"Unexpected Love," a Hyde Fan Soundtrack For Trigun
I was originally going to post this on fst, but thanks to their new rule that no .wma files be allowed in FSTs, it's going here and to ragingbeat.
01: Unexpected (Japanese with some English)
Unexpected
Promises woven
Unexpected
Through space and time the path unwinds
Leading me straight to you
Wolfwood never expected to fall in love (or deep, platonic friendship, whichever you prefer) when he was assigned on behalf of the Gung Ho Guns to bring Vash back to Knives and protect him from everyone else in the Guns. Vash never expected to fall in love with a man he'd meet in the desert, but once they met, it happened so fast they were inseparable before they knew it. This song is one of Hyde's best, in my opinion, and one that truly dovetails with the pairing.
02: Prayer
I'm crossing the borderline
God's on my side
The sacrifice
We make in heaven's name
I'm praying
But there's no escape
It's a song about a man who kills for his religion, a man who believes in his mission as a killer until something begins to make him question everything he's ever stood for. Wolfwood is a man like that, someone who is able to justify taking lives as a judgment, only to realize just how empty the life of a killer is.
03: A Drop Of Colour
Oh why does hate bring forth more hate?
A long abandoned fruit
is hastening the process of decay
This country's starved, it's void of feeling
This song could be Vash to Wolfwood, or Wolfwood to Vash. It so conveys just the emotional depth of their relationship, whether it be a deep friendship or the bond between friends who have become lovers, and the common outlook both share on their world, one of veiled hope and jaded cynicism, one of shared sorrow and love. Also, it's a very interesting blending of styles, including both an ensemble soft rock ballad and a jazz saxophone solo.
04: Angel's Tale (English)
here in my heart
memories linger
i hold them sacred
safe from all others
angel's tale
Hyde truly shows his vocal range here, carrying off a 50s doo-wop style for this love song almost flawlessly. This is one of the songs that convinced me that this FST was a good idea, because the words of this song so match the relationship of Wolfwood and Vash in Trigun so flawlessly. Whether you think they actually had sex or not, or whether they were lovers or just very good friends, this was their relationship as it developed through canon, both influencing the other, both showing the other something that was so priceless and irreplacable that Wolfwood held a place second only to Rem for Vash.
05: Secret Letters (English)
Sorrow seals our lips tightly
Horror stalks our sleep nightly
But my heart escapes from this attic room
I'm running freely though the town
This song reminds me a lot of episode 11 of the anime and Wolfwood and Vash's parting there. It's very sad, very wistful, and a song that, due to its reliance on stringed and wind instruments and an odd beat reminiscent of Western/Southwestern music at some points while sounding synthesized and more orchestral, then going back into that odd sound, really sounds very similar to Imahori's canon soundtrack. This is one of my "if you don't download anything else, grab this one" recommends.
06: Masquerade
So Lord, why do you watch from the sidelines?
War, it's being fought on the frontlines
Say, what is your final intention?
Lord, I've kinda lost my conviction
Ooh, looks like we have another Wolfwood song. This one's a bit more Engrishy than the rest of the all-English songs here, though, and may not be to the taste of non-Jrock fans. I personally think it could use a fair bit of improvement, but as a lyrics over music fan, I thought it deserved a place here.
07: Hideaway
Come on and take a walk outside
it's just the day for it
arehateta ashimoto
You've grown a bit of a jungle
minai furi suru akka
It's time to make a stand
chimeishou ni naru mae ni
You've gotta tear it up and destroy
One of the Japanese-Engrish songs I have on this FST, this song just so works as an opening or ending theme. I can see it almost perfectly fitting episode 18 or the first Trigun Maximum manga, where Wolfwood and Vash meet up again after the Fifth Moon incident, and Wolfwood is attempting to talk Vash into coming out of "retirement" to face both the town's immediate threat and the threat of Knives.
08: New Days Dawn
Do you really know the truth?
It only has one face
Even if you die - you've no clue
That man standing by your side
Perhaps he knows the truth
But it may not exist at all
It's a song that could go very well for both the darker hours of Wolfwood and Vash's relationship, or for in the manga when Legato finally begins to question Knives. It has a very different sound than the rest of this FST, very reminiscent of both Malice Mizer's "Illuminati" and of the canon music in Trigun. What's not to love?
09: Countdown (English)
Stay on my side
I break through the wall
Change of fate
Let us exceed
Nothing's guaranteed
Are you in?
This is a spoiler for Trigun, so if you don't want to be spoiled, don't highlight the following. Wolfwood is a member of the Gung Ho Guns, the group of assassins sent to capture and/or kill Vash. Originally, he was to be Vash's escort to lead him to Knives, but by the time they arrived at Sky City/The City of Mist, Wolfwood had decided to betray Knives rather than betray Vash, a decision that would eventually lead to his death in both universes. This song, a driving rock ballad, is about the idea of someone risking his life, his future, everything to protect someone else whom he has come to cherish more than anything, despite knowing it's all probably going to fall apart.
10: Season's Call (Japanese)
You taught me how to love. I feel.
I can do anything.
Yume ni egaku sekai wo kimi no me no mae ni hirogetai
Dakara kowaku nai yo asu mo
My beloved season calls me.
Because I always feel you in me.
This is another one of those songs that really, in my opinion, exemplifies the relationship between Wolfwood and Vash. Both show the other sides of themselves that they had so long refused existed, the ability to give and receive, the ability to truly love and be loved, to truly feel. This may be a bit of TMI, but I've written my last few lemons while listening to this song, because it does help my plotbunnies muchly ^_^ Not to mention that Hyde's sensuality really shows here in his breathy gasps and almost moaned lyrics. . .
11: Oasis
This desert road's forever winding
It saps your strength - it has no exit
The drying wind
The burning sun
I'm tossing the burnt out engine aside
This song reminds me of what I've read of the later manga. Wolfwood, having been mortally wounded already trying to rescue Vash, has to get to the orphanage to help Vash save Aunt Melanie and the children from Livio and Master Chapel. They're walking through the desert, Wolfwood barely able to support himself, yet telling Vash he's fine and to stop whining and worrying, nevertheless, he knows, probably more than Vash does, that he's not going to survive even if the next battle wasn't to be.
12. Evergreen (English Ensemble)
The bells have rung the time has come
I cannot find the words to say my last goodbye
This scenery is evergreen
You've always been so dear to me
This is a soft, sad ballad. I very much see this as almost perfectly aligning with Wolfwood's death in the manga, as he recalls his life and shares a final drink with Vash at the orphanage, having saved it for the time being. He knows he's too injured to live, that he can't go on, and the sadness and yearning in this song really connects to that very well, as in the manga, he can tell how much Vash is grieving despite trying his best to hide it.
13. The Cape Of Storms (Last Quarter Mix, English)
You'll never notice
The colour of sin
Just as the storm clouds closes in
It's dark
Here in the shadows
I am pursued
Until the ends of the earth
Embraced
This is the quintessential Vash song for a FST like this. Some people may think it a bit wangsty, but it seems to very much reflect the sad, depressed, desperate side of Vash that is so often either overlooked or misinterpreted as "ukeish." Because in the end, no matter what happens, he will never truly be normal, never be anything other than a wanderer lost, without those he has cared for most and without even an expectation of safety, much less one of lasting happiness or peace, and now he's without one of the few people he has cared for the most in his life, for the first time in a few years, truly alone.
If these don't work or you have other issues, post here and I'll e-mail you the songs in a zip or rar file.