"On That Day 5 Years Ago" is a variation of the Final Fantasy VII Main Theme, also known as Cloud's Theme, taking the uplifting motif and turning it into the mournful melody that accompanies Cloud's tale of the tragic day on which Sephiroth discovers that he is a product of hybrid human-Jenova experimentation. Upon his realization, Sephiroth falls to insanity and ravages Cloud's hometown of Nibelheim, leaving the death of Cloud's mother and Tifa's father among others' in his wake. I selected "On That Day 5 Years Ago" to arrange because it resounds with the instruments I play, which are a contrast to the original strings, and because I absolutely love the original. It is often said that oboes serve two main purposes in scores: love and sorrow. English horn's purpose? Death and more sorrow. Essentially, "On That Day 5 Years Ago" is all about those sorrowful memories of death, so what better instruments to include in the arrangement along with flute, melodica, and piano? The first half of the arrangement is more or less the same structure as the original, but rather than repeating, I tossed in a quote from the Main Theme to transition into the low piano solo that recapitulates the opening phrase (I wanted to smash some low keys, heh). It then builds up into a second recapitulation of the same phrase with the winds.

Appears on MATERIA: Final Fantasy VII Remixed