Mother 3‘s musical allusions
January 27, 2009
This post contains a Mother 3 plot spoiler, believe it or not.
With a good handle on the functional aspects of Mother 3‘s music, let’s move into more nebulous territory: where some of these tunes come from.
As it turns out, the game is chock full of winking musical references. Some are quite obvious; others are tenuous and quite possibly imagined. Let’s check out a few of them.
One of the earliest enemies in the game, Mr. Batty, has a battle theme called “Mr. Batty Twist”:
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This is an easy one. That chromatic ostinato is the characteristic feature of the old Batman theme, composed by Neal Hefti. Here’s a clip:
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Amusingly, “Mr. Batty Twist” is more harmonically complex than the song it alludes to.
Here’s one of the more unusual battle themes, “Etude for Ghosts”:
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It’s strange having a piano as a backdrop for a fight among all of these hard-rocking pieces, isn’t it? While I can’t peg this to a particular extant piece, I’d put my money on a Beethoven or Chopin influence here. [Update: Trilby, in the comments, suggests Rachmaninov or Shostakovich.] [Further update: I've reviewed everyone's suggestions for what this piece might be, and I think we have a winner: it appears to be based on the third movement of Piano Concerto No. 2 by Saint-Saëns. Thanks, anonymous emailer!]
In fact, Mother 3 contains several references to Western classical music (I use “classical” in the broad record-store definition). “Family Matters: 2nd Movement,” a boss battle theme, is an ambitious medley: It co-opts the famous opening to Beethoven’s 5th, interpolates some of “Etude for Ghosts,” and wraps things up with a bit of Mozart’s 40th. [Update: As some commenters have pointed out, there is also a quote from the first movement of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, and a very brief excerpt of Beethoven's 6th. Thanks, everyone!]
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If you thought that was odd, “Ode to Ancestors: 8th Movement” takes the classical medley concept and does it one better. This piece includes parts of Beethoven’s 5th, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, the “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s Messiah, and “Spring” from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.
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It’s such an absurd juxtaposition that I can’t help but laugh at it every time I listen.
“Leder’s Gymnopedie,” meanwhile, is not a pastiche — rather, it’s an excerpt of the lovely Gymnopédie No. 1 by Erik Satie:
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In addition to popular classical motifs and kitschy TV themes, Mother 3 also makes musical references to other video games. This is especially true for songs related to Porky — who, as a spoiled brat in a former life, was presumably a big gamer.
“Blip-Blip High Score,” the background music for Porky’s arcade, is mostly a collage of beeps and bloops. If you listen closely to the left channel, though, you’ll hear the infamous descending riff from Space Invaders:
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Here’s a reference that I may be imagining, but which I’ll propose nonetheless. “Natural Killer Cyborg,” the boss battle theme for Porky’s eponymous robot, has a particular guitar riff that kicks in at about twelve seconds:
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Does it ring a bell for you? It’s very similar, harmonically and rhythmically, to the Dr. Wily Stage 1 theme from Mega Man 2:
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That’s a bit of a stretch, of course, and the reference may not have been intentional — but I like to think it was.
Finally, here’s “Porky’s Porkies,” a chiptune-style battle theme:
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This piece takes the Pigmask Army leitmotif, which appears dozens of times throughout the game, and gives it the old-school 8-bit treatment. Listen to that vibrato!
I haven’t played many GBA games, but I suspect that very few pull a trick like this. The sound capabilities of the machine are limited; a retro low-fidelity aesthetic could be mistaken for a failed attempt at verisimilitude.
More on music in Mother 3 to come. For now, though, I’m planning to dive into Beyond Good & Evil with the Vintage Game Club.
40 comments
Wow, there’s a lot of ideas in here. Like I said on twitter, I’m still not sure I’m convinced about a few of them, but you’re the expert on it and there’s probably a lot about the context they are placed in which helps add a bit of weight to your arguments.
I’d also love to hear your thoughts on why you think these allusions are made and what kind of effect it has. It’s obviously got you thinking, because you’ve done a whole post on it. Does the average player go “YEAH! BATMAN!” when they hear that theme? Does it become an important part of the game for that to happen?
by Ben Abraham on January 27, 2009 at 1:59 am #
I can’t think of any GBA games off the top of my head that drop straight into 8-bit mode like Mother 3 does, but, of course, you don’t have to look any further than the first phase of the Earthbound final boss if you want another example. In addition to the sampled audio channels, GBA games can also use the Game Boy hardware included for GB-game compatibility to create audio, meaning that there really isn’t any reason a GBA game couldn’t bust out some 8-bit tunes if the programmers wanted them to. I don’t know if Porky’s Porkies actually used the GB channels or not, but I know a lot of games use them as supplements to the sampled channels. Harmony of Dissonance and Gyakuten Saiban are a couple examples that used them a lot.
