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.
EarthBound Beginnings[]
In Mother, the songs are earned from living things and from objects. In order, they are obtained from Mimmie's Doll, Laura the Canary, the Podunk Zoo's Singing Monkey, the Haunted Piano in Rosemary's house, the Singing cactus in Yucca Desert, the Dragon inside Crystal Cavern, EVE, and lastly, George's Gravestone. In the Famicom version of Mother, after collecting the seven melodies, it is necessary to talk to the Queen Mary in Magicant to get the final melody. The full song is in the key of D major, however the version that appears on the Mother vocal album is in F major.
EarthBound[]
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. Unlike the original eight melodies, this composition is in G major.
Mother 3[]
The Eight Melodies do not appear in Mother 3. However, a tune similar to Eight Melodies can be heard. Instead it is called 16 Melodies, which is a combination of Mother's Eight Melodies, 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[]
- For the EarthBound lyrics, see Smiles and Tears.
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.
- In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, the Magicant stage's music is split in half, with the first half being the Magicant theme from EarthBound Beginnings and the second half for the Eight Melodies.
- A remix of the Eight Melodies from MOTHER can be heard after collecting a melody from one of the "Your Sanctuary" Locations, making it one of the few songs to appear in every game in the series.
- 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 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the two final parts of the melodies from Earthbound Beginnings are Ness and Lucas' new victory themes.
- In 2011, the composer of the song, Keiichi Suzuki, reseased an album with many rare tracks, demos and live tracks of his work, including an demo of the EarthBound Begginings' Eight Melodies.[1]