One-Winged Angel

“I know that with every concert that we have, when we have the orchestra perform “One-Winged Angel”, for some reason or another that’s the one that has the biggest reaction, and everyone sort of expects that to be in a Final Fantasy concert. I still can’t figure out why. I know that I pushed everyone to his/her limits, but then it worked out in the end.”
—Nobuo Uematsu
“One-Winged Angel” (片翼の天使, Katayoku no Tenshi?) is a musical theme from Final Fantasy VII, and it is notable for the final battle 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.