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.
Stars 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)
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 loneliness)
Can we catch the tears of a broken world
Falling down upon the earth, falling down...
"Stars of Tears" by Joanne Hogg speaks of the deep anguish and sorrow of a broken world. The opening lines describe the gentle touch of someone's fingertips on the singer's heart, which is juxtaposed with the force of life that moves on continuously. The haunting melody is reminiscent of angelic music held captive in chains, which is an allusion to the fact that although beauty and sweetness still exist in the world, it is often overshadowed by pain and suffering. The singer then goes on to question whether it is possible to ease the pain of those who have lost and to understand the cause of such sorrow. She longs to catch the tears of a broken world which are falling down upon the earth.
In the next verse, the singer suggests that time is taking her deeper into this broken world. She describes being lost in a haze as blue as summer skies, and attempting to find the key that would unlock the door. Unfortunately, her efforts are in vain, and like a bird, the thing she seeks flies away from her. The singer then once again poses the question of whether it is possible to ease the pain of those who have lost and to understand the cause of such sorrow. She desires to catch these tears of a broken world, recognizing that they are falling down upon the earth.
Line by Line Meaning
Your fingertips moving gently to my heart
The presence of another person has a profound impact on one's heart and soul
The force of life goes on and on
Life persists, despite the struggles and hardships we face
The song remains like a haunting melody
Memories and experiences stay with us, lingering like a melancholic tune
Of angel music held in chains
There is a beauty and purity that is trapped, unable to be fully free
And I ask you
The artist is seeking answers and understanding
Can we ease the pain of those who lost (The force of life goes on)
Even though life continues, we should strive to alleviate the suffering of those affected by loss
Can we know the cause of all this sorrow (Tears of loneliness)
It's important to seek the root of the pain and sadness we experience
Can we catch the tears of a broken world
We should try to offer comfort and support to heal the brokenness of the world
Falling down upon the earth, falling down...
The sadness and grief are pervasive, affecting the entire world and all its inhabitants
The waves of time take me deeper into you
As time passes, our relationships and connections become more meaningful and profound
A haze as blue as summer skies
The singer is lost in a beautiful and peaceful moment
And turn to find the key will not unlock the door
Even with effort and intention, some things cannot be easily resolved or understood
This broken bird away it flies
Something fragile and beautiful is lost or broken, unable to be restored
Contributed by Alexis F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Fuyufuyu
I am from Japan, and this is the most heart moving and surprisingly nice music I heard at the end of last century. Thank you for this celestial gem of music!
@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.