Maybe a little OT.....Session "opening theme"

[stg58fal]

It's looking like I may be getting a group together to play pretty soon. Yay me! I'm thinking of doing something a little different from how I've typically operated in the past. I've been reading all kinds of tips, tricks, etc., lately, and one of them was something like "How to make your game more cinematic". One of the ideas was an opening theme.

I'm not really going for a total movie or TV show feel, but I DO want to put a different kind of feel into this campaign.

I haven't really gone looking through the music on my computer or CDs yet to see if I have anything appropriate, and truth be told, I may not. Even playing 2013 instead of the standard 2000, I'm not sure that electronica/dubstep, punk, or the like are really the thing I want.

I like both "Paint It Black" and "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones (especially "Gimme Shelter") for this idea, and I know Credence Clearwater Revival has at least a couple songs that fit the bill, but they're a little more Vietnam-era. I personally think Johnny Cash would be another good fit, but again, IDK about whether it's era appropriate. Player-wise, IF all the *potential* players join in, about half are within a few years of my age (so, 30-35), a couple are in their 20's, one is 17, and one I have no idea about. It would suck to pick a Cash or Stones song that's basically perfect, and have half my players scratching their heads asking "Who the hell is this?"

And yes, I do sometimes get a little carried away with details. You should have seen me when I used to GM a LOT. Haha

So I'm open to suggestions here.

And thanks in advance.

[Rainbow Six]

How about something by Steve Earle? "Copperhead Road" or "The Devil's Right Hand" both spring to mind, but there are others..."Ben McCulloch" for example...love the chorus of that song -

Goddamn you Ben McCulloch
I hate you more than any other man alive
And when you die you'll be a foot soldier just like me
In the devil's infantry

Maybe Bruce Springsteen as well? I'm not as up to date on his newer stuff, but there are acoustic versions of both "Born to Run" and "Born In The USA" out there, or there's "My City In Ruins".

Going back to the Stones, how about "Sympathy For The Devil"? It was covered by Guns n Roses, so you could always use their version. For that matter they covered "Live And Let Die" as well.

[simonmark6]

Ride of the Valkyrie.

Pretty much everyone should have heard that.

Also, a good general background would be the music off the Paradox game: Hearts of Iron 2. Nice military-themed muzak.

[James Langham]

A few random ones I've used:

Chris de Burgh - The Sound of a Gun - if nothing else the line "mother! mother! mother! hush child go to sleep, it's only the sound of a gun." There are quite a few nice tracks of his that work well, "Up Here in Heaven" "Say Goodbye to it All" "Borderline" "The Revolution" "Oh My Brave Hearts" is good for resistance characters and for spy games "Moonlight and Vodka"

Andy Parker - "Soldier, Soldier2 - if players have seen this TV series the music is fantastic to use

Magnum - "Need a Lot of Love"

Blind Guardian - "And Then There Was Silence" - an epic song about the Trojan War

Basil Poledouris - "The Hunt for Red October" - whole album is ideal although you could use something by the Red Army Choir as an alternative. His Starship Troopers album is also a possibility

British Regimental marches work well as my players at least half know them

Dire Straits - "Brothers in Arms"

Some games have decent soundtracks - MoA and CoD for example plus the 40k games have great soundtracks

Mary Fahl - "Going Home" from Gods and Generals

[Tegyrius]

How about something by Steve Earle? "Copperhead Road" or "The Devil's Right Hand" both spring to mind, but there are others..."Ben McCulloch" for example...love the chorus of that song -

Also, Home to Houston and Warrior. I'd use The Gringo's Tale for a specific story involving PCs who can't go home because of politics or personal misdeeds. Johnny Come Lately needs an added verse for the Twilight War.

Maybe Bruce Springsteen as well? I'm not as up to date on his newer stuff, but there are acoustic versions of both "Born to Run" and "Born In The USA" out there, or there's "My City In Ruins".

Devils & Dust and Further On (Up the Road) both work.

A heck of a lot of Warren Zevon's work has imagery or themes applicable to post-apoc. Just off the top of my head: Jungle Work, Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner, Transverse City (admittedly verging on cyberpunk), Quite Ugly One Morning, Searching for a Heart, Renegade...

- C.

[B.T.]

I don't work with much music. One of my players is a musician himself - he tends to listen to the music, not to the GM.

A nice openig track is good. It helps, to settle the mood. But during play, I would use music sparingly. And if you use it as background, you should chose slow and more instrumental tracks. If the tracks have to much rhythm - lots of drumbeats - this can distract the attention. Soundtracks are ideally suited.

On the other hand: Some of the "louder" tracks, thrown in on occasions, might do it, from tome to time:
Iron Maiden - The Trooper
Motörhead - Overkill (An edit, song's too long)
System of a Down has same real loud ones, that could be played as an opener to a scene.

There is an album of Apocalyptica with cover songs from Metallica ("Apocalyptica plays Metallica"?). Some were really scary.

