A little less than two years ago, I saw a video of someone playing a cover of “Here Comes The Sun” by The Beatles, sitting outdoors in a sunny spot to match the positive sound of the song. My favorite part of the video, though, was when a sweet dog came into view and walked happily up to the player. My heart melted. A good video instantly got even better as I saw the dog, and I rewatched it so many times because the song and the dog made me so happy. But I noticed the song was played on an instrument I hadn’t seen before, and I curiously looked up its name. It was a kalimba, and I was so obsessed with the music box-sounding tunes it created and the way-too-cute dog from the video that I was eventually gifted with a kalimba from my mom.
Since then, I’ve played a little on my own kalimba, almost always trying to find familiar melodies from Zelda games I’ve played, but I’m far from good. And I definitely play less than I should if I really want to be good at it. But I still like my kalimba, especially since it’s an instrument easy enough for me to play by ear. However, whenever I think of playing it, I worry I’ll disturb my neighbors through the thin walls with any mistakes my clumsy fingers create and end up not touching it at all.
Although it’s not quite the same as playing an instrument yourself, luckily, there are tons of videos online of people covering popular songs on their kalimbas. I recently found this cover of the “Song of Healing” from Majora’s Mask by Luan Nguyen, and it’s truly something special.
“Song of Healing” is quite a moody song, full of somber emotions that both the player and the listener can feel when they hear it. Luan does it justice, but what I like even more about this cover is the sound of rain and thunder in the background. They add another level of sadness to the song, elevating it, in my opinion. The song is, after all, mainly played during very difficult times in the game, when Link has to soothe someone’s troubled soul.
Luan’s plucking on the kalimba’s keys seem so calm despite the ongoing thunderstorm which can be heard in the background. I personally enjoy watching lightning and listening to thunder, but I know some find it frightening. If you’re one of those people, don’t worry, the thunder isn’t very loud in Luan’s video. If you give it a listen, I’m sure you, too, will find the cover to be very soothing and calming. Give it a spin (can you say that for a video?) and let the song heal you for a moment.
