A Journey's Anthem

How can I leave her?

Where would I start?

Let man's petty nations

Tear themselves apart

My land's only borders

Lie around my heart

-- "Anthem", from Chess (originally sung by Tommy Körberg)

Continuing the "finale coverage", a good part of my Pokémon experiences are also defined by music - both related and unrelated to Pokémon itself - as a good deal of posts on this blog can attest. For that, I've prepared a set of "musical tributes", something I mentioned while talking with Ash and Goh, by way of my personal experiences to this "finale"; they don't necessarily involve Pokémon, but they have similar spirits. The first of these tributes involves an invocation of a concept album that then became a musical, which I've also mentioned on some other posts.

This song represents the sentiments of the primary protagonist of the story, as a form of a "love letter" to the protagonist's homeland in the face of the struggles being faced at the point that the song comes up. In the adaptations (yes, there are a few versions) of the musical, the song may also be reprised or repeated at the end with possibly slightly different lyrics to capture additional sentiments after all that has happened before. It becomes evident why I've invoked this song for this situation.

While it's hard to mesh the song - especially with its lyrical content - as it is with Pokémon and specifically this "finale" circumstance, it could be considered that every Pokémon Trainer will love the land they tread on to make their journey, and there may be no limits to where that will take them. For this reason, I titled this post the way that it is, to allude to that aspect, one that has defined the anime for its last salvo with Ash.

As a matter of fact, I can think of a modification to the quoted portion of the lyrics above, which happens to be the final part of the song. It would concern the situation when the parting of Ash and Goh occurred, and could capture their sentiments at that point:

Goh: How can I leave you?

What would I do?

Ash: No one can separate us 

Though we're far apart

Our journeys go on

Way beyond our hearts

I'm certain that Ash and Goh would agree on this matter. While a Pokémon journey may not be in need of an anthem, the epic qualities of the anime up to the certain "finale" might suggest that something could qualify for that - possibly even a version of the song above. It would be as defining as my other musical experiences with Pokémon.

One year ago: Let's Talk About Living and Letting Go

Two years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day Classic, 1/22/2022

Three years ago: Best in the World and Universe

Four years ago: On the "Invisible Forces"

Five years ago: Fan Art... for Me!

Six years ago: Costume and Cosplay Checklists

Seven years ago: Pokémon World + Hero's Come Back = ...