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.
Letter
Akira Yamaoka Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Have I grown up pretty? Is daddy still a good man?
Am I still friends with Colleen? I'm sure that I'm still laughing
Aren't I, aren't I...?
Hey there to my future-self, if you forget how to smile
I have this to tell you, remember it once in a while
Ten years ago, your past-self prayed for your happiness
Oh, oh what a pair me and you, put here to feel joy not be blue
Sad times and bad times see them through
Soon we will know if it's for real
What we both feel
(Speaking/Whisper)
Though I can't know for sure, how things worked out for us
No matter how hard it gets, you have to realize
We weren't put on this earth to suffer and cry
We were made for being happy, so be happy
For me, for you, please...
Oh, oh what a pair me and you, put here to feel joy not be blue
Sad times and bad times see them through
Soon we will know if it's for real
What we both feel
We were put here on this earth, put here to feel joy
We were put here on this earth, put here to feel joy
We were put here on this earth, put here to feel joy
(Whisper)
We were put here on this earth, put here to feel joy...
The lyrics to "Letter" by Akira Yamaoka featuring Mary Elizabeth McGlynn are a letter to the future self of the singer. The singer is asking their future self if they are happy and if they have grown up pretty. They also mention their father and if he is still a good man. The singer wonders if they are still friends with Colleen and if they are still laughing. The mention of laughter in the lyrics is significant because it represents joy and implies that the singer hopes to still be enjoying life in the future.
The second verse of the song continues the letter to the future self. The singer tells their future self to remember how to smile and to never lose hope, referencing a prayer for the future self's happiness that they made ten years prior. The lyrics show a concern for the future and a desire to maintain a positive outlook on life. The final verse reaffirms the idea that humans were put on this earth to feel joy, and not just sadness and suffering. The singer encourages both themselves and their future self to find happiness and joy in life.
Overall, these lyrics show a deep reflection on the past, present, and future, with a message of hope and a reminder to always find joy in life.
Line by Line Meaning
A letter to my future self, am I still happy, I begin
I'm writing a letter to my future self, asking if I'm still happy
Have I grown up pretty? Is daddy still a good man?
I'm wondering if I've grown up beautifully and if my father is still a good person
Am I still friends with Colleen? I'm sure that I'm still laughing, Aren't I, aren't I...?
I'm wondering if I'm still friends with Colleen and if I'm still able to laugh
Hey there to my future-self, if you forget how to smile
I'm addressing my future self, in case they forget how to smile
I have this to tell you, remember it once in a while
I have something to tell you, remember it occasionally
Ten years ago, your past-self prayed for your happiness
Ten years ago, my past self prayed for my future happiness
Please don't lose hope...
Please don't give up
Oh, oh what a pair me and you, put here to feel joy not be blue
We were put in this world to experience joy, not sadness
Sad times and bad times see them through
We must stay strong and get through tough times together
Soon we will know if it's for real, What we both feel
In time, we will know if our feelings are true
(Speaking/Whisper) Though I can't know for sure, how things worked out for us
Although I cannot be certain how things turned out for us
No matter how hard it gets, you have to realize
Regardless of the difficulty, you must remember
We weren't put on this earth to suffer and cry
We weren't born to experience pain and tears
We were made for being happy, so be happy
We were created to be happy, so choose to be happy
For me, for you, please...
Do it for us, please...
We were put here on this earth, put here to feel joy
We were born on this planet to experience happiness
We were put here on this earth, put here to feel joy
We were born on this planet to experience happiness
We were put here on this earth, put here to feel joy
We were born on this planet to experience happiness
(Whisper) We were put here on this earth, put here to feel joy...
We were born on this planet to experience happiness
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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