Always on My Mind

"Always on My Mind" is a musical composition by Yoko Shimomura that appears in the Kingdom Hearts series.

Appearances
"Always on My Mind" appears only in cutscenes.

Kingdom Hearts

 * End of the World: "Closing the Door"

Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories

 * Castle Oblivion: "Forgotten, but not lost"

Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-

 * Destiny Islands: "A World Restored"

Kingdom Hearts III

 * Keyblade Graveyard: "Kingdom Hearts"
 * Scala ad Caelum: "Checkmate"

Composition
"Always on My Mind" is approximately one minute and forty-seven seconds long in Kingdom Hearts. In the HD remake of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, it is approximately one minute and forty-nine seconds long. Although the track plays at a slightly different tempo between games, each game starts the piece in 3/4 time signature, uses a rallentando to slightly slow down towards the middle of the piece, and then resumes the original tempo, now in 4/4 time. For Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX, the tempo is 76 beats per minute. In Kingdom Hearts III, the tempo is 79 beats per minute. Due to the hardware limitations of the Game Boy Advance, the sound quality was slightly reduced in Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories.

The piece shares a common instrumentation of: flute, orchestral bells, suspended cymbal, timpani, music box, piano, organ, harp, and female choir. In Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX, the cello and stringed bass are added towards the end of the track, outlining chords in pizzicato style. The use of organ, timpani, and suspended cymbal are very minor, used primarily as a shift in tone during the rallentando.

Much like "Friends in My Heart", "Always on My Mind" is very light in texture and tone. It features slight variations of previous themes such as "Dearly Beloved" and Kairi's theme. The latter of which is easily heard as the concluding theme, now much slower and gentler in nature. For the original Kingdom Hearts, the "Kairi" segment was played solely by a music box MIDI sound effect on synthesizer. However, in the HD remake of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, this is initially played by the piano before conceding to the music box.