Very few songs in all of gaming convey the feeling of adventure to me quite as much as “The Great Sea” from The Wind Waker. Hearing even a few notes of it conjures images of cannon fire, Big Octos, and a seemingly endless ocean stretching past a digital horizon. It’s an amazing melody already, but Tim de Man has found a way to take this treasured tune and make it even better.
The song starts simply with Tim de Man recreating the original song on the piano. He does a beautiful job with his masterful tickling of the ivory keys reminding us why fans already love this song so much.
A third of the way through the song, Tim de Man ups the ante when a small band comes in to accompany the piano. This addition amps up the nautical feeling of the song with the use of some drums, an accordion, and a recorder.
The drums subtly add to the consistency of the repeating melody. The beat adds a tiny bit of a heavier emphasis to the melody as if the melody itself were waves and the drums have helped them to crash just that much more.
The addition of an accordion invokes the feeling of pirates. The way it accompanies the piano and drums adds to the feeling of adventure, making it seem like Tetra has spotted treasure on the horizon and a crewman has marked the occasion with an accordion flourish.
Of course, you can’t say The Wind Waker without wind, and Tim de Man provides with the addition of a recorder. The spritely melody adds a youthful feeling to the tune. This not only causes us to imagine a young crewman just starting his path towards the archetypal “X marks the spot”, but it also calls to mind the cel-shaded cast of the game. Despite telling the dark, catastrophic tale of a Hyrule that has been drowned by the ocean’s waves, the toon look of Link, Aryll, and the rest of the cast feels like they could belong to a beloved cartoon. The recorder’s accompaniment adds to this innocent feeling of the adventures of youth.
In the final third of the song, Tim de Man riffs on the iconic music and improvises his own melodies that add to the overall song. This improvised section reminds me a lot of the end credits melody of A Link to the Past. That beloved melody of the 16-bit era summarized and capped an epic quest, and Tim de Man’s riffing does the same. The music conveys a feeling of having returned home after a long time at sea. It’s comfortable and welcoming, like the arms of your family ready to wrap you in a warm hug before offering you a soothing bowl of soup to remove the chill left by the ocean breeze.
“The Great Sea” is already a treasure. It’s one of those songs that cannot help but bring a smile to the face of many Zelda fans. It should be impossible, but Tim de Man improves upon it. Through the addition of other instruments as well as some of his own improvisation, he elevates the song. Not only by bringing to mind the nautical adventures we had alongside Toon Link, but also the feeling of peace and happiness we had each time we sought respite from the sea on the cozy shores of Outset Island.
