One - Winged Angel ( theme ) " One - Winged Angel " is a musical theme from " Final Fantasy VII " , and it is notable for the final boss theme and for being the first theme in the series to feature vocal lyrics . It was composed by Nobuo Uematsu . " One - Winged Angel " is one of the most popular tracks of the " Final Fantasy " series . The song ' s name refers to Safer∙Sephiroth , who has six white wings where his legs should be and a grotesque black wing where his right arm should be , but since its original appearance , this title is commonly used to refer to Sephiroth himself and serves as a motif for the character ( Sephiroth ' s original character theme from " Final Fantasy VII " is " Those Chosen by the Planet " ) . With Sephiroth ' s popularity , " One - Winged Angel " has received several arrangements and had several appearances outside " Final Fantasy VII " , never far from the presence of the villain it is associated with . Development . " One - Winged Angel " broke new ground in the " Final Fantasy " series by being the first song in a " Final Fantasy " game with lyrics . The developers experimented with the song and took the recording of it and reduced it in a way it would fit the game ; Uematsu has mentioned that " One - Winged Angel " is a good example of an experimental song , or a result that they didn ' t expect from the beginning . Having composed many battle themes for the series before , Uematsu wanted to create something new and unique for " One - Winged Angel " . Nobuo Uematsu apparently got his inspiration for " One - Winged Angel " through Alfred Hitchcock ' s " Psycho " theme . Nobuo himself states it so in the " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " special feature , " The Distance : Making of Featurette " on Disc Two of the Two - Disc Special Edition . Nobuo Uematsu has also said he had wanted to fuse " musical styles of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky and rock musician Jimi Hendrix " with the song . Specifically , " One - Winged Angel " appears to be based on Stravinsky ' s " The Rite of Spring " in terms of form and orchestration , using the " augur chord " , one of the most famous motifs Stravinsky came up with . Uematsu has also said he wanted to create something that would sound like ' 60s or ' 70s rock music performed by a full orchestra , and for the piece to have the same destructive impact as rock music . " One - Winged Angel " is the only composition Uematsu has done with the " puzzle piece " method . Uematsu had not been trained or been in an orchestra prior to composing " One - Winged Angel " , but he wanted to keep the orchestral music atmosphere and be able to " rock it " and have a thick orchestral feel to it . He had samples of stuff he had prepared for the orchestra , but in the end he ended up just giving it over to them and seeing how they could perform it . During the concert , the encore piece was " One - Winged Angel " performed by both The Black Mages and the orchestra . Afterward Uematsu has stated : " " At that moment , I knew that was the complete " One - Winged Angel " . So I still think " One - Winged Angel " is a rock piece " " . Game appearances . " Final Fantasy VII " . " One - Winged Angel " first appeared as the background theme for the final battle against Safer∙Sephiroth . It was released as the sixteenth track of the game ' s fourth disc . Lyrics . Several verses were taken from the medieval poetry compilation . " One - Winged Angel " was rearranged for the movie , to play during the final battle between Cloud Strife and Sephiroth . This arrangement is titled " Advent : One - Winged Angel " , and was meant to be the main focus of the film ' s soundtrack . Notable from any past iteration of the piece , this new version features an orchestral performance accompanied by The Black Mages , arranged by Shiro Hamaguchi and Kenichiro Fukui , and new lyrics by Tetsuya Nomura . This theme was released as the ninth track from the second disc of the " " . For the movie ' s extended cut , " Advent Children Complete " , the song was again redone and titled " Advent : One - Winged Angel - ACC Long Version " , and features new orchestration . Since the scene during which the song plays had been lengthened , a new passage was added toward the end . It repeats the song as heard from 1 : 29 - 2 : 15 , without the Latin chorus and metal band accompaniment . This new arrangement of " One - Winged Angel " was released as the twelfth track of the " " album . In the commentary for " Advent Children " , Nobuo Uematsu comments that the previous orchestration never really quite felt right to him and , by contrast , the combination of orchestra and metal sounds seemed to be what the piece really required all along . Uematsu also noted various rock bands that had performed their songs with an orchestra , and failed , and stated that because " One - Winged Angel " was written for neither an orchestra or a rock band , the two styles ended up meshing together well for the song ' s remix . There is a dispute concerning the official translation of the Latin lyrics and another , more literal translation of the first and last stanzas . Whether or not the official translation of the song conveys the same message as its literal translation is entirely a matter of opinion . " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " . An orchestral arrangement of " One - Winged Angel " by Kazuhiko Toyama titled " Vengeance on the World ( from " FFVII " " One - Winged Angel " ) " , is present and plays during a flashback sequence where Sephiroth battles Genesis Rhapsodos , and the Sephiroth boss battle at Nibelheim along with " Controlling the Iron Beast " . This new version is half the length of the original version , and features a shorter introduction leading into the vocals much earlier . This remix focuses on the song ' s orchestral elements , providing a contrast between it and Genesis ' s themes , " Flapping Black Wing " and " SOLDIER Battle " , which focuses on rock elements . " Dissidia Final Fantasy " ( 2008 ) . The orchestral arrangement of " One - Winged Angel " from " Final Fantasy VII : Reunion Tracks " was included as " One - Winged Angel - orchestra version - from FINAL FANTASY VII " and appears as one of the two default " Final