Exploring the ‘Aria of The Soul’ & The Velvet Room
A blog between mind & matter, dream and reality…
‘Persona 5 Royal’ is now available in Japan, and rather than celebrating this news with spoilers to the latest game in the series, I decided to look back at the series and celebrate some of its fantastic music, which I did in the form of blogs, which I’ll leave below for you to read at your own leisure.
As for this week, I would like to look at one location that serves great importance to the protagonists of every main Persona game; The Velvet Room, and how it has changed over the last 20 years. I will also be discussing the piece of music that plays in the Velvet Room, the ‘Aria of The Soul’ and telling you my favourite versions of the famous theme.
NOTE: There will be some minor spoilers to pretty much every single Persona game. There will also be some music theory, so if you do not want any spoilers or be scared by musical analysis, turn away now! Consider this your warning folks!
The Velvet Room
A realm between mind and matter, dream and reality, The Velvet Room is a realm found between consciousness and subconsciousness and is the most constant location in the ‘Persona’ series, other than Japan itself.
The Velvet Room manifests itself differently in each ‘Persona’ game, but it is always covered in blue velvet and hosted by Igor, a servant of Philemon, the ‘creator’ of The Velvet Room. Whereas Philemon was prominent in the first three Persona games (1, 2.1, 2.2), he has not appeared (or mentioned) since.
In the original Persona game, The Velvet Room appeared as an empty room, decorated with blue velvet carpet and curtains covering the walls, a theme that would carry over into ‘Persona 2’. Accompanying Igor in these three games are his servants Nameless and Belladonna, who are found playing the piano and singing opera respectively. In both instalments of ‘Persona 2’, Demon Painter is a fourth resident of The Velvet Room.
From Persona 3–5, there was a change of directors, which is when the Persona franchise became a lot more popular, because of their likeliness to slice-of-life and shonen anime. It was also here that The Velvet Room would adopt the idea of presenting some important ideas/changes.
- Whereas the entire party could freely come and go into The Velvet Room in the original Persona games, mortals with high spiritual sensitivity, only one individual would be invited by Igor from this point onwards. These would be the future protagonists of the Persona games.
- The room’s design would reflect the protagonist's journey rather than a blue velvety room.
- Nameless, Belladonna and Demon Painter would no longer appear in The Velvet Room (at the time of typing). They would be replaced by a singular Velvet Room Assistant in each game.
In ‘Persons 3’ (and it’s subsequent remakes/expansions), The Velvet Room appears as an elevator that is endlessly ascending, with a large clock high above them, which could be argued a reference to SEES’ ascension in Tartarus throughout the game. Here, Igor has a new assistant named Elizabeth, who would later mention that those who set foot in the Velvet Room are bound to be on a quest in search for themselves, which is no different to the previous Persona game.
When the protagonist creates ‘The Universe’ the Velvet Room will stop ascending and the door to the elevator will fly open. The assistant in the PSP version can be replaced by Theodore if the players choose to play as the female protagonist.

The Velvet Room in ‘Persona 4’ and its extended version, ‘Persona 4: The GOLDEN’, appears like the interior of a limousine (see left/above, depending on where you are reading this blog). Igor is accompanied by a new assistant named Margaret.
The ‘limo’ appears to be driving along an unknown path through an impenetrable fog, mirroring the situation over at the protagonist’s own world, with the design of the limousine reflecting the false glamour a celebrity could bring (as celebrities on TV is a running theme throughout the game). ‘GOLDEN’ adds the character ‘Maria’ to The Velvet Room, who I should mention is NOT an assistant of The Velvet Room birthed/created by Igor (or Philemon). The reasons for which I won’t mention here, to minimise spoilers.
In the dancing games, it appears as a night club, adopting the name ‘Club Velvet’ in the two latest Persona games, ‘Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight’ and ‘Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight’.
