Drawing Song
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"Drawing Song"[Japanese title] is a music piece that first appeared in the Japanese commercial for Kirby's Dream Land. It was remixed in Kirby's Adventure, where it plays before the title screen, and has since only received a proper rearrangement in the Kirby 30th Anniversary Music Festival. It would, however, go on to inspire a similar song: "Kihon wa Maru", the first ending theme of the Japanese version of Kirby: Right Back at Ya!.
Composition[edit]
"Drawing Song" is a very simple song that is only four bars long. It is set at 150 beats per minute in the key of C major, and it takes place in 12/8 time, meaning that each bar is divided into four segments of three beats each. The original song has no accompaniment, but appears to follow a vi–V–IV–I progression (A minor, G major, F major, C major), a variant of the I–V–vi–IV progression commonly seen in popular music. The Kirby's Adventure arrangement implies slightly more complex harmonies, using notes from the respective ninth chords in its accompaniment.
Lyrics[edit]
In the original commercial, the Japanese lyrics of the song are as follows:
まるかいてー
maru kaite
Draw a circle
おまめがふたつ
omame ga futatsu
Two little beans
おむすびひとつ
omusubi hitotsu
A single rice ball
あっというまに
attoiumani
In the blink of an eye
ほしのカービィ！
hoshi no kābyi!
Kirby of the Stars!
The last line ("Kirby of the Stars!") is not part of the melody, and is simply spoken; as such, it is omitted from the Kirby's Adventure recreation of the song.
Kirby's Adventure also gives the song English, French, and German lyrics as part of its localization:
First you draw a circle D'abord, dessin un cercle. Kirby ist ein kleiner Kreis |
Game appearances[edit]
Kirby's Adventure[edit]
The "Drawing Song" makes its only proper in-game appearance in Kirby's Adventure, appearing before the title sequence right when the game is booted up. As the name suggests, it teaches the viewer how to draw Kirby. It can be found as track 49 (31 in hexadecimal) in the Sound Test. It does not return in the remake, which instead has a unique intro showing 120 Kirbys running across the screen.
Other appearances[edit]
The song first appeared in the Japanese commercial for Kirby's Dream Land, where it is sung out loud by a young child as he draws Kirby. The lyrics were also written out in Japanese magazine advertisements for the game.
The Kirby's Adventure version of "Drawing Song" is included on the Kirby's Adventure soundtrack. It is here where the song received its official name.
In Kirby's Pinball Land, when passing by the Twisters at the top of Wispy-Woods Land, the sound effect that plays as they spin is the melody of the "Drawing Song", simultaneously in keys of E-flat and G major (likely transposed to avoid dissonance with the Wispy-Woods Land theme, which is set in D major). The melody is difficult to notice unless Kirby passes through the Twisters many times, as the sound effects only play as long as the Twisters are spinning. If Kirby spins the Twisters for long enough, Kirby finishes off the song with a Mike shout.
In a 1994 mini-CD/manga set titled the Kirby of the Stars Talking CD Comic (『星のカービィ おしゃべりCDコミック』)—featuring the first example of Kirby's voice in a licensed work for public sale—Kirby sings along with the Kirby's Adventure version of the Drawing Song. Kirby mostly follows the original lyrics, although interjecting 'quickly add the hands and the feet!' (パパッと、てあしをつけて！) between the third and fourth bars, and simply exclaiming "Kirby!" at the conclusion of the song accompanied by an additional sound effect (specifically the sound effect that plays when pausing Kirby's Adventure). As with the other skits on the CD, this is meant to play alongside a page of the accompanying manga.[1]
The instrumental theme was also performed as part of the "Kirby Through the Years: 1993-2004" medley in the Kirby 30th Anniversary Music Festival, along with "Title Screen / Demo", "Grass Land" from Kirby's Dream Land 2, "Peanut Plains", "Candy Mountain", "The Last Iceberg", "Heading for 0²", and "Ending" from Kirby & The Amazing Mirror.
Video gallery[edit]
The Japanese commercial for Kirby's Dream Land.
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Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 絵書き歌[2][3] ekaki uta |
Drawing Song |
References
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