Final Fantasy VIII : Original Soundtrack Final Fantasy VIII : Original Soundtrack is the complete soundtrack for " Final Fantasy VIII " composed by Nobuo Uematsu . The soundtrack includes liner notes with a message from the composer ; an interview with Uematsu called " Privately Attack Nobuo Uematsu with Questions " ; lyrics to " Liberi Fatali " in Latin and Japanese ( kana ) ; lyrics to " Eyes on Me " in English and kana ; and main characters ' portraits and screenshots from some of the game ' s FMVs . Two arranged albums , " " and " " , have also been released . Development . Uematsu did not use multiple sources to find MIDI instruments , instead using a Roland SC88 synthesizer for the entire score . Uematsu wrote notes based on character designs and screenplays , creating a general picture of the songs ' moods . He could not express a character ' s emotions solely with plot , instead using images of appearance and attire . Uematsu wrote no character themes for " Final Fantasy VIII " because he found them largely ineffective . The only times he decided to include a personal theme was whenever a character was highlighted . The romance between Squall and Rinoa resulted in the creation of the game ' s vocal theme , " Eyes on Me " . The " Final Fantasy VIII " soundtrack was the first for all of its tracks to bear English language titles , with minor deviations . The song " Ami " derives from the French word " ami " for " friend " . The song ' s naming was also inspired by 1986 novel by Chilean writer Enrique Barrios , entitled " Ami , el niño de las estrellas " . The soundtrack received mixed reviews , being called " one of the most memorable scores you will ever hear " by some sources , and yet being pointed as " dull " by others . The Black Mages have covered more themes from the " Final Fantasy VIII " soundtrack than from any other soundtrack in the series . Limited edition . A limited edition first print version of the soundtrack was also produced . The cover shows the " Final Fantasy VIII " logo on a beige background instead of FMV montage , but is now mostly associated with the SonMay and Ever Anime bootleg copy . The limited edition comes in a beige box measuring 10 " by 5 . 75 " which opens up like a folder . The liner notes include a " Special Interview " of Nobuo Uematsu done by Yoshitake Maeda , not included in the regular edition . The liner notes with the package are scaled to 10 inches by 5 . 75 inches and are sewn into the inside cover . " FF VIII : Music Collection " . Final Fantasy VIII Music Collection : Music From The Final Fantasy VIII Video Game is the North American release of the " Final Fantasy VIII : Original Soundtrack " album . While the packaging differs , the tracks and names are the same and it contains the same liner notes ( translated into English ) as the regular Japanese version . This album was available for a limited time through Square ' s website . Liner Notes ( translated from the original Japanese ) . All versions of the " Final Fantasy VIII " soundtrack include a message from Nobuo Uematsu ; the message is in Japanese in the Japanese versions of the soundtrack and can be found in English in the " Final Fantasy VIII Music Collection " version . The regular Japanese version also includes a " special interview " with Nobuo Uematsu , and the limited edition also includes an interview with Uematsu , by Yoshitake Maeda , which is not included in the regular edition . Message from Nobuo Uematsu . I received a letter asking for me to answer a survey about me from DigiCube the other day . I was able to answer every question with ease , but I had to stop and think when I put down " I am always happy " when I had to answer the question : " When do you find yourself happy ? " Looking over the past few years , I can ' t remember being unhappy . It may be just that I am spending my summit of my life , but it ' s not that I haven ' t had angry or distressing moments . Don ' t think that middle - aged men don ' t have any worries ! Well , if I count how many times I have been happy these couple of years , its number well exceeds the number of times I have been put down . I ' m sure I am not the only one . Some of you may have no money , but enjoy spending time with your children . You may have been fired , but found some freedom instead . If you have been dumped , you have another chance to start another affair . You may have received a low grade on your test , but maybe you love playing soccer . We go through a great number of experiences . They are fall upon you , so you are the one who must interpret their meanings . I think that those meanings that you have created become " truths . " Even if there is one single event , there could be as many truths as the world ' s population . If you decide to interpret an event in a negative way , you can only find yourself caught inside an unhappy truth . We can ' t liberate ourselves from pain by looking back to our distressful past , for we are the ones who are eager to hold on to that pain . It may be a good idea to open up and say " Here I am . I ' m ready for anything ! " , as you disconnect yourself from pain . That is why I decided to have a change of mind this time . I declared myself that I will accept any hardship , and they decided to give me all the hardship possible . ( LOL ) Right now , my body is like an old towel wet and soaked . . . . But it was fun . Concentrating on something is my means of acquiring happiness . Limited edition interview with Uematsu . I don ' t know if he agrees , but I think I find a queer relation between me and Nobuo Uematsu . It first started when I started playing " Final Fantasy " on my Nintendo . The beautiful arpeggio at the title had an impact upon me that was as great as the fanfare in " Dragon Quest " . Since then , I have become a fan of FF music . I jumped on to the chance when I was brought up a plan about creating an arrangement of FF4 ( 2 U . S . ) music in Ireland a few years later . Irish traditionals are one of my favorite styles of music , so " " still is my favorite CD . I remember meeting Shannon Sharon , who is the most renowned accordion player in Ireland . Meeting Nobuo was a greater experience for me , though . . . ! Anyway , my ardor of Irish music increased significantly by this event . Since then , I have been going to every Irish performance in Japan , as well as Irish cafes nearby . I was surprised when I found out that Nobuo went to the same cafe . He told me that he also had begun to love Irish music , that he began to learn fiddle . At the same time I was into Irish music , I was also into Asian Pops . I even wrote a book called " Encyclopedia of Asian Pops . " That was why I was excited to hear that Faye Wong was going to sing in FF8 . I couldn ' t believe that Nobuo chose her out of thousands of others . Faye was born in Peking , and started off her career in Hong Kong as a vocalist . She led another new era in Asia as the best singer in the 20th century , too . Hearing that Nobuo chose her , I started to feel that he was my buddy . Of course , I don ' t know if he agrees . Where do you start when you start your job ? Do you get to choose where the main theme comes in ? Why is that ? Do you get a general picture by reading the screenplay ? Are your song themes affected by the main characters ? Why is it that there are no character themes this time ? It ' s a change of subject , but what kind of an environment do you work in ? What do you think of the evolution of gaming machines in music ? What about the NES era ? Why did you decide to put a vocal song ? What kind of a person was Faye Wong ? Her mysteriousness is one of her traits . Do you think game music and regular commercial music would merge together someday ? Is it difficult to write music that matches the game ' s atmosphere ? Was this idea of " Final Fantasy " present from the beginning ? Does this " cinematic thinking " come important in song writing ? Then , what genre are you best at writing ? Promotional CDs . A CD titled " Final Fantasy VIII Music Collection " was released as a freebie along with the Japanese PC - version release . The first print of this release has Yoshitaka Amano art on the CD , while the regular version has Quistis ' s character art drawn by Nomura . The CD includes " The Man With the Machine Gun " and " Mods de Chocobo " from the original soundtrack , " Love Grows " and " The Oath " from " " and " Shuffle or Boogie " and " Ami " from the " " album . The catalog number for this release is SQMW - 4001 . Another promo - only " Final Fantasy VIII " music CD exists , called " FINAL FANTASY VIII Original Soundtrack - Special Sampler . " Its catalog number is TGCS - 624 and it contains a selection of tracks from the original soundtrack . Weirdly , even if the CD has 11 tracks it simply repeats the first five tracks twice , with " Eyes On Me " appearing on the CD three times . Sheet music . Published by DOREMI Music Publishing , the sheet music book " Final Fantasy VIII Original Soundtrack Piano Sheet Music " contains Asako Niwa ' s piano arrangements for the music on the " Final Fantasy VIII : Original Soundtrack " . The difficulty level is beginner to intermediate .