There are a whole lot of compelling characters in Majora’s Mask, many of whom have personal struggles on top of the incoming apocalypse. Anju’s fiancée has gone missing, Pamela’s father is turning into a Gibdo, and Lulu’s eggs have been stolen by pirates. In a game with no shortage of deeply personal stories, Cremia’s stands out to me the most.
After losing her dad, she was left in charge of Romani Ranch and her little sister, Romani. Romani being named after the ranch likely gave Cremia feelings of inadequacy. It’s essentially like being told “your baby sister is more special than you.” As if that wasn’t discouraging enough, the love of her life is getting married to someone else. The ranch has also been raided recently, and the only entrance has been blocked. She’s losing business, losing confidence, and losing her cows to an invasion of alien ghosts. That is, unless a certain Grasshopper has something to say about it.
Link (affectionately referred to as “Grasshopper” by Romani) can’t fix all of Cremia’s problems, but she doesn’t need him to. All she asks him for is his company while delivering milk to Clock Town. On the trip, she tells him about all the things that have been stressing her out. She puts on a happy mask for everyone in her life, so this is a rare opportunity for her to be honest. To confess that maybe she’s not doing so well. The scene is already so meaningful and memorable, and it makes an even greater impact thanks to its perfect soundtrack.
It’s a relatively simple song, driven by an acoustic guitar and a banjo playing arpeggios in a swing rhythm. The melody takes its time at first, as if waiting for a response before finishing its own sentence. Once Cremia remembers that Link is mute, the melody gets a bit more adventurous. It starts singing louder and faster for a brief moment before bottling the feeling back up for the next round. The bass walks down into a satisfying resolution, and the track starts again. The loop is less than 30 seconds long, but it’s so effective. It almost feels to me like a breathing exercise for emotions – the perfect song to put on while you write in your diary.
That’s sort of what Cremia does, too. She’s speaking aloud, but her dialogue reads like a journal entry listing all the things she’s worrying about at the moment. With the moon looming in the sky, I can’t blame her for her pessimistic mindset. “There are some things in life that you can’t change no matter how hard you try,” Cremia says, and she’s right. But there are also things that you can change. Grasshoppers can’t stop the moon from falling, but they can easily make someone’s day a little bit brighter.