There have been a few SNES emulator projects for the GBA, and while I don’t think any of them have gotten much further than proof of concept, that should give you at least a little idea of the GBA’s sound capabilities. I’ve actually turned into a fan of GBA sound over the years; just from playing the games, I think some have really been able to put out some good sounding stuff. I can think of a couple of games with full vocal tracks: Wario Land 4 and Klonoa Heroes (2:07). Then again, the SNES could do vocals too, like the ClayFighter title theme, which is just pure genius. Hell, even the NES PCM channel could be used for really lo-fi vocals, like the Skate or Die 2 title theme.
by CHz on January 27, 2009 at 3:40 am #
I’m not positive about this, but for the ‘Etude for Ghosts’ check out the second half of Rachmaninov’s Prelude in C Sharp Minor, Op. 3, No. 2. They’re not precisely the same, but very similar.
by lyceum on January 27, 2009 at 2:53 pm #
As far as the 8-bit thing goes, Mother 2 did something similar for the beginning of the final boss battle with Giygas. It started out sounding like a chiptune for the first minute or so, then kicked in with a pretty decent sounding rock treatment of the same song. In general I liked Mother 2′s music a lot more than Mother 3′s but that of course is subjective.
by histumness on January 27, 2009 at 2:53 pm #
Cool stuff :D
I used to have a list somewhere of some other song connections, can’t seem to find it right now though. One off the top of my head is #114 Audacious March and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqn3xl1jIIk
The composer for Mother 3 includes some liner notes for the MOTHER3i iTunes album, and it’s pretty interesting stuff. It’s one of the things I most want to translate in the near future, he even talks about the technical process that went into making the 8-bittiness of Porky’s Porkies. I’ll probably post translations sometime on EB Central.
by Tomato on January 27, 2009 at 3:39 pm #
My reply seems to have hit the moderation queue, but anyway I forgot to mention that around 2:30 of the video I linked to is where it matches song #114.
by Tomato on January 27, 2009 at 3:41 pm #
In Family Matters: 2nd Movement, you missed the excerpt just after “Etude for Ghosts” – it is the first bars of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 1st mvt. I’m a horn player and I could never miss that horn call. :)
Just after that is something else (only a couple measures before Mozart begins) but it’s very familiar. I’ll look it up and try to figure it out.
by mofro on January 27, 2009 at 3:48 pm #
I don’t think the Mega Man 2 link is a stretch at all, given that the (MM) tune has reached meme status in the form of the “Okkusenman” voiceover and its countless mashups on Youtube. The Mother 3 song actually sounds closer to the Okkusenman version rather than the original Mega Man 2 song, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was deliberate, given Okkusenman’s greater popularity.
by SuperElectric on January 27, 2009 at 3:48 pm #
One thing I noticed right off that I haven’t seen anyone else mention is in Tazmily Village, while the shop still offers you things for free, the music falls in and out of The Beatles’ “Back in the USSR.” That’s when I knew it was love.
by JP Acreman on January 27, 2009 at 5:00 pm #
About the “Etudes for Ghosts” – I really don’t think it sounds like Chopin or Beethoven, to be honest. I’d go for something later, like Rachmaninov or Shostakovich. But I can’t place an exact piece, I’m afraid.
by Trilby on January 27, 2009 at 5:25 pm #
“Family Matters: 2nd Movement” has even more references than that. I recognized Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in there before the Mozart, as well as something else I’ve heard but couldn’t identify by name.
by Rob on January 27, 2009 at 6:21 pm #
I do believe I hear a bit of Phantom of the Opera in “Mr. Batty Twist”!
by Jilliterate on January 27, 2009 at 6:37 pm #
Also in Family Matters 2 is some of Beethoven’s 6th symphony, the Pastoral, starting @ 0:27 – just for two seconds before going into Mozart.
by Katy on January 27, 2009 at 8:37 pm #
The guitar riff from Natural Killer Cyborg sounds to me more influenced by Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”
by Scott U on January 27, 2009 at 8:47 pm #
Also in Family Matters 2, just before Beethoven 6 as Katy pointed out, is a small excerpt from Tchaikovsky’s 1st piano concerto…
by Pratik on January 27, 2009 at 9:24 pm #
Holy overwhelming response! Thanks to everyone who left me messages, and especially those who pointed out the references I missed. I’ve updated the original post a bit.
Ben: I would hardly call myself an expert — just the most talkative. :-) I’m not sure I have good answers for your questions. Many of these seem to have humorous intentions, especially Mr. Batty and classical pastiches, but I think that more generally they’re just ways of reflecting musical heritage. It’s not integral to the game, but it does place music front and center.
