The infiltration of Gerudo Valley and the excavation of the Spirit Temple are some of my favorite moments in Ocarina of Time. The memories of the game of cat and desert rat between Link and the Gerudo Guards, following the Poe through the raging sandstorm, delving into the Spirit Temple as both a child and an adult, and the amazing bosses of Nabooru and Twinrova are enough to get my pulse pounding. Thankfully, when I want to reminisce about my desert odyssey, Anime Martha Psyko has provided the perfect anthem. By combining the iconic “Gerudo Valley” theme with a rock beat and her violin, Anime Martha Psyko takes a song that already goes hard and turns it into a defiant yell against the tyranny of the Demon King.
The familiar tune begins with the usual “Gerudo Valley” introduction but immediately introduces some really interesting changes. An underlying rock background makes the tempo much faster and creates a feeling of haste. Link feels an urgency as he approaches the desert. His journey nears its end, and every grain of sand swirling around him is another second closer to bringing Ganondorf to justice.
A favorite part of this song for me is when Anime Martha Psyko picks out the beat on the strings of her violin. It’s ingenious in its simplicity which contrasts really well with the complexity of weaving the familiar melody and the wailing rock background music together. In some ways, it reminds me of the journey through the Spirit Temple itself.
The Spirit Temple is the only dungeon that requires you to traverse it both as a child and an adult. Because of this, the simplistic plucking can easily be seen as reminiscent of the struggles of Young Link, living in a Hyrule that has yet to be twisted by Ganondorf’s reign. The fact that this plucking is only heard towards the beginning of the song before it gives way to more complex techniques evokes the reality that no matter what, Young Link must eventually face the sad truth of the timeline he has seen. He cannot live in the past. He must take on the complex mantle of adulthood and fight Ganondorf’s twisted future.
As the song continues, there are also moments where Anime Martha Psyko will hold some of the notes she plays on the violin for just a bit longer than is normally heard in the traditional version of the song. This happens more and more as the song’s journey progresses. By doing so, it creates a sense of progression. It helps punctuate my memories of the Spirit Temple.
As Young Link, we meet the future sage Nabooru as she is in the planning stages of a Gerudo rebellion against the vile Ganondorf. As we return to the now even more crumbly Spirit Temple as an adult though, Nabooru has been brainwashed and twisted into a servant of the very evil she stood against. The extended, wailing notes of the violin only serve to emphasize the tragedy of Nabooru’s tale before the Hero of Time frees her.
Anime Martha Psyko’s violin-rock version of “Gerudo Valley” does a fantastic job capturing the Hero of Time’s time-skipping trek through the desert. Its quick tempo emphasizes the urgency the hero and player face as the journey nears its end. The mixture of complex and simplistic elements recalls Link’s own struggle between the joys of youth and the responsibilities of adulthood. The wailing violin matches the sadness of Nabooru’s tale of rebellion and capture. It’s important then that the song itself ends on one of these long held notes. It turns into a scream of defiance against the Demon King. Nabooru has been freed, and as she stands as the Sage of Spirit, she knows she will be a part of striking back at the evil man who tried to twist her into something that she’s not. Link’s own scream of frustration echoes alongside hers as his young voice roars across time into the defiant yell of an adult who had his innocence stripped away too soon. As the violin note and the journey through the Spirit Temple, ends, Ganondorf must feel a tinge of fear at the howling shouts of defiance arising from the desert.
