Final Fantasy VI - Dancing Mad | Reacting To Video Game Music! 

The theme is a character analysis of Kefka Palazzo, a history of his ascent told through leitmotif, a snide retelling of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, a literal burning garbage fire (assembled as a monument to non-existence), and a final boss theme. I’m happy to have shared it with you.

I think it was Jeremy Jahns who said that using the SNES Soundchip is like using a box of crayons, and so Nobuo Uematsu used crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel.

I'll never forget the story behind this song. Uematsu was writing it as the final boss theme for FFVI... and basically said he just kept working on it and forgot to stop. Which is why it's so long. Lol.

I feel like this song tells you everything you need to know about Uematsu as a composer.

And Nobuo Uematsu isn't even formally trained. *_He taught himself._*

I caught the official Final Fantasy orchestra concert "Distant Worlds" while on vacation to Sidney, Australia a few years back. That moment when every single performer went quiet and all eyes turned to the organist...I could never have the confidence under that amount of pressure. It truly was an astounding performance. That, and I sat two rows directly behind Nobuo Uematsu himself. I felt unworthy to be in that absolute legend's presence!

"Did someone just laugh at me?" fucking killed me, I love that the SNES sound chip was so good that you could recognize Kefka's laugh, without any in-game context or visuals. This was one, this game has some real good tracks, and this one has endured the most by faaaar

Dancing Mad is the "in a cave, with a box of scraps" of video game music. Such astonishing beauty and power, with such limited resources...

So as you discussed, Dancing Mad is comprised of four movements, each representing the monument to non-existence that Kefka created as a mockery of gods and divinity. The first movement is Inferno, it represents the destruction of the world that Kefka actually achieved. He's notable as one of the only antagonists to have accomplished his goal in the whole series of Final Fantasy. Because even after he's defeated, the world is still in the ruined state he left it. The heroes might defeat him, but the destruction he wrought upon the planet will take centuries to heal. The tone of this movement is one of hopeless destruction, and it's very frantic. The second movement is Purgatory. This one is a lot slower and less overt than the previous one in its evil. It sounds a bit like a track you'd expect to accompany a deranged court jester like Kefka. He's totally insane, and that's represented here. The third movement is Heaven. This one sounds a lot more benevolent and classical than the two movements preceding it. It echoes things like Tocacata & Fugue. It's meant to be a mask of divine mercy that Kefka adopts now that he's taken on ultimate power. But you can hear the lie in its benevolence as the underscored melody in the background of the organ is actually the first notes of Kefka's theme, a deceptively mischievous theme that hides the true horrors of what Kefka is capable of. The final movement is Godhood. This is when the party has climbed the tower and comes face to face with Kefka's god form itself during a bombastic intro. It actually echoes Omen, a track from the opening of Final Fantasy 6, and Kefka delivers a mocking line that one might expect from a god gone bad. "Life...dreams...hope. Where do they come from? And where are they headed? These things...I AM GOING TO DESTROY!!!" And that's when the chaos of the fourth movement kicks in following the reference to Omen. It's a frantic, sped up version of the melody that makes up the body of Kefka's theme. He knows he's losing, but he's still reveling in his own madness, as is the song itself, before suddenly bleeding into a tragic sounding little interlude. Is Kefka sad that he's dying? Is he experiencing remorse at the lives he's destroyed? Nope. The song loops right back around, but not before playing his trademark laugh to let you know that even if you kill him, he's literally The Joker. Everything is a game to him, he has no real agenda. He just wants to cause as much chaos as humanly possible, and this divine form hasn't changed a bit of that madness. It's an absurdly complicated piece, even more astonishing that Nobuo Uematsu has no musical training of any kind. He made many bangers before in the series, but this was the first musical track that he floored everybody, and in my eyes it stands head and shoulders above every other final boss song in the entire series. Yes, even One-Winged Angel.

Yes, Kefka Palazzo is mocking you, because you're late for his ascension to godhood. And furthermore, yes, that is Kefka laughing in the background. This all was composed by Nobuo Uematsu.