CHz and histumness: Very good point about the Giygas theme. I forgot all about that! I wonder if the fundamental “gameness” of boss encounters inspires composers to use old music? (And thanks for the great stuff about GBA audio, CHz.)
Tomato: Yet another translation for which I’ll be hanging on every update. :-) Thanks again for all the hard work you put into Mother-related translations.
SuperElectric: That’s great — I’d not seen that meme before. I’m curious, though — the oldest video I can find by searching “Okkusenman” on YouTube is about two years old. Does the meme predate Mother 3, which was released early 2006?
JP Acreman: Thanks for the heads up. I’ll definitely be checking for that. EarthBound has a bunch of Beatles references, you know!
Trilby: Yeah, I can get behind that. There’s a specific Chopin piece it reminds me of, which is why I mentioned him — but of course I can’t think of what it is right now…
Jilliterate: Yes! You heard it too! I’m not crazy, then. :-) Actually, “Porky’s Porkies” has the same melodic snippet at 0:28. And now that I listen again, they seem like they might be pretty similar harmonically as well…hmm.
ScottU: I hadn’t thought of “Beat It,” but you’re right — also a pretty similar riff. Wonder if it was an influence on both songs?
by Dan Bruno on January 27, 2009 at 9:25 pm #
In addition, the Natural Killer Cyborg guitar riff is very similar to the guitar riff in “I Wear My Sunglasses At Night.” May be coincidence, the same as your thoughts on it, but interesting.
Great article.
by DGilton on January 27, 2009 at 10:28 pm #
“Etude for Ghosts” from 15s to 23s is (i’m pretty darn sure) Hedwig’s Theme from the Harry Potter movies.
by Brian on January 27, 2009 at 10:56 pm #
The Etude for Ghosts song existed before the Harry Potter movies though (it was posted online when EarthBound 64 was cancelled), so that’s probably just coincidence.
by Tomato on January 27, 2009 at 11:44 pm #
A commenter who wishes to remain anonymous has suggested that “Etude for Ghosts” is loosely based on the third movement of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2. I think that’s the best guess thus far.
by Dan Bruno on January 28, 2009 at 12:00 am #
The thing is just crammed with beatles references. From the main title “Mother” to mobs “Weeping Guitar” with similar music to a diff beatle song. And Paul and Linda live in the main town.
by Ocotpussoup on January 28, 2009 at 8:39 am #
Well, not much to say for this post as I may be a big lover of music, but I don’t know too much about classical influences by name or anything like that. =P
Still, nice analyses, and music clips are always welcome.
Glad to hear you’re jumping on Beyond Good and Evil next. It’s one of my faves, and it had some nice music as well. I’m interested to hear your thoughts about it at some point in future posts.
by The Unknown on January 28, 2009 at 12:16 pm #
That was a great post! I’d like to note two interesting musical references within the game itself (besides the omnipresent Porky’s theme).
Mr. Batty Twist plays for an enemy found way early in the game – and only for that enemy (as far as I recall), much like the Etude for Ghosts and the classic medleys. Enough time had passed when I got to the part where you fight Porky’s Porkies that once Batty’s Twist kicked in (13 seconds in), it got me thinking: I know I heard it somewhere, what IS it referencing?! Took me some flipping through the battle memory to remember. So it seems Porky’s Porkies is not just nostalgic for 8bit chiptunes – it’s also nostalgic for the beginning of the game, too…
But besides that, there’s a strange reference to a point FORWARD in the game, near the end of the game – the hot spring you can use right before the final boss is the only one that doesn’t play the hot spring theme normally; rather, it uses the final boss theme’s palette…
Speaking of the final boss theme – does it have combo data too? Of course, it takes a heartless, horrible person to try to combo in the given context, but I was wondering wheter the data exists or not.
by Pishi on January 28, 2009 at 2:28 pm #
Re: Okkusenman/Mega Man 2 meme
To clarify, Mother 3 definitely predates Okkusenman, which reached popularity in early 2007. But personally I think the similarity is a stretch, too. :P
by Scypher on January 28, 2009 at 5:01 pm #
In Natural Killer Cyborg. I must say the intro sounds like a bit of a reference to the song “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath.
by Matt on January 28, 2009 at 5:26 pm #
It’s also probably worth noting out that (143) “Rock and Roll (Mild)” (And to a different extent, the spicy version) seems to be a loose throwback to the New Age Retro Hippie battle in Earthbound which is of course, a very faithful take off of “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry.
by JSP on February 5, 2009 at 5:54 pm #
Pishi: Good catches! I only noticed the Mr. Batty Twist/Porky’s Porkies connection thanks to Jilliterate’s comment above. That’s a really subtle one, and those pieces are about as far apart as they can be in the game.
