I probably don’t like video game music as much as the rest of you, given that you represent the portion of the population who willingly read video game websites. I’ve played games where I’ve enjoyed the music enough, and could point to several places where I feel a particular use of music elevates the scene, but for me, it has always belonged in the scene. There has never been the temptation, ever, to lift the music out of the game and listen to it in my free time. When people share their Spotify Wrapped and it includes things likeSonicandPersona, I always struggle to comprehend just how that happened.
The only games I’ve ever listened to and then wanted to hear the soundtrack away from the game itself are things likeTony Hawk’s Pro SkaterandFIFA/EA FC, which contain regular chart hits, and now I find myself too old for the EA FC’s menu music aimed squarely at da yoofs. But you shouldn’t be offended that I find listening to video game music a bit odd. I spend a lot of my time listening to music that far more people think is even stranger to willingly pour into your earholes: Country & Western.
Country Music Is A Narrative Art Form
I love me some country music. Country is howI discovered Taylor Swift when she was still on her first album. I love everything from the pop periphery of Kacey Musgraves to the straight down the middle cowboy warbles of Tim McGraw. From newbies on the scene like Luke Combs to legends of the game like Dolly Parton. And as I sit here, listening to Miranda Lambert’s latest album (her ninth solo effort, and they’re all great), having recently moved on from Post Malone’s surprising country album - even more surprising, it’s also great - I find myself wondering why the two worlds haven’t mixed. There aren’t many games at all that use country music, and given the narrative and cinematic traditions of the genre, that seems a little odd.
The obvious answer is that there are very few cowboy video games being made, partially because the genre has not been a silver screen regular for several decades, and partially because that invites too much comparison toRed Dead Redemption 2. It’s a contestthe challenger would undoubtedly come off worsefrom. But the Wild West is not the only place country music is suited to. The movie of the summer,Twisters, had a country fried soundtrackwith a credits song by Miranda Lambert herself, and was set in modern day Oklahoma.
I’m sure you could write an article like this about a lot of genres that perhaps don’t feature in video games as much as stirring orchestral scores. But video games have a very close relationship with country music, it just doesn’t extend to the soundtrack.Fallout 76famously used Take Me Home, Country Roads in its trailer, whileMass Effect Andromedaused (Ghost) Riders in the Sky by country supergroup The Highwaymen, with Johnny Cash’s vocals over the travails through space. Also, some good games have used country songs in their trailers too!
I kid because I love. Mass Effect Andromeda, you are a flawed game that will always have my heart.
Country music stirs the soul with tragedy and storytelling, and knows how to get the place rocking too. It’s not a particularly cool genre - EA FC knows its market by adding Central Cee and not Megan Moroney - but you people walk around with the background music from Sonic levels ringing in your ears. Let’s not start pulling at those threads. It’s such a rich style of music that should appeal to the dad vibes many games ground themselves in. We knowThe Last of Us’Joel is a Hank Williams fan. But it appears so little in games themselves, despite being one of the first thematic checkboxes studios reach for when assembling a trailer.
With songs that conjure feelings of loneliness, the underdog spirit, and high-flying glory, there are a dozen games I could suggest might be as appropriately scored by country music as their existing soundtrack, but individual examples aren’t really the point. It just feels a little odd that games can only embrace country music for trailers and not understand how effective it could be on the main stage. Hopefully one day a game that isn’t set in the Wild West will understand the power of country music, and you can all finally listen to some good video game music.
