What is "melodies"

Melody \Mel"o*dy\, n.; pl. Melodies. [OE. melodie, F. m['e]lodie, L. melodia, fr. Gr. ? a singing, choral song, fr. ? musical, melodious; me`los song, tune + ? song. See Ode.]

1. A sweet or agreeable succession of sounds.

   Lulled with sound of sweetest melody.
   --Shak.

2. (Mus.) A rhythmical succession of single tones, ranging for the most part within a given key, and so related together as to form a musical whole, having the unity of what is technically called a musical thought, at once pleasing to the ear and characteristic in expression.

   Note: Melody consists in a succession of single tones; harmony is a consonance or agreement of tones, also a succession of consonant musical combinations or chords.

3. The air or tune of a musical piece.

   Syn: See Harmony.

n. (plural of melody English)

is the second single of the Hello! Project duo .

The single was released on the hachama label on October 18, 2006 with a catalogue number of HKCN-50042 for the CD version and HKCN-50040 for the CD+DVD version. A Single V DVD with the PV of the song was released on November 15, 2006 with the catalogue number HKBN-50074, again on the hachama label.

Melodies is the studio album recorded by a Japanese singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita, released in June 1983. It was his first LP issued under the Moon Label which was distributed by the Alfa Records at the time.

Unlike his previous albums that Minako Yoshida mostly wrote lyrics, majority of the songs heard on Melodies are penned by Yamashita alone, except for "Blue Midnight" (co-written by Yoshida) and a cover version of " Guess I'm Dumb" (composed by Brian Wilson and Russ Titelman and originally recorded by Glen Campbell in 1966).

Before the album came out, "Koukiatsu Girl" was released as a lead single. It features chorus by Mariya Takeuchi, who married Yamashita in 1982 and then temporarily suspended her recording career. The most well-known song appeared on Melodies is "Christmas Eve". The song did not receive much attention when it was released on 12-inch single in December 1983, but it was widely recognized through a television advertisement by the Central Japan Railway Company aired during the late 1980s. CD single of "Christmas Eve" reissued in 1986 gained huge commercial success, topping the chart in December 1989. The song was repeatedly reissued in later years and became a hit throughout the decades, entering the Oricon chart for over 20 consecutive years with sales of more than 1.8 million copies in total.

Because of the massive success "Christmas Eve" gained, the album also enjoyed the long-term commercial success. Melodies has been the second best-selling studio album for Yamashita, retailing over 840,000 copies during its two chart runs.