He is best known for his work on the Silent Hill series for which he composed all the music and sound effects in all seven current games (excluding Silent Hill Play Novel for Game Boy Advance). Some of the music from the first four games was also remixed and used in the Silent Hill movie. He also played a doubly important role as producer of the third and fourth Silent Hill games (which were available for PlayStation 2/PC and PlayStation 2/Xbox/PC). His music from Silent Hill 2 was performed live in 2005 at the third Symphonic Game Music Concert in Leipzig, Germany and at the world-premiere of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony Live! on May 27, 2006 in Chicago, Illinois, where Yamaoka himself accompanied the orchestra with an electric guitar. As well, Yamaoka actively composes music for Konami's Bemani line of games, particularly, the Beatmania IIDX series.
His first original, non-soundtrack album, iFUTURELIST, was released in January 2006.
Career
He joined Konami on September 21, 1993 after previously being a freelance music composer. He is most well known for his work for the Silent Hill series of video games, for which he composed all the music and sound effects in the whole series (excluding Silent Hill Play Novel for the Game Boy Advance and Esperándote in Silent Hill, composed by 村中りか (Rika Muranaka)). Since Silent Hill 3, he is playing a more important role as the series' producer, also continuing with his music composition working.
Yamaoka's sound commonly contains strong melancholy undertones and generally identifies with the dark ambient, industrial, trip-hop and rock genres. Since Silent Hill 3, he also started working in collaboration with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Joe Romersa for vocal compositions.
Much of his work from previous titles has been compiled for the 2006 Silent Hill movie adaptation, directed by Christophe Gans.
His music from Silent Hill 2 was performed live in 2005 at the third Symphonic Game Music Concert in Leipzig, Germany. Yamaoka also performed music from Silent Hill at the world-premiere of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony Live! on May 27, 2006 in Chicago, Illinois, and accompanied the orchestra with an electric seven-string guitar. He also composed songs for Konami's Bemani series, which has also featured tracks from Silent Hill.
His first original album, iFUTURELIST, was released in January 2006. He also wrote the theme of 101%, the main show of the French TV channel Nolife.
On December 2, 2009, it was announced that Yamaoka was leaving his long term employer Konami.
Personal Life
Before working as a video game composer, Yamaoka initially sought a career as a designer, but instead became a musician after studying product design at Tokyo Art College.
In 1993 he joined Konami to work on the game Rocket Knight Adventures 2. When Konami began searching for a musician to compose Silent Hill's score, Yamaoka volunteered because he thought he was the only one capable of making the soundtrack.
Yamaoka stated in a 2009 interview that his favorite game creator is Suda 51 and his favorite video game is No More Heroes.
I Want Love
Akira Yamaoka Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Although it's not enough to fill my heart
I want a barrel full of love
Although I know it's not enough to fill my heart
I want a river full of love
But then I know the holes will still remain
I need an ocean full of love
And this swiss-cheese heart knows
Only kindness can fill its holes
And love can dry my tears
As pain disappears
I need a miracle and not someone's charity now
One drop of love from him
And my heart's in ecstasy
The high that is sending me
Is most likely ending me
I need a miracle and not someone's charity now
Fill up my heart with love
Oh, you'd be amazed at how little i need from him
To feel complete here and now
Stirring within me
Are these feelings I can't ignore
I need a miracle and that's what i'm hoping for
I need a miracle and not someone's charity now
One drop of love from him
And my heart's in ecstasy
The high that is sending me
Is most likely ending me
I need a miracle and not someone's charity now
Oh, baby
Anybody's love but his will never fill this space within me
Now doctor, give me what i need to free my heart from misery
The song "I Want Love" by Akira Yamaoka is an introspective reflection on the desire for love and the search for completion. The lyrics describe the singer's longing for an abundance of love that will overflow and fill their heart, yet they also acknowledge that even the biggest expressions of love may not be enough. The metaphor of a cup, then a barrel, then a river, and finally an ocean represent the different levels of love the singer desires, but each time they come to the realization that there will still be "holes" in their heart that need to be filled.
The solution to this dilemma is found in the last verse. The singer understands that what they truly need is kindness to fill those holes, and the love they seek will help dry their tears and make the pain disappear. The line "I need a miracle and not someone's charity now" suggests that the singer is done with temporary fixes and seeks a permanent solution. They desire a deep, intimate connection with someone that will leave them feeling complete and content.
Overall, "I Want Love" is a powerful expression of the human yearning for love and the hope that it offers for healing and fulfillment. It's a universal sentiment that many people can relate to, and the raw honesty of the lyrics is what makes the song so impactful.
Line by Line Meaning
I want a cup that overflows with love
I desire to have a never-ending supply of love in my life
Although it's not enough to fill my heart
Despite having love already, it is not enough to satisfy me completely
I want a barrel full of love
I desire to have an abundant amount of love in my life
Although I know it's not enough to fill my heart
Even though having a lot of love is good, it still won't satisfy me completely
I want a river full of love
I crave a vast amount of love in my life
But then I know the holes will still remain
Even if I have an abundance of love, my emotional pain will still exist
I need an ocean full of love
I require a tremendous amount of love to satisfy me
Although I know the holes will still remain
Even if there is an immense amount of love, my heart will still have emptiness and pain
And this Swiss-cheese heart knows
My heart is filled with holes and gaps
Only kindness can fill its holes
The only way to mend my heart is by receiving kindness from others
And love can dry my tears
Love can help ease my emotional pain and sadness
As pain disappears
As I receive more love, my emotional suffering will lessen and eventually go away
I need a miracle and not someone's charity now
I need genuine love and kindness, not pity or empty gestures of kindness
One drop of love from him
Even a small amount of love from a specific person would make me extremely happy
And my heart's in ecstasy
My heart would be filled with joy and happiness
The high that is sending me
The intense feeling of happiness that love can bring
Is most likely ending me
The overwhelming feeling of happiness may be too much for me to handle
Fill up my heart with love
I want to be filled with love completely
Oh, you'd be amazed at how little I need from him
I don't require grand or expensive gestures of love, even small acts would suffice
To feel complete here and now
Having even a small amount of love would bring me immediate satisfaction and fulfillment
Stirring within me
There are intense emotions and feelings inside of me
Are these feelings I can't ignore
My feelings of love and desire can't be dismissed or overlooked
I need a miracle and that's what I'm hoping for
I need a miraculous amount of love to fully heal and fill my heart
Anybody's love but his will never fill this space within me
Only love from this specific person who I desire will truly fill the emotional gap inside me
Now doctor, give me what I need to free my heart from misery
I need someone to give me the love and kindness I require to heal from my emotional suffering
Contributed by Dominic K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.