Some Relaxing Tunes /// Music Monday #47

Well, well, well . . . That's a deep subject.

*awkward silence*

Ahem . . . moving right along. It's time for some more music!

We've got a chill song today, one that might even put you to sleep if you listen to it long enough.

"Grape Garden" from Kirby's Return to Dream Land

Composed by Hirokazu Ando and Jun Ishikawa

Now, I personally think that the Kirby series has some of the best soundtracks of all the Nintendo franchises. Seriously, Nintendo and HAL have got to give some awards to their composers for being so talented, especially with creating new songs while blending in old ones. This track is a perfect example of that, and I think it might be one of my favorite Kirby songs of all time.

We start with a gentle piano melody with more instrumentation being added as we go along. (I'm not an expert in music, so don't ask me what all the other instruments are called, because I have no idea. It just sounds good.) What's really interesting to me is how the song loops. It doesn't do it in the same way that Nintendo music normally does. It seems to throw in different things, like the violin at 2:51. Really makes for an interesting song.

If you're a Kirby gaming nerd, you'll probably realize that this is a remix of the song with the same title from Kirby's Adventure. But man, what time does to change music! Obviously the older systems didn't have the same sound capabilities as the Wii does, but still. I can't help being impressed that we went from retro, chiptune music to this orchestral masterpiece. It's crazy how far we've progressed.

Also, this song has literally nothing to do with the Grape Garden level in Kirby Super Star. I'm not sure why they called it when the level in Super Star is not located in the sky--it's by the ocean instead--and the music is not a remix of the original Grape Garden's theme. *shrugs* Go figure.

But if you enjoyed this song and found it relaxing, and you want more stuff like this, I've got you covered. I've been slowly working on a playlist of relaxing music on YouTube, which you can find here. It's gotta be at least a few hours long by now, so you'll have plenty to listen to when you're studying or napping or whatever. Shameless self-promotion, I know, but I figured I'd just throw it out there.

Thanks for stopping by and listening! Did you like the music this time around? Would you agree that Kirby has some of the best Nintendo soundtracks? (I know Christine will say that Zelda does.)