Sonic Adventure is a game that released in 1999 for the Sega
Dreamcast, later being released on the Gamecube in 2003. It is a game that
hasn’t aged well in many regards but for its time it was a spectacular adventure
that many fans continue to enjoy with its music being one of the things that
has aged the best over the years. The music gives clarity and undoubtful
awareness of Sonic’s character and how he interacts with the story of Chaos and
the past of the echidna tribe with his rather unique character traits. Join me
in this short little essay as I dissect Sonic’s main vocal theme of It Doesn’t
Matter.
As we start the song what is clear is Sonic’s simple yet
effective mindset on the right way to live life. The song's vocals talk about
how what Sonic might be doing might seem selfish and foolish because of his
will and desire to always run. With the entire verse focusing and justifying
Sonic’s actions, ending with them saying he has a ‘steadfast heart of gold’.
The adjective steadfast implies a hit fast tempo that shows no signs of
stopping like Sonic’s love for always running forward down a simple clear road.
Implying Sonic’s will to believe in his path and doing things his own way is
unwavering. He won’t have any regrets about it. This fits in with Sonic’s
personality because he has always been brash, yet still admirable, which
audiences would appreciate and love the song for how it helps them reflect and
believe in the mentality of life being a bittersweet road. It is rough and
might seem reckless to follow such an uncertain path but there is light, or in
a sense the path to a ‘heart of gold.’ It could also be said that instead his
heart was being described as being pure gold. No malice or hate just the plain
and simple intentions of moving forward to stop Eggman and Chaos. All that
happened to the echidna tribe might have been hard to watch for Sonic to learn
about and see, but he lives with the belief that that the past can’t be changed
and ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ because the future definitely can change.
Despite Sonic’s resolute desires played out to us he still
has trouble deciding on what is the best thing to do. Can’t differing on what
exactly he should do to the point where the song points out ‘he is fighting
purely for himself’. While wanting to stick to his philosophy and way of life
Sonic is confused because on one hand he loves running. Blazing at unimaginable
heights, taking on Chaos and Eggman. The simple easy route. Despite this, he
isn’t sure if this path is the right one to take because he is ashamed of the
idea of him running to a goal as an excuse to run away from the real issue of
what has happened to chaos and the history behind it, which is seen through the
cutscenes of the game as Tikal stops to talk to each of the different
characters. This shows a contrast in Sonic’s character because the usual
straight going hedgehog questions himself on whether if he is taking the right
path. In the end, though he was able to settle on the fact that ‘It Doesn’t
Matter’ what happened in the past to Tikal and Chaos because what matters to
him is saving Station Square. Making the straight -forward path he has taken
seem very lonesome as Sonic chooses to have this battle with himself, showing
the strength of his character of not being ignorant to the flaws he can see in
himself. However, it can still be argued that Sonic still has these misgivings
of if he is doing what is right or if it is just wrong. Not to mention
it makes him go and run even further down the steady path his heart has created
because he feels ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ if he is was right or wrong because it is
just an experience he can learn from and he can for sure do things his own way.
This nicely leads into the last crucial point of him just
going with his gut feelings and instincts. In the song after Sonic’s feelings
are presented to us the audience we are told to ‘place all of our bets’. Sonic
in this story is ready to take a gamble on his ideas. He is terrified or even
seemingly frustrated and conceited to not ask his friends because of his desire
to run and take on his problems by himself. We don’t fault him for that because
of his confusion; still searching for answers he may never get but he still
wants to take on that gamble. In addition, he is also speaking to those
listening to the song bringing forth the message of putting their trust in
Sonic’s ideals which is a reinforced motif in the song. The motif of it really
‘It Doesn’t Matter’ because doing the things you love in life no matter the
hardship or challenge is what should come first before worrying about others.
Sonic might be egotistical, he might be young and ignorant but he is
still honourably making the promise to the listeners that by trusting in him
and his word they are guaranteed to be able to let go and enjoy life for what
it is.
To conclude the point of the Sonic song ‘It Doesn’t Matter’
in the original Sonic Adventure Sonic is trying to find the answers of what to
do in the situations by himself by simply running headfirst into the issue
himself. Giving the message to the audience that if they are having hardships
and struggles in life, they will for sure overcome it. Not run away from the
problems but run towards them. With even the song consistently expressing this
the whole way through with a non-existent rhyme scheme. While rhymes are
important to make a song flow, this song says that ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ if that
choice was right or wrong because that is up to the readers to decide. In my
opinion, they for sure made the right choice. In terms of choices of songs.
That is why Sonic Adventure shall forever be remembered in the hall of fame for
video games.
(Thanks for reading)
(Link for the lyrics of the song is in the link below!)
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