As for the hot spring, that is one that I did catch. I’ve got another post kicking around related to that, in fact; just when you all least expect it, another Mother 3 post will pop up out of nowhere!
by Dan Bruno on February 9, 2009 at 12:07 am #
Hooray for a new Mother 3 post! Looking forward to it.
I’m guessing one of the things in the new post will be the allusion that I noticed back when I played the game, and then completely forgot about it as I was posting that reply, that is reference to Bach’s Air on the G string in the Magypsy’s theme . :)
I’ve seen lots of people pointing that Magypsy’s theme references Pachelbel’s Canon in D; I can see where people got that from, even though personally I don’t think the allusion is as strong as the one to Bach, which seems to go unnoticed oddly enough. Could be that the theme’s a blend of two allusions, anyways.
(With some improv on top for extra flavor of course.)
by Pishi on February 9, 2009 at 1:03 pm #
Call me crazy, but I think the Mr. Batty Twist and Porkey’s Porkies themes are partially based off of the Phantom of the Opera Theme. A bit faster of a tempo, but you can definitely hear that they’re quite similar.
by Dylan Yoshi on March 11, 2009 at 8:55 pm #
Yeah, noticed the Batman song, classical music, and Dr Wily, but nothing else really.
I remember hearing the Dr. Wily song on this game and I was like, “…strange. This kind of sounds like Mega Man…….”
Nice list!! ^_______^
by fortenium on April 3, 2009 at 12:35 am #
Porkie’s Porkies isn’t a remix of the Pigmask theme. It’s a remix of the Mr. Batty theme. Seriously, listen to it.
by Jon on April 9, 2009 at 4:39 am #
>>> Brian on January 27th, 2009: ‘“Etude for Ghosts” from 15s to 23s is (i’m pretty darn sure) Hedwig’s Theme from the Harry Potter movies.’
Even if there’s a similarity, this couldn’t be a case of allusion; “Etude for Ghosts” was written long before the Harry Potter films were made, and if memory serves me correctly, only a little while after the first book started to become popular. I first recall hearing it as part of some preview relating to the then-upcoming “EarthBound 64,” perhaps some time in 1998.
by Mr. Accident on May 7, 2009 at 3:45 am #
The Natural Killer Cyborg’s Theme reminds me of Beat It by Michael Jackson, specifically the Guitar Riffs that kick in at 12 seconds
by Victor on May 16, 2009 at 3:44 pm #
I’m not sure of the specific name of the track, but if you start at 2:27 seconds of the “Twist and Battle” medley from Mother 3i, you will hear an obvious homage to Mancini’s “Baby Elephant Walk.” This tune plays when fighting different mushrooms, like Zombieshroom and Naughty Mushroom.
by satchfuji on June 6, 2009 at 2:14 am #
I’m planning on writing a scholarly essay for a class on Mother 3 and its music, and I hope that you might let me cite you (as well as any repliers) as a source. Thanks so much! It’s great commentary!
by Melson Varsovia on June 11, 2009 at 4:54 pm #
I can’t speak for the commenters, Melson, but feel free to use what I’ve written. I’m not sure I’d consider myself a scholarly source, though; just a music fan with some time on his hands. :-)
by Dan Bruno on June 17, 2009 at 7:08 pm #
I loved the classical music mashup for the ghost musician boss battle – it’s very Peter Schickele (aka PDQ Bach) – esque.
I’m surprised nobody has pointed this out, but there’s an unmistakable quotation of a theme in the finale of Shostakovich’s 6th symphony (at about 0:34 on this recording: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm5YGLrQZ_Y , plus recap at 5:19) – I don’t know the Mother 3 track title, but I’m sure you’ll be able to recognize it immediately!
by 620BC on July 15, 2009 at 1:42 am #
Found it – it’s “Unfounded Revenge.” Also, in addition to “Audacious March” referencing the first movement of Shostakovich 5, “LOG-O-TYPE,” though short, references the very end of the last movement, complete with pounding timpani. Seems like the composer might be a bit of a Shostakovich fan!
Another interesting thing is that the music for the door-opening dance is a sped-up version of the hot spring music – wonder if that means anything. There’s a lot of funny self-references like that, though.
by 620BC on July 15, 2009 at 3:44 pm #
The song you’re comparing to Dr Wiliy stage 1 in Mega Man 2 Killer cyborg actually sounds a lot more like part of Beat it by Micheal Jackson. Listen to the guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen in the middle of the song and you’ll see what I mean.
by Ryan on March 18, 2010 at 7:40 pm #
the Natural Born Killers is definitely Beat It. With the classical pieces, I dont think there should be a problem with copy rights because most should be in the public domain
by sloth on August 10, 2010 at 10:47 pm #