Now you know why this and One Winged Angel are considered Nobuo Uematsu's magnum opis compositions. And when The Black Mages performed Dancing Mad, you lose the 16 bit limitations of the SNES and gain the full beauty and madness of this song.

You're correct that the song is in 4 movements, each of which loops for that phase of the boss fight and transitions to the next movement when you get to the next phase of the boss fight. On the FF14 OST version they're actually released as 4 separate tracks for each movement.

Justin B here. This is by far my favorite FF boss theme. Personally feel this is Nobuo's Magnum Opus. Especially considering he made this with the restrictions of the SNES. The laugh you here near the end is Kefka's iconic laugh from the game. As for there being several movements during the song, the boss fight itself has multiple phases. So each movement goes with a certain phase. It's a long fight. Dancing Mad as a title makes more sense when you get a better grasp of Kefka as a character. One of his quotes - "Hee, hee, hee!! But what fun is destruction if no 'precious' lives are lost!" He is a mad lad.

From a technical standpoint this song is just as impressive as it is from a compositional one. Because this was on the SNES, this is technically 4 songs strung together with each looping section being its own file, at the absolute maximum file size the SNES could handle iirc. Nobuo Uematsu not only made a fantastic song that perfectly encapsulates (in my opinion) the most entertaining villain of the series, but pushed the hardware to its absolute limit in the process. Just an absolute masterpiece from start to finish. Each movement is itself a phase of the final boss, starting at the base of a tower of flesh, each segment representing a piece of the Divine Comedy as you ascend through the levels of Hell into heaven where Kefka awaits you at the pinnacle of all things, acting as judge, jury, and executioner, putting all of existence on trial by combat.

14:13 aka the reaction of everyone when God Kefka finally shows up Like I already wrote under your reaction of One Winged Angel, this song is just insane. I can't think of any other theme on the SNES that basically uses the whole range of the soundchip (if he threw a techno part in there it would have covered everything) and at the same time is that complex. It had to grow on me for years tbh and I still wouldn't call it my favorite final boss theme or theme in general from Nobuo Uematsu, but I can definitely see why many call it and the entire FFVI OST his magnum opus.

If a song could possibly be described as an adventure, I'd say this would be it.

When the fourth movement started I was like "the poor thing is not ready!"

Nubuo Uematsu considers his work on 6 the pinnacle of his work because of the limitations imposed on him by the hardware. He had to be extremely creative to do what he wanted on the older consoles, and he feels those limitations pushed him to do his best work.

"Hey I heard you like classical music. I'll give you all the classical music remix AND some prog metal at the end."

If you ever get a chance I highly recommend the Black Mages version of this. The ending is especially spectacular with a transcendent guitar solo.

Yeah, the laughter you heard at 16:51 of the video, is actually the laughter of Kefka, the main big bad of FFVI, this entire thing is supposed to be his theme, iirc. Basically imagine a clown/jester who took over an entire empire using his intelligence and afterwards uh, becomes a literal Magic God. Like he'll just erase entire towns/cities from the map when he is bored.(Someone correct me if I'm wrong about this)

Ah yes, the melancholic part of the final movement, where Kefka is basically just like "Were my actions wrong? Will I perish now? Should I have done things differently?" and then the music shifts back, and he's just like "No wait, don't care, did it for the lulz" and literally laughs at you.

16:50 That's Kefka. The main villains laugh, and his song "Dancing Mad" Best piece of music in the game 😊

This song is Uematsu's magnum opus, such an amazing piece.

The final boss tracks of VI, VII, and VIII were all absolutely the most epic of all of the Final Fantasy entries.

"Yeah... i did that" What a perfect quote for Kefka, the villain this song is about.

Final Fantasy 6 has been my FAVORITE game in the entire series (and of all time for many years). This song is among my favorite Nobuo Uamatsu tracks. It's hauntingly beautiful and fun to listen to. I remember first hearing this in game and WOW!! It was so bad ass!! :D Love your reaction to this one! :) Nobuo Uamatsu is fantastic and I'll always treasure his pieces.

