Most of us writers make small to grand soundtracks for our novels and/or series. This post is not about any overall soundtrack that I have (that will come later!) but instead about the “perfect song” that best sums up one of my entire series.

In short, the theme song.

Now, I have a theme song picked out for every singular installment, but before a couple of months ago I didn’t have one for the whole series. That’s a very big role to fill and not just any song can capture the essence and emotion of an entire series of anything, book, show, or movie. I didn’t think  I would find the perfect one for a very long time. Until my queen favorite artist, Japanese pop empress Ayumi Hamasaki, released a a new mini-album this August.

The final track is called BRILLANTE, and I was in absolute love from first listen. It’s been a long time since Ayu has put out a song that instantly grabbed my heart from the first few notes and managed to hold onto it for the full six damn minutes. And then one night as I walked home from work this song came on my MP3 player, and I realized why it felt so strong to me – it encapsulates the entire motivation felt through the course of my series CROSS// particularly the final scenes in the final book.  The climatic scene of the entire series came to me while listening to this song. And it was perfect.

The best way I can describe the meaning of this song is to say “I must go on alone”. The narrator (well, Ayu) is pained by the idea of separation from the person who always stood by her, but truly believes that going on “the narrowing road” by herself is the only way things can end up. This is exactly what is going through a character’s mind at the end of my current series. The character does not want to abandon the person they love more than their own life itself, but for the good of the universe the character believes without a doubt that things can only be fixed by acting alone, even down to the detail of not telling their beloved why. In short, the road to saving the universe is narrowing, and one character believes that it can only be walked upon alone,  with pain.

I have done my own translation of these lyrics. Now, if you’re coming here from a google search looking for a translation of this song, here’s some notes:  I initially translate songs aiming to be as literal to the original meaning as possible (adjusting for symbolism, obviously). I then go back and reword some phrases so they sound more fluid in English and the meaning is easier to grasp. Finally, I adjust the syllables so they can be sung to the original composition if you so desire. And yeah, I test that last part.  The feelings behind these lyrics are explained above.