Liberi Fatali
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"Liberi Fatali" is the Latin choral opening to the Square Co., Ltd. computer role-playing game Final Fantasy VIII. It was composed by Nobuo Uematsu, and is considered one of his masterpieces. It was arranged by Shiro Hamaguchi, and the lyrics were written by Kazushige Nojima and Taro Yamashita. It is also notable for being fully orchestrated, unlike most video game music at the time. This was in fact the first time Square had used a fully orchestral piece in one of its games.
Liberi Fatali translates to "Fated Children." However, it is worth noting that the line Fithos lusec wecos vinosec is actually an anagram of "succession of witches" and "love." "Fated Children" also likely refers to the main characters of the game.
Furthermore, the written words at the beginning foreshadow an important conversation between the two main characters, Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly – though only the lines, "Why?" and "For what?" are actually Rinoa's.
[edit] Lyrics
Introduction:
- I'll be here
- Why?
- I'll be waiting... here...
- For what?
- I'll be waiting... for you... so...
- If you come here...
- You'll find me.
- I promise.
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This is one of the more accurate translations. However, they often vary, as there is no official English translation. In particular, the line Veni hortum veritatis is often translated "discover the truth of the Garden," as this translation makes more sense in the context of the game (here refers to Garden Academy) and could easily be what the writers meant to say. However, the Latin lyrics actually do say "discover the garden of truth" / "discover the true garden."
Another line, "Cunae sunt non" is often translated "The childhood years are gone", or "Your cradles are gone" but the word "Cunae" actually means "Nest for young birds."
Alternatively, a more literal translation:
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Take note that much of this song in its original form is not grammatically correct based upon the rules of Classical Latin. For instance, in the line "liberi fatali," "fatali" is actually the dative case of "fatalis" and should be "fatales" in order to agree with "liberi;" otherwise, the translation is more along the lines of "children to/for the fated one." "Veni hortum veritatis" (11) is an attempt to use the accusative case in the meaning of "place to which," yet that usage is reserved for "humus," "rus," "domus," and city names. Furthermore, "veni" should probably be pluralized to "venite" since the speaker seems to be commanding his/her children as a whole. The origin of the line "horti verna veritatis" is dubious, for the singers seem simply to be repeating "veni hortum veritatis;" but, assuming that the lyric in question is, in fact, "horti verna veritatis," the translation makes little sense. "Horti" does not exist as a word in Classical Latin, and "verna" does not agree in case with "veritatis," which we must assume "verna" is intended to modify because "hortus" is masculine, and "verna" feminine (or neuter plural).
[edit] Trivia
Liberi Fatali was used during the 2004 Summer Olympics in a synchronized swimming routine.
