The Eight Melodies are several melodic fragments found in EarthBound Beginnings and EarthBound. When combined, these fragments create tunes that serve as important plot devices in each game. It is explained by Maria in Ninten's Magicant that this is because the Eight Melodies are a song she would sing to Giygas, whom she raised from infancy. In Mother, by singing the Eight Melodies, Ninten and friends are able to reawaken comforting memories Giygas had suppressed, ultimately weakening him and causing his retreat. In EarthBound, the Eight Melodies transport Ness to his own Magicant, where he confronts his nightmare and awakens great inner strength.
In Mother, the songs are earned from living things and from objects. In order, they are obtained from a doll, a bird, a monkey, a piano, a cactus, a dragon, EVE, and lastly, George 's gravestone.
In EarthBound, the songs are inherited through Ness's childhood memories and recorded to the Sound Stone, at "Your Sanctuary" locations. To truly understand himself and enter his mind, Ness must record all eight of these melodies to the Sound stone to gain access to "Your World", Magicant.
Despite sharing the same name in-game, the Eight Melodies from Mother and EarthBound are actually different tunes altogether. The Mother Eight Melodies appears in EarthBound as part of the track entitled "A Flash of Memory," though it is heavily truncated and is subjected to delay effects.
A difference between the two Eight Melodies is that the Eight Melodies from Mother, as mentioned above, act as a vulnerability of the main antagonist, while the Eight Melodies from EarthBound serve to transport Ness to Magicant, where he overcomes his nightmare.
The original Mother version of the song plays in the Japanese commercial, promoting the game's slogan, "No crying until the end(ing)" (エンディングまで泣くんじゃない, Endingu made nakun janai). It has been heavily associated with the Mother franchise since then.
In Mother 3, a tune similar to Eight Melodies can be heard. Instead it is called 16 Melodies, which is a combination of Mother's Eight Melodies, Mother 2/EarthBound's Eight Melodies and Mother 3's Love Theme. In the song, Eight Melodies plays from 0:48 to 1:16, Smiles and Tears plays from 1:20 to 1:50, and the Mother 3 Love Theme plays from 1:29 to 4:00.
Lyrics
Mother Lyrics
Take a melody
Simple as can be
Give it some words and
Sweet harmony
Raise your voices
All day long now
Love grows strong now
Sing a melody of
Love, oh love
Love is the power
Love is the glory
Love is the beauty
And the joy of spring
Love is the magic
Love is the story
Love is the melody
We all can sing
EarthBound Lyrics
Note: The original song was in Japanese, the English is only a translation.
I haven't lived as long as adults have
I have nothing but my bike and red hat
A smile, a laugh, and you in my heart
As well as my baseball bat.
Romanized Japanese lyrics[1] | Literal English translation[2] | Singable English Translation[3] |
---|---|---|
otonatachi no hanbun mo ikitewa inai keredo |
I haven’t lived even half as long as adults have, |
Grown ups have seen so much more than me, so many things that I still want to see |
warai attari asondari kizu tsukinagara aruku |
We walked while we laughed, played, and got hurt |
Together we walked that road for so long, We laughed, we played, we got hurt, we grew strong, |
soo namida to egao kawarugawaru ni |
Yes, the two who shared smiles and tears one after the other... |
Like a gentle breeze, through grass and trees, You always carried a smile |
Where you can hear the music
- Mother's Eight Melodies [1]
- EarthBound's Eight Melodies [2]]
- Mother's Eight Melodies as they appear in EarthBound [3]
- Mother 3's Sixteen Melodies [4]
Videos
Trivia
- In Mother, the Eight Melodies stop at "Oh, love". The rest of the song can be found in the title screen and in the ending theme.
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl was supposedly intended to include both Eight Melodies songs as well as the Hippie Theme, and Because I Love You. Nothing exists of the music except some internal track listings referencing it.
- ↑ Smiles & Tears lyrics
- ↑ Translated by Clyde Mandelin
- ↑ By user Kirby128