Where Even Weeds Won't Grow

Where Even Weeds Won't Grow
"Where Even Weeds Won't Grow": "Far-Flung Starlight Heroes": "Far-Flung Journey's End": "Where Even Light Does Not Reach": Four arrangements of "Where Even Weeds Won't Grow".
Details
Debut appearance	Kirby Star Allies (2018)
Composer(s)	Hirokazu Ando

"Where Even Weeds Won't Grow" is a stage theme that is associated with the stages Gatehouse Road and Western Outer Wall, two Jambastion stages from Kirby Star Allies.

Composition

Mike Kirby acquires a Picture Piece on the forbidden fortress.

"Where Even Weeds Won't Grow" is a jazzy yet ominous theme that is in the key of C minor and 4/4 time. For the intro, a piano and drums build up the mood of track in major sevenths whereas a synth starts to play the tonic and the dominant (C-G), ascending and descending in a harmonic glissando and more notably, in repetition throughout the song. The synth's melody notably resembles the introduction of the game's main theme, "Twinkle☆Stars", in abridged form. More soulful synths and a slap guitar begin to join in as the track progresses.

In the second section of the song, the piano and synths begin reciting major thirteenth phrases on the dominant which sound remarkably similar to "Twinkle☆Stars". Following is a slight improvisation passage by the piano with a vibraphone consecutively repeating the harmonic glissando as the song reaches its endmost section. It's more-or-less the same as the first section, but more synths return to build up the song's energy in major sixth chords to finally end the loop.

Game appearances

Kirby Star Allies

As mentioned above, "Where Even Weeds Won't Grow" plays in the Gatehouse Road and Western Outer Wall stages of the Jambastion. This theme can be found as track 045 in the game's Jukebox.

There is also a cosmic arrangement of the theme that plays in the level hub of Far-Flung Starlight Heroes (itself titled "Far-Flung Starlight Heroes") and a chilling arrangement that also plays when the player nears or reaches the Jambandra Base (titled "Where Even Light Does Not Reach"). These two themes dynamically fade between each other depending on the player's distance to the Jambandra Base, and can be found as track 060 and track 104 in the Jukebox. Both themes mixed together (titled "Far-Flung Journey's End") can be found as track 068 in the Jukebox. Within the game's files, all of these versions of the theme are considered one file (BGM_LP_ECMAP4).

Trivia

• The internal filename of "Where Even Weeds Won't Grow" is BossMid, while the sound archive reference name is BGM_LP_ECTYUBOSS1 ("TYU" most likely refers to 中ちゅう, which among other things means "middle"). This would suggest it was originally composed as a mid-boss battle theme, which the final version of Kirby Star Allies does not have.

Names in other languages

Where Even Weeds Won't Grow

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ぺんぺん草も生えぬ地へ penpengusa mo haenu ji e	To a Land Where Not Even Shepherd's Purse Will Grow ぺんぺん草ぐさ ("shepherd's purse") is a type of weed that often grows in abandoned areas. The music title is based on the Japanese idiom ぺんぺん草ぐさも生はえない ("even shepherd's purse won't grow"), which describes something that is ruined beyond repair.
English	Where Even Weeds Won't Grow	-

Far-Flung Starlight Heroes

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	遥か、きらめきの勇者たち Haruka, kirameki no yūsha-tachi	Far-Away Sparkling Heroes
English	Far-Flung Starlight Heroes	-

Far-Flung Journey's End

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	遥か、冒険の旅の果てに haruka, bōken no tabi no hateni	Far-Away Travelers at Adventure's End
English	Far-Flung Journey's End	-

Where Even Light Does Not Reach

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	彼方、光さえ届かぬ場所へ kanata, hikari sae todokanu basho e	To a Place Where Not Even Light Shines
English	Where Even Light Does Not Reach	-