‘Persona 5’ has The Velvet Room reveal itself as a prison, with the protagonist in a prisoner outfit, complete with handcuffs and chain ball tired around his ankle, locked in a cell. Igor is shown with two new assistants, Caroline and Justine, who act as prison guards while Igor himself sits at the warden’s desk. The room’s appearance mirrors how the protagonist and the other Phantom Thieves (of Hearts, to use the full title) feel imprisoned by the rules and expectations of society and turn to criminal acts to fulfil their desires for freedom. The Velvet Room plays a much larger role in this instalment, but I will not go into it here, as that will enter massive spoiler territory.
Regardless of its appearance or attendants, the purpose of the Velvet Room is always to manage Personas and use them in Fusion, which is the process of taking a minimum of two Personas and fusing them into a stronger version. The Velvet Room usually cannot fuse Personas that are higher than the protagonist’s current level, although some games allow the player to do this anyway, by paying the appropriate attendant a lot of money.

The method of summoning Personas in the Velvet Room has significantly changed throughout the series. In ‘Persona’, Igor uses an old-fashioned mobile telephone (fit with expandable aerial) to call the realm of unconsciousness, listens to a sad story from the other end which makes him cry, and the flood of emotion creates a rift that combines the two demons into the Persona (no, I am not making that up. That is a genuine narrative for a simple monster-making mechanic). In ‘Persona 2’, the Tarot Cards give power to the phone, which, combined with Belladonna’s singing and Nameless’ music, summons the Persona directly.
For ‘Persona 3’ and ‘Persona 4’, Igor performs an arcane ritual that fuses a certain number of Persona cards together to create a new one, which summons a Persona within the protagonist’s soul. In ‘Persona 5’, Igor does not perform any fusions himself. Instead, Caroline and Justine place the chosen Personas into guillotines, decapitating them and releasing energy that forms into the new Persona. During a Fusion Accident, the guillotines become stuck, resulting in the twins beheading the Personas with a chainsaw.
Aria of The Soul
There are two official titles for the piece of music that plays in most of the game’s adaptations of The Velvet Room. The first is ‘The Poem of Everyone’s Soul’ (全ての人の魂の詩/Subete no hito no tamashii no uta, in Japanese.) and ‘Aria of the Soul’ in English. I have also seen the occasional usage of ‘Hymn of The Soul’ and ‘Song of Everybody’s Souls’ in some more direct translations of the former’s title.
Whilst all of the Persona soundtracks have a brilliant combination of jazz, rock, pop and hip-hop, ‘Aria of The Soul’ is extremely classical in its structure and harmonies.
When I say the ‘Aria of The Soul’ is more classical, I mean that in the truest sense of the phrase, in that it is a Classical piece of music, rather than an orchestral piece of music that most people would dub as Classical because that is the go-to word for anything remotely orchestral.
There are four things in particular that labels this as a classical piece (to my ears anyway):
- The use of the dominant seventh chord, which is usually F#7, (#=sharp) as most of the versions of ‘Aria of The Soul’ is in the mournful B minor, often used as part of a perfect cadence (chords V-i). Most contemporary songs would have a more modal (usually Dorian) approach to create a sense of musical ‘home’. For example, you could replicate a different sense of home by going G, A, B minor (V-VII-i), but this is much sadder/darker. The modal approach was not practised as frequently during the Classical period of music.
- The use of the diminished submediant chord, which in the case of B minor (the aria’s usual key) is G# diminished. Similarly to the use of the dominant seventh, the diminished chord is a more appropriate choice of key for a true Classical piece of music, the G# belongs to the B minor melodic scale (ascending).
- Like many true Classical pieces, this piece ends on the major equivalent (B major), a technique known as a ‘tierce de picardie’ (or ‘picardie third’ if you are a lazy American).
- This piece of music is exactly what the title says it is: an aria, a song for a solo voice, typically one in an opera or oratorio. This one, however, is lyricless and has a piano, strings and pinch of brass. It has always been sung by Tomoko Komiya.
It is very fitting that this piece has a different sound to whatever genre a Persona game soundtrack is going for, as The Velvet Room is disconnected from our own reality, as are it’s residents, Igor, Philemon and the various eccentric attendants.
