Faye Wong

The voice of Julia Heartilly.

Faye Wong is a singer who portrays the voice of Julia Heartilly in the song Eyes On Me. She was chosen amongst many other artists while Nobuo Uematsu and other Squaresoft staff were in search of someone to sing FF8's theme song. When Uematsu happened to hear one of her CDs, he thought her voice fit the mood and image of the song exactly. At the time, he had no idea that Faye was a popular icon. He just knew that she had to be Julia.

Name: 王靖雯
Birthdate: August 8, 1969
Fave Bands: Cranberries, The Sundays
Fave Song: Kisses In The Wind
Wish: to be happy all the time

Faye Wong during the promotion of Final Fantasy VIII

With her widespread popularity and ability to sing in English, Faye Wong was perfect for the game's goal of international appeal. Nobuo Uematsu notes that she had a very mysterious way of singing; in the dark and all in one shot. Eyes On Me was written by Kako Someya and although it is not in perfect English, the meaning and purpose of the song still came clear.

"You agitate to reach a certain kind of status quo. Once you achieve that, you agitate to change again. It's a never-ending process."
–Faye Wong

Julia Heartilly's Inspiration

In the flashbacks of FF8, Julia felt inspired each time Laguna Loire shyly watched her play the piano at the Galbadia Hotel's bar. She wrote a song about how she was watching him, too. After Laguna went off to war, her debut song Eyes On Me became a huge hit. However, the two were never meant to be. Laguna never returned from the war and they both moved on with their lives.

"Your smiles, your face, your eyes... You've shown me something... I think I can come up with a song."
–Julia at Deling City