List of Musical Allusions
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The Mother games have a very wide variety of music. Many songs in the series appear to have been influenced by other musical themes. Outside of the game's music, references to different musical groups are sometimes made. Other songs in the series, such as Pollyanna, reappear several times in each of the games.
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Allusions in Mother
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- The first game (along with the whole series) is named after John Lennon's song "Mother".
- The battle theme when fighting a Hippie is very similar to Chuck Berry's song "Johnny B. Goode".
- The beginning of the Yucca Desert theme is similar to the intro of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire ".
Allusions in EarthBound/Mother 2
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The Beatles
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Shigesato Itoi is a large fan of the Beatles, especially John Lennon (whom Itoi related to, as they both had absent fathers). Itoi incorporated small samples of the Beatles' songs into EarthBound's music.
- In Onett, a man ask Ness if he can fill in the blanks and name a Beatles song: "XXXterday". If Ness answers "Yes", then the man will say that he got it right. This is a reference to Yesterday.
- The song Megaton Walk, which plays when the Dungeon Man is following the party, uses a sample from the drums at the beginning of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise).
- In the song Bed and Breakfast, which plays after sleeping at an inn, the first few notes are taken from the song Good Morning Good Morning (whenever Good Morning is repeated).
- The song The Cliff That Time Forgot uses a slowed down sample of the horns at the beginning of All You Need Is Love. The horns are playing part of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem.
- The song Buy Something Will Ya, also known as "Humoresque of a Little Dog" in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, borrows heavily from When I'm 64. Some argue that the song is based off the song Dallas Rag.
- The song Tessie Has Been Sighted uses background notes that sound very similar to the intro of Strawberry Fields Forever.
- The song Hi Hi Hi, the background music in Saturn Valley, is supposedly based off of Wild Honey Pie.
- The song Cave of the Past has a melody that bears resemblance to the end of Glass Onion .
Non-Beatles
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- The Runaway Five (in Mother 2) were meant to resemble the Blues Brothers.
- The music used for battles with New Age Retro Hippies and Frank Fly is borrowed from Mother's Hippie battle theme, which is an allusion to Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode.
- The song Your Name Please, which plays on the screen where the characters are named, uses a sample from the theme to Monty Python's Flying Circus, which is actually John Phillip Sousa's Liberty Bell March. The sample is taken from Monty Python, because you can hear the audience laughing in the sample.
- In Onett's arcade, you can hear the music from Xevious.
- Moonside's music sounds similar to Ric Ocasek's Keep on Laughing.
- The battle music when fighting a weak opponent (such as a Spiteful Crow or Coil Snake) uses a sample from the beginning of The Champs' Tequila.
- The Trumpet Player in Onett plays a short melody, which is taken from Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, Movement 2.
- The music that plays in the Sky Runner is similar to the beginning of The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again.
- The song Enjoy Your Stay, which plays in hotels, is similar to Bimbo Jet's El Bimbo.
- The song Boris' Cocktail uses samples from the theme to Our Gang/Little Rascals and the Star-Spangled Banner.
- The music played during the Runaway Five's final performance sounds similar to The Doors' The Changeling.
- The battle music played when fighting Master Belch uses a short sample of the first few notes of Super Mario Bros.' Overworld Theme.
- The music played in Belch's Factory sounds similar to Pink Floyd's Welcome to the Machine.
- The enemy Diamond Dog is a reference to David Bowie's album and song Diamond Dogs.
Allusions to Mother songs
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- Pollyanna plays after leaving Pokey's house, before Onett's music begins playing. It is also used in the music in Ness' House.
- Snowman plays outside of the Snow Wood Boarding School.
- Paula's theme is a remix of the song played in Youngtown.
Allusions in Mother 3
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- The song Fun Bazaar uses part of the Beatles' Back in the USSR.
- The song Mr. Batty Twist, which plays in battles with Mr. Batty and similar enemies, borrows its intro from the theme song to the 60's Batman live action show. This song is later remixed as Porky's Porkies.
- In the "Time Passage" area in the Empire Porky Building, the music in the hallway before the room with the boat is the title music from Mother. Pollyanna plays in the room with the boat and sprites from EarthBound.
- Snowman plays on Snowcap Mountain.
- The song Leder's Gymnopedie, which plays when Leder tells Lucas his story, is Eric Satie's Gymnopedie No. 1.
- The Natural Killer Cyborg's battle music uses guitar riffs from Michael Jackson's Beat It. Some fans also claim that it was inspired by Mega Man 2's Wily Stage 1 music.
- Family Matters: 2nd Movement (Mr. Passion's battle theme) is a combination of numerous classical pieces: Beethoven's 5th symphony, 1st Movement, Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 2 - 3th Mov. (Etude for Ghosts, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, Pastoral Symphony (Beethoven's 6th), and Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G Minor.
- Ode to Ancestors: 8th Movement (Lord Passion's battle theme) is also comprised of several classical pieces: Beethoven's 5th symphony, 1st Movement, Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Handel's Messiah Hallelujah, and Vivaldi's Spring.
- The beginning of Isn't This Such a Utopia?! sounds similar to 20th Century Fox's fanfare.
- His Highness'/Porky's Theme sounds similar to Godzilla's Theme.
- Unfounded Revenge is derived from Shostakovich's Symphony No. 6, 3rd movement.
- Audacious March is derived from Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5, 1st movement.
- A poster outside of the Sheriff's office in Tazmily Village reads "WANTED! My Generation." Reading the poster prompts the party to think "It appears to be an old concert poster put up by someone. But…Who?" This is a reference to the song "My Generation" by The Who.