I now wish to share with you some of my favourite arrangements of ‘Aria of The Soul’ found across the years. There is no particular order to the arrangements, but I will leave my favourite arrangement (to date) last.

1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Arrangement
Yes, I am stating with an arrangement not found in a Persona game, but I have a very good reason too!
When ‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’ released late 2018, fans were ecstatic, as it was unveiled that every single character from the previous instalments was there for players, including previous DLC characters, without any additional purchases. There are, of course, new DLC characters being unveiled and released by Nintendo and their collaborators (ie, other developers and publishers) to let players play as even more characters.
One of these is Joker from ‘Persona 5’. When that was announced, the Persona fanbase went nuts, and that is an understatement on my part!
Alongside the ability to play as Joker and use his unique Persona, Arsene, the DLC also includes the Mementos arena that plays music from ‘Persona 3’ and ‘Persona 4’. In addition to these, there are remixes of some ‘Persona 5’ cues, including ‘Aria of The Soul’.
Perhaps the most frantic of all the arrangments of this cue, this version adopts many of the Acid Jazz stylistic choices that I love about ‘Persona 5’; the short, snappy, syncopated string phrases (which are beautifully recorded and orchestrated by the way), funky and busy bass lines and extended chords on that electric piano, all over the more traditional operatic singing. There is even a very brief key change to G#minor in the bridge section, adding to the craziness!
2. Persona 3–5 Version
This is the current arrangement of ‘Aria of The Soul’ the main entry Persona games are using.
Whilst it may be seen as given that I like this version of this cue (hence the existence of this blog), but it is looking back on previous instalments of the Persona games, and previous imaginings of this cue that one can appreciate this version in new ways.
In my opinion, this is the most complete version out of all the versions of ‘Aria of The Soul’, as almost all previous versions only played one or two sections from this beautiful piece.
3. Electronica in The Velvet Room
Originally included on the ‘Persona 4’ soundtrack as a bonus track (similarly to ‘Blues in The Velvet Room’ in ‘Persona 3’), it is not actually heard in the game (or ‘GOLDEN for that matter). Unlike the previous Persona Bonus Track, this is actually featured in a Persona game, be it ‘Persona 4: Dancing All Night’, which some have used to dub as ‘Margret’s Theme’.
What I love most about this arrangement is how silly it is, when compared to the original, which is rather mournful. It’s because of the upbeat club drum machines and choppy piano that plays the same harmonies found in the original that gives this piece a new burst of life. And despite these changes and the synths that jump across the song, this arrangement retains the original’s simplicity. Then again, this is a club song…so it is simple by very nature.
4. The Battle of Everyone’s Souls/Battle Hymn of The Soul
This is certainly one of the more unusual arrangements of this cue, as it adopts a strangely unique blend of rock and Trance, in addition to keeping the same operatic singing (and harmonies) over the ‘chorus’.
Its inclusion on this list is down to its importance within ‘Persona 3’. It is heard at the very end of ‘Persona 3’ (and it’s various extended versions), during a very climactic boss fight, at the top of Tartarus. Failure is not an option for SEES, as failure would mean the end of the universe, which is no exaggeration by the way.
It makes for a very dramatic boss fight, as you realise that it is only with your powers (granted to you by Igor) have a chance of changing the future, and preventing certain climatic doom.
5. (t.komine Remix)
A few years ago, an album titled ‘AT1ST Persona 3 & Persona 4 Dance Club Arrange’ was released. As the name suggests, this album contains various EDM arrangements of classic ‘Persona 3’ and ‘Persona 4’ cues/songs/tracks. Some made their way to ‘Persona 4: Dancing All Night’ and ‘Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight’ respectively. This is one of those tracks that went in the dancing game.
This piece can be found in ‘Persona 3: Dancing In Moonlight’, and is the song that Elisabeth dances to. Knowing how quirky Elisabeth is, you would have expected her to be quite the goofy dance. Her dance is rather goofy, but the song she dances is certainly not.
