A recent tweet from the writer and director of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Hideo Kojima, revealed the hidden meaning behind the game's ending song, "Way to Fall." Music is an integral part of any video game; used for purposes ranging from tone-setting and background atmosphere, to primary storytelling features. In many successful game series - including The Elder Scrolls, Pokémon, Super Mario Bros. and Tetris - the soundtrack contributes just as much to a game's final product as its story and gameplay.The Metal Gear Solid series is no different, utilizing music in a wide variety of styles from classical and hip-hop to metal, as well as dipping into other musical genres. Metal Gear Solid 3 alone contains eight distinct musical styles by at least five different artists. These artists combined to provide a total of 42 songs (43 if including an extra track). Across all 11 games of the Metal Gear Solid series, remakes included, there is a track list of nearly 500 songs, a staggering amount of music for a single video game series - albeit one with many installments.Related: Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3 Temporarily Removed From Digital StoresKonami's Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater celebrated its seventeenth anniversary yesterday, and the game's designer, producer, director, and principal writer Hideo Kojima did not forget. He tweeted an image of the song's lyrics "Way to Fall" by English rock band Starsailor from their album Love Is Here. The famed director explained that the song was not only given to protagonist Snake by antagonist The Boss, but was also used in the ending of the game, adding "it was adopted by Big Boss as a song to think about the feelings of young Snake." Reminiscing about the release of Metal Gear Solid 3, Kojima explained in the Twitter thread he "remembered many things" when he heard that it was the game's anniversary.[EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/1461863757785747457[/EMBED_TWITTER]The lyrics of the song indicate a father (the singer) talking to his son - but in the context of MGS 3, represent The Boss likely addressing young Snake. The opening words, "Son, You've got a way to fall," warns him that - although he has already lost a great deal - there is still a lot left to lose, and there is still room for matters to get worse. Without discussing spoilers from the series, the young Snake featured in the prequal game of Metal Gear Solid 3 had a great deal of loss ahead of him.In some ways, "Way to Fall" serves almost as a pep talk in the context of Metal Gear Solid 3, a strange thought given the relationship of the characters it concerns. The song appears to highlight The Boss' attempts to prepare Snake for what will come; and, ultimately, is perhaps the game's way of saying goodbye to an important character (and, perhaps, giving her the send-off she deserved). There is a great deal of hardship in the song, and the story of The Boss does not lack such a theme. She is one of the most sympathetic villains in the Metal Gear Solid series. A great song, a great game, and a great character - a well-matched trinity to round out the introduction to the storyline of a classic game series.Next: Konami Made Metal Gear Games Without Kojima Since The BeginningSources: Hideo Kojima/Twitter