No, that’s not a glitch – .hack//SIGN is a pretty sweet anime series that revolves around a (fictional) MMO called The World. The art is well-done, and while the story tends to drag a little, and features surprisingly little action for being set in an online RPG, it consistently includes incredibly good music. This track, for instance.

First a little phased white noise, quickly joined by a catchy buzzy bassline, reflective acoustic guitar, and spacey vocal pads.

Come with me in the twilight of a summer night for awhile
Tell me of a story never ever told in the past

Take me back to the land
Where my yearnings were born
The key to open the door is in your hand
Now fly me there

I always imagine these words being spoken by a younger sibling to an older one – it’s a hot summer night, two boys are lying sprawled out on top of the sheets, savoring each slight breeze that floats through the window and offers momentary relief from the heat. One boy turns to the other, and begs him to tell the same stories, the old stories that they used to tell each other. “Come with my in the twilight of a summer night for awhile.”

This is powerful stuff, it seriously gives me shivers. Something about the instruments, and the clearly worded vocals – seriously evocative stuff. And then the strings break in – lilting, with an ethnic quality that I’m not able to pin down, a bit like western fiddle, a bit like an irish jig, which is almost like a ‘cue the montage’ moment – the older boy begins his story, conjuring a fantasy world of characters and conflict.

Fanatics find their heaven in never ending storming wind
Auguries of destruction be a lullaby for rebirth

Consolations, be there
In my dreamland to come
The key to open the door is in your hand
Now take me there

Is this epic or what? ‘Augury’ is a good word – it has to do with prophesy or folk-magic concerning birds, sometimes migratory patterns, sometimes ritual sacrifice. Storms are brewing, fanatics follow the birds looking for signs, and all of this will rebirth the world. Then, the listener’s repeated reflections on how powerful these stories are to him. Then, a declaration:

I believe in fantasies invisible to me
In the land of misery I’m searchin’ for the sign
To the door of mystery and dignity
I’m wandering down, and searchin’ down the secret sun

The door and the key are important images in the anime, but they’re vague enough references that they don’t stick out amongst the lyrics – I think of the bridge as jumping ahead to see the younger boy as a grown man, or perhaps teenager, now without the presence of his older sibling to guide him, making his way through the world while the stories flit on the edge of his consciousness, driving him to always look for signs of the fantasy world in the mundaneness of every day life. He can’t help thinking about that night, lying in bed, begging for just one more story:

Come with me in the twilight of a summer night for awhile
Tell me of a story never ever told in the past

Take me back to the land
Where my yearnings were born
The key to open the door is in your hand
Now take me there
To the land of twilight

Powerful stuff. It seriously give me shivers to listen to this song. The final ‘twilight’ is drawn out, and fades into an almost Enya-like outro.