15:36 Damn those organ chords are sooo satisfying. Love that melancholic feel. Reminds me of Wily's Castle from Mega Man 3 a little bit. I'm with you on how anyone could compose in classical style though, lacking structure and just flowing while invoking different emotions, it really is mad.

Fuckin classic. I love this song. I've always been partial to the Black Mages (Uematsu's Rock Band with some other Square composers) version because of the guitar although it is probably the shortest version, but they're all great. I saw someone say once, "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like an artist using Crayola crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." And it feels spot on, it is so well done.

I've never really listened to the old version of Dancing Mad but for the time it was made this sounds fantastic. Wish I'd have played the game before I knew all the key moments.

FF6 is literally an Opera play, i don't know why nobody turned the whole game in one yet. The game even has a part that happens in an Opera (Opera "Maria and Draco") and that has been reproduced a lot of times in FF concerts.

Kefka is the most underrated villain in the final fantasy series. People forgot that he's the only FF villain who succeeded in destroying the world.

Hearing this live with their orchestra through Distant Worlds (FF's live performance tour) is chilling. They always do it when they come to London, as the hall they perform at has a giant organ piano. Shakes the walls, man

I was at the Royal Albert Hall and they played this live on the massive organ in there with the full orchestra and it was mind blowing

"this song is mocking you this whole time" yeah thats kefka's shtick through the whooooole game its fantastic HAHAHA

the transition at 6:40 remains my fave part of this song. it always gave me "oh shiz, ive done it now" vibes

I'm 12 minutes in and I am painstakingly waiting for that beat to drop, so I can see the reaction he has.

This sure does a damn good job really embodying that feeling of facing a human monster who ascended from nihilism to madness to godhood only to end back on nihilistic madness.

I think IX has a lot in common with VI sonically, so definitely check that one out as well. And since you like that baseline, check out basically every battle theme from I-IX.

"I'm like, breathing heavy" - yeah now imagine actually playing the game and fighting the main antagonist, a crazy powerful deranged clown with world-destroying magical powers, in an insanely cool and godlike form while this music is banging. Honestly, as a child I was enamored by the entire ordeal.

The 4th movement was inspired by the first minutes of ELP's Tarkus, Nobuo is a big fan of classic progressive rock. maybe that'll be interesting to listen to

I loved ff6. I heard this at distant worlds multiple times and even met Uematsu after the show and talked with him for a bit the next morning as he was checking out of his hotel. One of the best moments ever.

I adamantly refused to listen to this track til I heard it in game. The wait was completely worth it. Easily one of the best pieces I've ever heard. Not just in videogames but music in general. This track MAKES FF VI for me. I'm not a huge fan of the game but its soundtrack is one of the best in the series and Dancing Mad is the pinnacle. The only other boss that compares is Ultimecia from FF VIII and that's only if you take all 4 of the tracks that play during the multiple fights in that one

I want a faithful FF6 remake PURELY to experience this boss fight, the music, and in general, Kefka, in a fleshed out, voice acted world. I just wanna see Kefka's insanity and maniacal nature on full display.

It was a blast enjoying this with you. Probably the best piece of video game music ever made. Especially when you consider the balls and ambition Uematsu had to put this on a 32mb cart. You should react to the live version by The Black Mages. Which is Uematsu's band.

I know this is two years old but I'm a new subscriber of yours and it's a trip watching you react to the parts of the song I genuinely love. You're one of my favorite reaction channels.

During part of this boss fight he becomes a mockery of Michelangelo’s Pieta, while a parody of Gloria plays. It’s his way of saying “I, anarchy have become God, and if I am God, all your prayers, all you’ve fought for, is meaningless.” It’s the ultimate Fuck You from Kefka.

Nobuo Uematsu-san probably the best music composer for video games history. Absolutely Legend

I feel like I could actually see your pupils slowly dilate when the drums started at the beginning of act 4 before the full insanity unleashes, that's how good this song is

Nobuo Uematsu is such genius just imagine this is made 30 years ago on SNES and still a quality content

Your slow sip as the drums and bass came in was just epically perfect.