Fantasy VII " battle themes . It is the second track of the " Dissidia Final Fantasy Original Soundtrack " second disc . " One - Winged Angel " can be automatically selected for battles including Sephiroth or Cloud , or taking place at Planet ' s Core . " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " . As with all tracks present in the original game , " One - Winged Angel - orchestra version - from FINAL FANTASY VII " returns in the prequel to " Dissidia Final Fantasy " . It is given the same appearances as in the aforementioned game , but can also be automatically selected for battles including the newcomer Tifa Lockhart . " Dissidia Final Fantasy " ( 2015 ) . The arranged track from " Dissidia Final Fantasy " and the original PlayStation version can be bought from the in - game shop for 3 , 600 gil . " Theatrhythm Final Fantasy " . The original version of " One - Winged Angel " was selected as the Battle Music Sequence for the " Final Fantasy " Series play . The game ' s director , Ichiro Hazama , has noted that " One - Winged Angel " was one of the two main songs the team was told to include when the development on the game was started . The other song was " Clash on the Big Bridge " . " Advent : One Winged Angel " appears in the iOS release as a BMS . It is notably the longest song in the game , with 973 triggers and lasting approximately six minutes . " Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call " . The original " One - Winged Angel " returns as a BMS . " Advent : One - Winged Angel " appears as both the Event Music Sequence for " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " and as a stand - alone DLC BMS track , the latter having fewer notes than the original " Theatrhythm " but still being one of the longest songs in the game . " " . The original version of " One - Winged Angel " plays in the cinematic ending for all of the playable characters from " Final Fantasy VII " ( , , , , and ) . The ending is a montage of FMV scenes from " Final Fantasy VII " . Arrangement album appearances . An orchestrated arrangement of " One - Winged Angel " by Shiro Hamaguchi was included in the " Final Fantasy VII " best - of music album . Some versions of the album contain a hidden track accessed by rewinding from the start of the album . This track is an instrumental version of " One - Winged Angel " . A piano arrangement of the theme by Shiro Hamaguchi and performed by Seiji Honda is included on the " Final Fantasy VII " iteration of " Piano Collections " as the eleventh track . " Final Fantasy Orchestra Album " . " One - Winged Angel " appears on this " Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary " arrangement album . Compilation album appearances . The orchestral version of " One - Winged Angel " from the " Final Fantasy VII : Reunion Tracks " was included on this album as the eight track . " Final Fantasy Vinyls " . " One - Winged Angel " is included on the fifth disc of this collector ' s edition set . " Final Fantasy VII Vinyl Limited Edition " . " One - Winged Angel " is included on the fourth disc of this collectors ' edition . Live performances . " One - Winged Angel " is typically performed as an encore on the " Final Fantasy " concerts . " 20020220 music from Final Fantasy " . " One - Winged Angel " , performed live by Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra , is included on this concert record album . " More Friends - Music from Final Fantasy " . " Advent : One - Winged Angel " was included on this concert , preformed by The World Festival Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arnie Rothand The Black Mages , at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles , California on May 16th , 2005 . " One - Winged Angel " was performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in this live orchestra concert recording . " One - Winged Angel " is included on this live recording of an orchestral concert , performed by the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Arnie Roth held in Tokyo , in November 2010 . Instead of being the encore , " One - Winged Angel " opens the concert . Vanafest 2012 . " Advent : One - Winged Angel " was performed by the Earthbound Papas at the 2012 edition of Vanafest , the " Final Fantasy XI " Festival . A live recording of " One - Winged Angel " from at the London premiere of the on February 15 , 2014 , conducted by Arnie Roth , is included on this album . Final Symphony . " FINAL FANTASY VII Symphony in Three Movements " is a symphony arranged and orchestrated by Jonne Valtonen for the Final Symphony concert series . The first movement of the symphony , titled " Nibelheim Incident " , is based on Sephiroth . The 3 - note motif of Sephiroth is used throughout the first movement as an element of structural integrity . In the final phase " The One - Winged Angel " emerges before gradually distorting as all of the earlier themes are gradually built on top of each other . This distortion is a reflection of Sephiroth ' s internal chaos as he becomes aware of his past . In the end of the movement things slow down . As Sephiroth is reborn , the familiar pulse is heard " in almost spiritual context " . Non - " Final Fantasy " guest appearances . " Kingdom Hearts " . " One - Winged Angel " was remixed by Yoko Shimomura twice for the series , playing in superboss battles with Sephiroth in both ' and ' , as well as playing during his fights with Cloud in cutscenes . The remixes of the theme feature shorter intros , leading almost immediately into the Latin vocals , and the vocals as a whole are more prominent than in the original version . The HD ReMIX versions of both games for the PS3 each remix the two versions with enhanced vocals and instrumentation . Etymology . The name of the theme refers to Sephiroth ' s appearance in the final battle , as well as his role in the story . Sephiroth ' s " One - Winged Angel " incarnation and its six white wings nod to the angelic description of Seraphim in Isaiah 6 : 2 : " Above it stood seraphim ; each one had six wings : with two they veiled their faces , with two they veiled their feet , and with two they hovered aloft " . However , the name and title " One - Winged Angel " owe themselves not to these six white wings , but to the seventh single black wing .