Beyond the Hill
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"Beyond the Hill" is a stage theme from Kirby's Return to Dream Land that plays primarily in Cookie Country - Stage 4 and the first area of White Wafers - Stage 2. It was composed by Jun Ishikawa.[1]
Composition[edit]
"Beyond the Hill" is in the key of C major and runs at a brisk tempo of around 178 BPM. The theme can be divided into three distinct segments that play one after another, with the third segment looping back to the first.
After a short drum fill introduces the piece, it goes right into the first segment, which introduces a distinctive synth bass and guitar accompaniment that remain through the whole song. The initial motif, a leap up an octave from G to G and a fourth followed by gradually descending notes and returning to the first G, is first played on a flute instrument before being repeated with a glockenspiel accompaniment. A trumpet develops a variant on this motif before leading into the second segment with a triumphant rising triad. This A minor part is slightly more tense and narrow in range and features a synth voice as the main instrument. This segment reaches its climax at a descending scale and sets up the dominant for C major.
Finally, in the third segment, the melody becomes more triumphant, and synth arpeggios accompany the guitar. The trumpet returns to play the melody, which features a motif that returns in several other tracks, consisting of a descending major triad and rise from C to E. This is followed by a clarinet that repeats the same motif, before the trumpet returns with a rising fanfare that signals the end of the loop. The track lasts about 80 seconds before looping.
Game appearances[edit]
Kirby's Return to Dream Land / Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe[edit]
This theme appears in Cookie Country - Stage 4 and the first area of White Wafers - Stage 2. It can be found as Track 13 in the Jukebox of both versions of the game.
Additionally, "Beyond the Hill" is one of the songs that makes up the "Green Winds Remix" in Magolor Epilogue: The Interdimensional Traveler. This track plays in Aerogree Dimension - 1-1 and Aerogree Dimension - 1-2, and can be found as Track 173 in the Jukebox.
Trivia[edit]
- This theme and "Perfect Sledding Weather" are remarkably similar to an unused theme, titled
KbyW_HEITI1, that may have been composed for one of the canceled Kirby games. - A portion of Yin-Yarn's boss theme sounds similar to the melody of the third segment of "Beyond the Hill". Despite Kirby's Epic Yarn predating Kirby's Return to Dream Land, it is likely that the motif originates from the latter's prototypes.
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 丘をこえて oka wo koete |
Over the Hills |
| Traditional Chinese | 越過山丘 Yuèguò shān qiū |
Over the Hills |
| Simplified Chinese | 越过山丘 Yuèguò shān qiū | |
| Dutch | Over de heuvel | Over the hill |
| French | Au-delà de la colline | Beyond the hill |
| German | Durch Berg und Tal | Through Mountain and Valley |
| Italian | Oltre la collina | Over the hill |
| Korean | 언덕을 넘어서 eon-deog-eul neom-eo-seo |
Over the Hill |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Além das colinas | Beyond the hills |
| Spanish | Más allá de la colina | Beyond the hill |