There will never be another Uematsu. A genius. A nice man. But a supreme genius. To write this, period, is a feat. To write this on the SNES is almost an impossibility

It's very impressive to hear how Final Fantasy reuses many of its own motifs without sounding repetitive.

Loved the reaction, interesting takes on each of the Phases. Found you liking the Percussion very relatable. Thank you for listening to this Masterpiece of the Ages.

There's an 18 minute symphonic arrange of this that just blows everything out of the water.

This is my top 5 Nobuo tracks maybe even number 1 hard to say. So glad you got to this masterpiece!

You need to listen to this music in an orchestral live version, it´s mindblowing!

This is one of that songs that if you listen to it with the story background, it gains a lot of layers in its meaning, telling the tragedy of the journey of the final boss, Kefka, without saying a single word. It's a powerfull track and it makes the last fight of the game one of the most memorable of the game's history

Been waiting for this! I'm a fan of classical music, so this is a huge favorite of mine! Definitely one of Nobuo's finest works!

This was the theme for the final fight in FF6 which is against the main villain Kefka. It's four phases and it's based off of Dante's odyssey. The phases in order symbolize Purgatory, Hell, Heaven, and God. In that fight, your party is essentially going through the same journey.

Its honestly SUPER difficult to be well versed in music, and not appreciate this kind of art. Its absolutely bonkers what was accomplished here, and even more so if you take into account that this fit into a SNES diskette. Huge limitations on hardware. This was really pushing boundaries to the absolute limit. And it still awes audience throughout the world even without knowing this. I laughed at the "you gonna hate it" remark. A song with these many surprises and creativity in composition, can only marvel and inspire.

What an introduction to FFVI! It's always cool to see someone experience this music for the first time. FFVI is an old favourite. It was my second Final Fantasy; I played it back when I was 11-12 or so with my sister because the fights could be played two player (and many times either with family or on my own). This fight is massive and with this music? Definitely intimidating and memorable as heck :D Square Enix created Pixel Remasters of the first 6 games that are essentially the original games cleaned up and enhanced with some quality of life improvements. They also remastered the soundtracks. I'm currently playing through VI and some songs are mainly just better quality while others have had some extra layers and flourishes added in. It's been great. However, they also added a music player with everything playable right there and the temptation to see what they did with Dancing Mad has been immense and torturous , but I really want to experience it first hand in-game during the actual fight. It might not even be very different for all I know, but gah! The wait! Music, just music ♥Nobuo Uematsu is so cool and to think this is all came out of a SNES.

Can't be overstated how amazing it was to hear this kind of music coming from an SNES. The stuff Uematsu achieved with such a limited palette to work from is incredible. There are so many iconic songs and melodies from 6. I think most people will admit it was his best overall work when it came to an entire game soundtrack.

"Bro, this is mad." - I do believe that's the point! Kefka is by and large one of my favorite Final Fantasy villains and one of 2-3 that have succeeded in their goal (the others being Caius from FFXIII-2 and, you can argue, Ultemecia from FFVIII). His madness is intense and morphed VI into the masterpiece that it is.

The guy was 35 when he made this OST. I'm 30 and I'm not even a little close to managing to create something this amazing.

Kefka's leitmotif in part 3 as well as 4 alongside his iconic laugh... brilliantly woven in.

This song actually reflect Kefka's Psychology His god rise complex, his emptiness, The way he sees himself as god, his final act of frantic rebellion, and his end..

This song is so perfect for Kefka, because it feels like it was made by someone clinically insane. Nobuo is an absolute madman. In the best way possible.

14:34 Just, gotta love how that bass hits you right in ear. Nobuo Uematsu, king of bass! ❤

One of the most bold things Uematsu did in this song, I think, was that he dared to not loop the first 2 movements. For context, this is the final boss music for 6, and the boss has 4 parts to it, which transition seemlessly from one to the next. In theory, each movement goes with a different phase of the fight. But the first 2 movements don't loop at all. You can finish the first 2 parts of the fight too quickly or too slowly to get things to line up perfectly (the 3rd and 4th movements do loop). In general those parts of the fight do last about as long as the time alloted them, but still. It was a bold decision, but it paid off. VI has my favorite soundtrack in the series, and I'm unbelievably excited for the Pixel Remaster for the orchestrated soundtrack. If I had one suggestion, it would be Balance is Restored. Fair warning, it's another long one

Pretty sure it also sticks out to people as its a 18 minute final boss anthem.

