Twilight Princess "Sacred Grove" New Age Remix ft. Gamer of the Winds

This is a song I'm pleased to start the year with. Happy New Year, everybody! ^_^ This is my cover of "Sacred Grove" from Legend of Zelda, Twilight Princess. The alto flute and piccolo parts were performed by my friend, Greg Orosz, AKA "Gamer of the Winds". You should check out his channel:    / @gamerofthewinds  

There is something about these "Heart of the Forest" tracks that really move me. They speak of legend, of self improvement, majesty and the cyclical journey of the hero, whereupon the literal or figurative "holy knight" casts away illusion and returns to innocence, thereby rendering himself fit to complete his final trials. Nowhere (in my humble opinion) is this better expressed than in Twilight Princess (and maybe the Zelda series at large). Link has been cursed (or perhaps, inadvertently blessed) to assume the form of his "twilit" self: a noble, yet fearsome beast which lurks within him as an aspect of his consciousness/soul/identity. In order to help Link lift this "curse" and then, a little later on, gain mastery over his "beast" self, he must sing a familiar, yet distant childhood melody. This illuminates a previously hidden path unto primordial spirit woods, at the centre of which is the sacred blade "Master Sword": a relic of truth, courage and divine will which suffers no evil and can be wielded by none but the finest knight in the land.

Once inside the ethereal lost glade, our sense of reality is turned upside down as we traverse non-euclidean space, pursuing one dreamy apparition after another. Here, we are harassed incessantly by an imp (aka Skullkid). He bears a lamp, which he uses to guide us through the maze, as well as a trumpet, which he uses to summon aggressive minions which Link, in his beast form, is forced to engage. Perhaps, left to his own devices, Link would fight off the Skullkid's deathly puppets for an eternity -- or at the very least for as long as our tyrannical puppet master reigns supreme -- for fighting, in a sense, is all we as the player have done up until that point. But here, Link is reduced to a pathetic toy in an arena of childish cruelty and illogic. Could these puppets possibly represent an unhelpful aspect of our hero's mind as he obstinately labours on?

As I alluded, the imp has dual nature: he is our tormentor, but he is also our guide, and he eventually takes us where we need to go. At the centre of the Sacred Grove, it is revealed that the the skullkid never truly meant us any harm: that he in fact only ever wanted to play with us! Once the fey glamours dissolve, the forest grows peaceful and the holy sword and door of time present themselves. There is a lesson in this. We cannot control our destiny all of the time, but nor should we allow ourselves to be controlled by our impulses. The moment something becomes "second nature" it can serve as a distorted "lens", and the truth of a given matter is rarely as straightforward as it seems. The imp, therefore, is both a lighthouse and a siren, and its nature ultimately depends on the player.


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🌲Playlist of every Twilight Princess Remix I've made:    • Twilight Princess Remixes by Rebecca ...  
🌳Playlist of every Zelda remix I've made:    • All Zelda Remixes by Rebecca Tripp  
🌳Playlist of every VGM Remix I've made:    • All Video Game Arrangements by Rebecc...  
💚Some of my original work:    • Original Compositions by RebeccaETripp