is such a rich world and in some parallel universe/dimension/reality it does still exist. I'm not accepting it disappears when link leaves.
MM taught me that I am sensitive to musical dissonance. The opening song still makes me nauseous to this day and I tossed cookies as a kid when I heard it.
This isn’t a complaint, I think it is brilliant that the soundtrack can convey the “wrongness” of Majora and the desolation of Termina (as well as the hope). I’ve always said that much of MM’s ost is an attempt to convey what insanity feels like via music. Such a moving and disturbing soundtrack. One of the reasons that MM is one of my favorite games.
For many many years, Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time would dance around each other and complement each other in just an incredible way. After I completed MM, I'd think: that was harrowing, and weird, and off. I want to triumph through the epic of Hyrule. So I'd play OOT again, and I'd think: that was pure gold, but where's the giant turtle? Where's the heartwrenching dead people, the swamp, the ocean, the water temple with pipes and turbines and freeze arrows? So I'd play MM again. And so on, for year upon year.
The music is such a huge part of all that. Many games have a swamp and an ocean. But MM's places claw out at you with their abnormal, melancholy tunes.
This is a well written article!
MM is the strangest Zelda game so it's fitting that it has the strangest soundtrack. It's sad and moving at the same time.
To me the creepiest bit of MM’s soundtrack is the music the ‘yoga’ dancers move to, made even worse when you hear it as a faint whistle on Termina field near the ‘yoga’ instructor when he’s practicing there at night.
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