The composer was listening to a lot of Emerson Lake and Palmer at the time ;)

This game remains one of my absolute favorites of all time and was so formative for my tastes as a kid- a huge part of it was the music.

Ah, FFVI. My favorite RPG and Final Fantasy. Second favorite game. There are many versions of this song, all interesting and worth listening to. The original and XIV versions are just fine for now. This is VI's One Winged Angel, and my favorite final boss theme of the franchise by an inch over it. Kefka is VI's main antagonist. He begins as an obnoxious court jester of a military general, acting like a self-righteous jackass with relative incompetence. Over the course of the game, his abject cruelty and madness become apparent, and his power grows. He stops being a joke, and he becomes a threat. He increasingly does monstrous and terrible things, and rapidly becomes your greatest foe. And, in his moment of triumph, he ascends to godhood, annihilating your world in an act of his pure nihilism and hatred. The World of Ruin he leaves behind is the setting of the game's final third, as you gather your disparate party members and take the fight back to his godlike form, gaining hope and justice for a world that needs it to come back from the brink. You are right that the song is in four movements, in fact each comprising a segment of his final boss fight. There are four movements in total (you heard each one loop at least twice I believe, which is not how I would've presented them to you but what can I do). My favorite little note comes in the fourth movement, where for a brief moment everything cuts out except for a single instrument playing the theme that occurred when Kefka appeared throughout the rest of the game. It's just a little stab in your gut, a reminder of how weak and annoying he started and far he has ascended to be the literal god standing in your way. This song is Nobuo Uematsu's masterpiece of reference and love for classical music and all of the Final Fantasy tracks that came before. FFVII would start with him exploring new styles with better sound equipment on the Sony Playstation 1, and his options and creative choices would evolve from there. But it's always good to remember where we came from, and what could be accomplished on even the SNES' limited technology. I probably forgot something I wanted to mention, I could ramble about FFVI for hours. There's lots of great music within it, but I'll leave it to the Patrons to get you there. Glad you seemed to respect and understand the pure unadulterated might of this piece. I *would* highly recommend digging into either the Distant Worlds live orchestral version *or* Uematsu's own metal re-enactment (He's recorded this twice with two bands: The Black Mages & Earthbound Papas. Latter may be easier to find legally, but I'm a sucker for his older work with The Black Mages).

The thing that I find simply astonishing is the fact that he had no formal training and he just decided that he wanted to create music and mad something as epic as that

What else can I say about this masterpiece except that playing this in theatrhythm (touch-based rhythm game) is certainly intimidating, also ow my thumbs xD

This song just lets you how about kefka’s character even if you don’t know the character. Madness.

My favorite part of Dancing Mad is when it gets into the third movement and suddenly the central melody moves entirely to the off-beat, giving the song this very disjointed feeling- very appropriate for the likes of Kefka.

Haven't had a chance to watch your reaction to the ffxiv version yet but since you didn't mention it here I wanted to mention: The melody of the choir near the beginning of the first movement, if you listen to it again on its own and listen to The Twinning (A Long Fall) you can hear it referenced but tweaked. Really cool stuff to see how ffxiv calls back to so much awesome stuff in that way.

Nobuo Uematsu (the original composer) has a prog rock band called "Earthbound Papas" and they have a cover called "Dancing Dad"

3:03 vocals like the theme from Phenomena (1985), very cool.

14:18 The face of a man realizing this was composed on the SNES

This is a pretty awesome song with many amazing remixes. My personal favourite is Prancing Dad and it's about 12 minutes of insane goodness.

If you listen to "The Three Fates" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, I think you can see a lot of its influence in "Dancing Mad." The sound style of their Tarkus album also leaks into the FF VI and Chrono Trigger a fair bit.

