Pokémon "Cover Songs"

There are Pokémon songs, and then there are Pokémon "cover songs". These are creations that take popular songs and give them a Pokémon twist. The result can be humorous, but it can also be considered pleasing, in addition to being really, really creative. Over the years, and even recently, I've encountered a few of these, and I'm really entertained with the creations that have been made.

The most recent one is a take on Despacito. In this one, new lyrics are set to the music track, and those lyrics happen to be... many of the English Pokémon names structured and ordered in such a way that they sound a little like the original lyrics. It's almost but not quite a PokéRap, the sequence that is set to new original music, only with Pokémon from past to present. I find this quite amusing and lively, enough that I could almost dance to it. Perhaps that might also be why a few of my Pokémon colleagues have shared it - it's well-made and just too fun.

Rewind a few years back, there was a time when Gangnam Style was all the rage. Within all that, there were creations that took the song to different directions. One of those directions involved Pokémon, and one person had the idea to contrive a "Pika Style"; like Despacito above, this was basically the music track with new lyrics - or rather, a selection and ordering of Pikachu sounds that also approximated the original lyrics. I too find this amusing, though I'm not quite mad about it. It's still a creative take regardless.

The oldest one I've encountered is something that not only appeals to my Japanese appreciation side, but also to my music game background. If you've played DanceDanceRevolution, you might recognize that one of its most popular licensed songs is "Butterfly" by Smile.dk. Someone had the bright idea of remixing the song to add Pikachu sounds and even the original PokéRap, and it actually works; the resulting "Butterfly (Pokémon Mix)" is quite neat to listen to. It made me appreciate both Pokémon and DDR more.

What these boil down to is that some people have managed to have fun by taking existing popular songs and setting them to or mixing them with Pokémon. The "cover songs" that result serves to allow other fans to have fun as well as be entertained and laugh. Their creativity deserves some recognition, and what could be better than some from a fellow Pokémon fan who appreciates music as well. That's sure to allow more of these "cover songs" in the future.

One year ago: Venice and Alto Mare