Now, I am no EDM music expert, so I won’t try and pigeon-hole it into a type of EDM it would fall under, but it is incredibly hard-hitting, with many percussive synth whirrings not straying too far from the B minor chord for most of the song, only to return to the expected chord progression for the breakdowns, before ending on a sudden key change to C minor, the key ‘Aria of The Soul’ was first heard on, back in ‘Persona 1’.
I am particularly fond of this piece because of how obsessed I was for mastering the various difficulties for Elisabeth’s dance/level/stage, memorising the button prompts on Easy, Normal and Hard mode until I got the ‘KING CRAZY’ rating on each of them. I have yet to do achieve this on All Night difficulty, but I will manage it somehow!
6. The Path Was Closed
Another ‘Persona 3’ arrangement now, with this being the shortest and the saddest version. This version acts as the ‘Game Over’ music.
It is also the simplest, as it is a piano arrangement that ends on the enharmonic equivalent, which is D major (both D major and B minor share the same key signature of 2 sharps (#)). It almost mocks the player by ending on a major key, as if things would have been better without you.
It makes a pleasant ringtone too might I add!
7. The Poem of Everyone’s Souls — Reincarnation Album Version
Another piano version from ‘Persona 3’, this time accompanied by the much loved and appreciated vocals.
What makes this version different from the other versions on this list is that the piano is an actual piano, and not a sample, which makes for a wonderfully fresh perspective on the ‘Aria of The Soul’. It also sounds like the six-minute piece was done in one take as if it were performed live to an audience (minus the applause).
It also includes an extended introduction that is taken directly from the ‘Persona 1’ SEBEC Chapter Good Ending, which makes for clever Easter Egg.
8. Dance Hymn of The Soul (Disco in The Velvet Room)
Another bonus track now, this time taken from the ‘Persona 4: Dancing All Night’ soundtrack and you know from those titles, that this is going to be an absolute banger!
As with many of the versions of ‘Aria of The Soul’, it starts with it’s ending, which in this case, acts as a chorus. It is also the simplest chord progression found in the song, so it makes it relatively straight forward to play around with. This arrangement choice reminds me of many CHIC songs, most of which start off with the chorus to get everyone up on their feet and start dancing.
Like many Disco songs, ‘Dance Hymn of The Soul’ is remarkably cheesy with funky clavichords, flowery piano arpeggios and even a few harp glissandos to make this even more obnoxiously jolly.
If you have learnt anything from listening and reading this blog, you will know that any piece can be made sad or happy depending on the tempi and rhythms, even a song that is B minor, an incredibly sad key (to my ears anyway).
9. Persona 1 Arrangement Album Version
This is my favourite version of ‘Aria of The Soul’, just because of how lush and ornate the arrangement is. Given the quality of the sound of the strings and the harpsichord, these are definitely real instruments. Samples like these did not exist during the 1990s. It only begs the question of why don’t ATLUS and/or the ATLUS Sound Team use live strings more often?
Like the ‘Persona 3’ Reincarnation Arrangement Album version, this features an extended introduction. Unlike that version, this one adopts the chord progression that the likes of ‘Dance Hymn of The Soul’ base the whole of that the arrangement of. Unlike that version, this version plays the entire song, which sounds like a more developed version found in future Persona game.
This version of ‘Aria of The Soul’ has an extended coda (a fancy musical term for ‘ending’) which creates a whole new level of darkness not heard in any other version.
Now, there is an official live version that was recorded for the 20th Anniversary album (which I absolutely adore, but there is not enough to say that hasn’t been said already by me), but I prefer the timbre and arrangement to this much more, despite the former being the same as the version used in Persona 3–5.
Coda
Hopefully, you have learnt something new about The Velvet Room and have a greater appreciation for ‘Aria of The Soul’, and the various different arrangments made over the years. Hopefully, I haven’t scared you with too much music theory.
Here is to even more exciting versions of two pinnacles of the Persona franchise, whether it is a blue box, limo, prison or a never-ending elevator!
What is your favourite design of The Velvet Room? Who is your favourite assistant and why? What is your favourite arrangement of ‘Aria of The Soul’ and why?
Let’s start a conversation, people!