LOL The face you made when you heard Kefkas laugh. IM fucking dead.

There's a version of this piece called "Final Fantasy VI - Dancing Mad (Symphonic Arrange)" on RU-vid. I would recommend listening if you haven't listened to it already, as it uses more modern tools to keep true to the original spirit of the track. Also, it has a large choir to back the instruments to complement the divine aspects relating to Dante Alighieri's "Inferno". It's a pretty good remake of a Nobuo Uematsu masterpiece. I will say, this and "One Winged Angel" are my favorite final boss themes in the series. The big ones that come close, in my opinion, are FF XV's "Magna Insomnia", FF IX's "The Dark Messenger", and FF VIII's "The Extreme". That said, all of the final boss themes in the series are really, *really* good.

Saying that the song mocks you is perfect. You've immediately captured Kefka's madness with that description.

Flashbacks of terror and frustration in equal measure the first time I heard this in a seemingly never ending boss fight.

This song has 4 Acts, they are more clear during the boss fight, each act represents something 1st act: Hell (depicted by the devil in game) 2nd act: Purgatory/Humanity (depicted by three people doing poses a la Michel Angelo ) 3rd act: divinity (depicted by Maria and Jesus) 4rd act: Godhood/Kefka (this act start with the ascencion but moves to Kefka being a God that's why it kinda laughs as you)

Kefka was a test subject the empire used to perfect their magic-imbuing procedure (humans in FF6 can't naturally use magic), a procedure said to have been hellish torture even in the finished form used on Celes. He was subjected to these tests repeatedly and eventually snapped entirely. After that, he came to view existence as nothing more than a cruel joke, with no meaning or purpose, and he found pleasure only in moments of destruction. He only stuck around with the empire because it gave him the most opportunities to indulge his twisted desires. He was undeniably powerful after the procedures, but also difficult to control in his madness. Finally, when he and the Emperor found the Warring Triad (ancient deities locked in a perpetual contest of power that kept all three in check), Kefka realized he could use their power not just to destroy on an entirely new scale but to put an end to existence entirely. In taking their power (and casually murdering the Emperor), he shattered the balance and causes massive catastrophes across the globe. Continents were reshaped and even the sky itself changed in the new World of Ruin. Kefka could have killed the party members easily, scattered as they were around the shattered world, but in his madness he wanted to let them gather together all the hope they could so he could enjoy crushing that hope entirely before erasing the world itself. Even though this arrogance led to his plan being stopped and his death, he laughed into the face of oblivion while fading away. After all, he finally got the end of existence he longed for.

This song was truly Uematsu's 'Magnum Opus'. It's truly a remarkable piece of work.

You should listen to the DISTANT WORLDS version. Just imagine listening to this in all its orchestra greatness

The laugh is the signature Kefka laugh (also used in chrono trigger) he's the boss you fight for this theme.

The thing about Dancing Mad is that it's not just a track, it's like an entire epic in music form XD

There’s a video out there of someone playing the 3rd movement (might actually be the whole song) on a church’s pipe organ and wow is it an experience

Jesse: "Bro... this is mad..." Me: "It's Dancing Mad." 😏 Also, you should really listen to the live performance recording from the Distant Worlds concerts. Goosebumps every time!

FF6 is my top favorite of the entire series and one of my top favorite Video Games EVER. It's a game that really needs to be experienced because I could tell you the entire story but it doesn't weigh the same unless you live it. Plus you get to feel the badass energy you can only feel from suplexing a ghost train.

I recommend looking up the symphonic arranged version, my favourite one out of all of them.

Good man listening to the full version. Part of dancing mad appeal is the suspense and repeat of the tiers before it transcends to the next. It’s enough to start driving the listener mad as you expect it to March forward before we start all over again. The organs are the predominant instrument you hear and it’s ridiculous how many ways it’s played here.

Ironically I have not seen that many good Dancing Mad Remixes.... it's like the good remixes are being kept and treasured while the bad ones are literally forgotten by the internet... it's like a mad respect going on with this track