She started working as a junior doctor in the Belfast Hospital, but in 1988 she was invited to form a band with Dave Fitzgerald and Dave Bainbridge. In 1989, Joanne stopped practicing medicine and Iona was born. Since then, Joanna has sung all over Europe and America. Iona's recordings have become successful worldwide, making them Europe's best selling contemporary Christian band.
Hogg recorded her first solo album, Looking Into Light, in 1999. Her vocals were featured in the role-playing games Xenogears (for the Sony PlayStation) and Xenosaga (for the Sony PlayStation 2). She sang the English versions of Star of Tears and Small Two of Pieces from Xenogears, and Pain and Kokoro from Xenosaga. Star of Tears was featured on the 2-disc Xenogears: Original Soundtrack; however, the song is not normally accessible in the game. Hogg collaborated with several artists for the album New Irish Hymns and provided the female vocals on both solo releases from Troy Donockley.
Star of Tears
Joanne Hogg Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The force of life goes on and on
The song remains like a haunting melody
Of angel music held in chains
And i ask you
Can we ease the pain of those who lost (the force of life goes on)
Can we know the cause of all this sorrow (tears of loneliness)
Can we catch the tears of a broken world
The waves of time take me deeper into you
A haze as blue as summer skies
And turn to find the key will not unlock the door
This broken bird away it flies
And i ask you
Can we ease the pain of those who lost (the force of life goes on)
Can we know the cause of all this sorrow (tears of loneliness)
Can we catch the tears of a broken world
Falling down upon the earth, falling down...
The lyrics of "Star of Tears" by Joanne Hogg convey a mix of emotions including pain, hopelessness, and a longing for peace. The opening lines speak to the idea of touch and connection, as the singer sings about fingertips moving gently to their heart. This imagery is quickly followed by a tone of sadness, as the "force of life goes on and on," in a seemingly endless cycle of pain and suffering. Despite this, the song's melody is described as being "haunting" and reminiscent of "angel music held in chains."
The heart of the song really comes through in the chorus, as the singer poses a series of questions to the listener. They first ask, "can we ease the pain of those who lost," acknowledging the reality of grief and loss in the world. The second question, "can we know the cause of all this sorrow," suggests a desire for understanding and clarity amidst chaos. The final line, "can we catch the tears of a broken world falling down upon the earth," seems to ask whether there is any hope of finding healing and restoration in the midst of such widespread suffering.
Overall, the lyrics of "Star of Tears" paint a poignant picture of a world full of heartache, but also express a yearning for something more.
Line by Line Meaning
Your fingertips moving gently to my heart
You touch my heart with tenderness
The force of life goes on and on
Life goes on regardless of what happens
The song remains like a haunting melody
The song stays with me like a ghostly tune
Of angel music held in chains
Music that is angelic but restrained
And i ask you
I pose a question to you
Can we ease the pain of those who lost (the force of life goes on)
Is it possible to lessen the suffering of those who have lost loved ones, even though life goes on?
Can we know the cause of all this sorrow (tears of loneliness)
Can we understand why there is so much sadness and grief in the world?
Can we catch the tears of a broken world
Can we collect the tears shed by a world that is damaged and hurting?
Falling down upon the earth, falling down...
Falling onto the ground and becoming one with the earth
The waves of time take me deeper into you
Time carries me further into your essence
A haze as blue as summer skies
A mist that is as blue as the sky in summer
And turn to find the key will not unlock the door
And realize that the solution I thought I had is not working
This broken bird away it flies
This wounded bird flies away
Writer(s): 加藤正人, 光田康典
Contributed by Gabriella S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@estebangamer636yt2
Lyrics:
Your fingertips
Moving gently to my heart
The force of life goes on and on
The song remains
Like a haunting melody
Of angel music held in chains
And I ask you
Can we ease the pain of those who lost
(The force of life goes on)
Can we know the cause of all this sorrow
(Tears of lonliness)
Can we catch the tears of a broken world
Falling down upon the earth...
(Falling down)
The waves of time take me deeper into you
A haze as blue as summer skies
And turn to find
The key will not unlock the door
This broken bird away it flies
And I ask you
Can we ease the pain of those who lost
(The force of life goes on)
Can we know the cause of all this sorrow
(Tears of lonliness)
Can we catch the tears of a broken world
Falling down upon the earth...
(Falling down)
@Nyonics
Have you played the game? Massive, terminal spoilers if you haven't:
Especially on the second disc, as the land-dwelling countries + Shevat rebel against Solaris and the resurrection of Deus, an enormous chunk of the population is destroyed in various ways--first in war with Solaris, then through the culmination of the M Project that turns people into substitute bodies for the Gazel ministry to inhabit so they can merge with Deus, again in combat with the Merkabah, and yet again via the Seraph project Krelian designed to supplement the M Project and then finally as the Deus System destroys chunks of the planet terraforming the planet into an interstellar weapon. This is all after taking into account that many lives were lost fighting in the war between Aveh and Kislev and the way the Ethos racked up corpses (as Wels reapers) and the institution of slavery that Solaris had established. The population was severely reduced, and the rebellion against Solaris cost a lot of people most of their security in life, if not their life itself. So this song is sung as a question of, "how are we going to be able to cope with the grief and heal people's hearts and rebuild a stable civilization? Can it even be done?" This song was almost used as the ending theme, which makes a lot of sense since it's a survey of the aftermath of the game. In the end it was an unused track (although the instrumental melody is also the world map theme) and they chose to use Small Two of Pieces as the ending theme instead, to emphasize the love between the Contact (Abel/Kim/Lacan/Fei) and the Antitype (Elly) over all of their incarnations throughout the generations, since it's the ultimate message of the story.
@ivi7thebest4ever
I dream of a remake trailer kicking off with the forest encounter between Fei and Elly and this song coming in... and my eyes get watery at the thought. Just goes to show the power and beauty of music and storytelling.
@MultiEchelon
all who played and passed Xenogears - you are the best people!!!😉
@tuanazuremegazouman1996
Yay I'm the best!
@Simon-ge2ss
i'll never recover from the babylon tower parkour section
@samuelgarcia-fo4yn
Yeah we are the best
@TheRebornExpert
INDEED!!!!
@budakbaongsiah
Even after more than 20 years this is still one of the best song I've ever heard in my life, from video game or otherwise.
@keithdelgado397
bruh.. I thought I thought alone on this.. Thank you. Best over world theme ever.. i always wished this would play while link was riding epeona all over hyrule looking for navi
@freebretth
Agreed. The lyrics and music try to capture the sheer joy and tragedy of existence.
@TheRebornExpert
@@freebretth You forgot to mention the Power or the Beauty that Love brings into the world. Along with tragedy, in some cases...