Of Pokémon songs and life

A few weeks ago, I delved into my ancient Pentium II and fished out some old songs which had entered my life many years ago. Among the beneficiaries of this rescue mission are songs from the Pokémon world.

The Pokémon tunes happened to be among the first which I started really learning by myself. (Except for the occasional other TV theme I found catchy, like Speed Racer and the Gummi Bears.) Just imagine a primary school-aged Sze Howe in front of his computer, belting out tunes at the top of his lungs to out-sing the voices from the speakers. Using one of the songs in my Primary 6 music class assessment got me decent marks too!

Somewhere along the way, Pokémon gradually faded from my playlists, and the songs were never transferred into my new laptop. Hearing them again brings back fun memories of the cartoon, Game Boy and trading card craze!

At this point, I'd like to say that I could listen to the orchestral soundtracks of the movies forever. They were just that brilliant in evoking different atmospheres -- dark, bright, enigmatic, fun... It's been incredibly hard to find out who the composer for each track is, but I think most of them are the works of John Loeffler, who also wrote many of the songs for the albums below. The man's a musical genius. The rest of my post will focus on the vocalized songs, though.

My Pokésong collection slowly grew over the next few years, but it was mostly limited to the above two albums: 2.B.A. Master and Totally Pokémon. Not that it was a real limitation, as there was a remarkable level of variety in style and content within each album alone.

The fun songs
Being Pokémon, the repertoire unsurprisingly contains good ol' sing-alongs which don't have much meaning, but are just for laughs. The Song of Jigglypuff is an energetic example, and is cute too! ^_^ Go on, have a listen. It won't send you to sleep, don't worry.

For the benefit of those unfamiliar to the Pokémon world (gasp!), Mt. Moon is the home of Jigglypuff, and the song's bridge is a list of the attacks the little fella is capable of using.

I was even vigilant enough to memorize some of the Japanese lyrics, without the slightest clue to what the words meant. One of them was Meowth's Song, a ballad with a melody and accompaniment that was greatly likable, despite Meowth's scratchy I-have-a-cold-and-laryngitis-at-the-same-time voice. Can't expect a virtuoso from a cat, I suppose.

I eventually looked up a translation of the song and burst out laughing. Mixed in with the humour though, is a dose of loneliness which does plague people in real life.

The above picture and below translation belongs to tsrockin.com

Meowth's Song (Nyasu No Uta)
In a blue, blue, quiet night
All alone, I philosophize

The crickets are in the bushes
Time and time again
But tonight I won't be eating them

The moon is like an authority
With its circular pattern
How round, so round....

No matter what happens in the world, the night goes on
No matter what happens in the world, the night goes on

Somewhere in the wide, wide universe
There exists another me

Do I also sit by the grass village
Raggedy-raggedy
Strumming a guitar, I wonder?
Am I also singing Meowth's Song, I wonder?

That I'm this lonely
This lonely
Lonely...

I wonder what everyone is doing right now
I wonder what everyone is doing right now

I feel like calling up someone

Whilst unrelated to my problem, I remember using Meowth's song to make myself feel better after getting backstabbed by a friend. It's interesting, really. I'm an advocate for lyrics in the Importance Of Lyrics vs. Importance Of Music debate, but in this case, I looked for comfort in the calming guitar part.

More about the debate in a future post.

The romantic songs
You'd be surprised/alarmed at the sheer number of fiction matchmakers out there ("Ash and Misty belong together!" "No way, it's Ash and May!!!"). Well guess what, I was in the bandwagon too! ^_^ There are 3 Ash-Misty songs that I know of. They aren't in this post, but all 3 songs can be found in in a story I wrote, which is very creatively titled The Songfic Trilogy. (Click on the name if you wish to read it -- You can navigate the chapters using a drop-down menu on the top-right and bottom-right of the page)

Etymology:

• "Fan fiction": Produced when a fan of a TV series/novel/etc. writes their own story based on the original characters/settings
• "Songfic": A piece of fan fiction which incorporates songs

Yes, I wrote a romance story back when I was 14. So sue me.

Alright kids, I want you to form two groups. Group One, you should all roll on the floor and laugh as loud as you can. Group Two, cup your face in your hands and repeat after me: "Awww..."

The third romance song comes from the Christmas album which unsurprisingly does not contain the core of Christmas as we know it. Well, the commercialized and fun-centric version of the Christmas holidays is here to stay.

The music does not live up to the earlier albums either. I didn't listen to most of the songs, but the ones I did hear had a very poor sense of rhythm in relation to the lyrics. Not something you want stuck in your head! It's still upbeat nonetheless, and the accompaniment rescued the songs somewhat.

The friend songs
I really wonder, why are there so many songs about physical intimacy on today's popular radio, but next to none about friendship? Why is it that the topic of friendship comes across as corny?

Pokémon has plenty of dedications to this bond that most of us cherish though, due to the young age of the target audience. Perhaps the kids have the right idea.

Together Forever (chorus)
Together forever, no matter how long
From now until the end of time
We'll be together and you can be sure
That forever and a day
That's how long we'll stay
Together and forever more


Never Too Far From Home (chorus)
Whatever you want, whatever you need
You know you can always count on me
There'll always be someone waiting
'Cause you're never too far from home

Wherever you go, whatever you do
You know we'll be there to pull you through
You know there'll be someone waiting
'Cause you're never too far from home

"Together Forever" is an upbeat one, while "Never Too Far" is more contemplative. Nonetheless, both contain the same optimism. It's sadly come to light that the optimism is for the minority... Humans aren't too efficient at maintaining friendships over the gap of space and time, huh?

The last song of the day has been with me for a long while. I've sung it for entertainment, I've cried to it when I had to leave the friend I was in love with as I left Kuching. Presenting, "The Time Has Come" from Episode 39.

The Time Has Come (Pikachu's Goodbye)
I close my eyes
And I can see
The day we met
Just one moment and I knew
You're my best friend
Do anything for you

We've gone so far
And done so much
And I feel
Like we've always been together
Right by my side
Through thick and thin
You're the part of my life
I'll always remember

The time has come
It's for the best I know it
Who could've guessed that you and I
Somehow, someday
We'd have to say goodbye

You've helped me find
The strength inside
And the courage
To make all my dreams come true
How will I find
Another friend like you?

Two of a kind
That's what we are
And it seemed
Like we were always winning
But as our team
Is torn apart
I wish we could go back
To the beginning

The time has come
It's for the best I know it
Who could've guessed that you and I
Somehow, someday
We'd have to say goodbye

Somehow today, we have to say goodbye...

I can think of many people who can relate to this song at this moment. I don't think the words describe any of the situations accurately though... More often than not, songs at most only represent something QUITE similar. But the point is, we find ourselves here more often than we like. I seem to be here again, too... but it's my own fault.

I miss you so much, my friend... but I'll remember you always...... >_<