Pomp and Circumstance might work, too. (You know, when the job is done and the players can feel like real heroes:D)

I once played with a guy, who must have had literally hundreds of soundtracks. He used several tracks as musical themes for certain NPCs. This was fun - every player instantly knew, what was happening.

[Legbreaker]

Given the game's set in the second half of the 90's, perhaps leave the 1960's and 70's sound tracks alone and go with more contemporary music and bands?

[copeab]

There is an album of Apocalyptica with cover songs from Metallica ("Apocalyptica plays Metallica"?). Some were really scary.


Four Cellos Play Metallica

I found their cover of "Hall Of The Mountain King" kinda scary ;)

Their more recent instrumentals, with drums and distortion effects, also work well as background music.

[copeab]

I always thought "Re-Jigue" by Alan Parsons was a good theme song waiting for a series. "Lucifer" by the Alan Parsons Project is also a good choice.

[WallShadow]

How about the "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" riff from the end of "Dr. Strangelove"? It has a brittle, despondent, desperate, fatalistic, militaristic feel to it. And the source material is _so_ relevant.

"Black Friday" by Steely Dan--after all IIRC the TDM actually took place the day after Thanksgiving, when all the capitalistic materialistic bourgoisie were out shopping for Christmas.

[stg58fal]

A nice openig track is good. It helps, to settle the mood.

That's the idea. JUST an opening theme. Like how "Paint It Black" was used as the opening theme for the TV series "Tour of Duty". Other than that, I prefer for music to stay OFF during a game session, to help reduce distractions.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I'll check them out. I may also change the opening every so often, for the sake of variety and so people don't get too burned out on one song.

I also like, and may use, the Five Finger Death Punch version of "Bad Company". Funny, cuz that's the ONLY song I've heard them do that I can actually stand.

[Raellus]

I started a thread on war-related pop music a few years back but I can't find it in the archive. A lot of folks pitched in and it was pretty exhaustive. Here's a more recent thread about mood music for T2K-

http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.php?t=3058&highlight=music

I'll keep hunting for the other one.

[stg58fal]

Given the game's set in the second half of the 90's, perhaps leave the 1960's and 70's sound tracks alone and go with more contemporary music and bands?

2012, actually, since we'll be playing T:2013, but your point remains valid, and that's why I said that even though "Gimme Shelter" would be great, it's probably not appropriate.

I'm looking up the suggestions that have been made thus far on YouTube.

[stg58fal]

I started a thread on war-related pop music a few years back but I can't find it in the archive. A lot of folks pitched in and it was pretty exhaustive. Here's a more recent thread about mood music for T2K-

http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.php?t=3058&highlight=music

I'll keep hunting for the other one.

Thanks. Checking the thread right now.

[Legbreaker]

2012, actually, since we'll be playing T:2013, but your point remains valid, and that's why I said that even though "Gimme Shelter" would be great, it's probably not appropriate.

Ah, good point. Makes selecting music even easier for you though - don't have to think back a decade and a half! :D

[Rainbow Six]

Can't believe I forgot about "99 Red Balloons" by Nena yesterday. Even better in the original German version, "99 Luftballoons".

[dude_uk]

For that the late Cold War feeling:D:

Two Tribes Frankie goes to Hollywood

Everybody wants to rule the world Tears for Fears

Russians Sting

Land of Confusion Genesis

When the Wind Blows David Bowie

When the Children cry White Lion

[Tombot]

I like this one for the start, cause it oozes the beginning of a coming dark age:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS7k3G_6IjE&list=PL52FA43F860121AC9&index=5&feature=plpp_video

And this one for the end of the session ("rolling the credits" like: "tonights beer was provided by.."):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0q1gCsZykg&list=PL52FA43F860121AC9&index=9&feature=plpp_video

Btw: "Gimme shelter" from 1969 is now added to my list of T2k-"Soundtrack"-Music - fits well into the broad spectrum of music for the overall theme... nice choice!

[Targan]

The song I Was Only 19 by Redgum is, I think, the most poignant song about the experiences of young Australians in the Vietnam War. The Aussie accent and military slang might be a bit hard to decypher for my non-Australian friends so I'm including the lyrics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urtiyp-G6jY

Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing-out parade at Puckapunyal
It was a long march from cadets.
The sixth battalion was the next to tour, and it was me who drew the card.
We did Canungra, Shoalwater before we left.

And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the quay
This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean.
And there's me in my slouch hat with my SLR and greens.
God help me, I was only nineteen.

From Vung Tau, riding Chinooks, to the dust at Nui Dat
I'd been in and out of choppers now for months.
But we made our tents a home, VB and pinups on the lockers
And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub.

And can you tell me, doctor, why I stil can't get to sleep?
And night-time's just a jungle dark and a barking M16?
And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only ninteen.

A four week operation when each step could mean your last one on two legs
It was a war within yourself.
But you wouldn't let your mates down til they had you dusted off
So you closed your eyes and thought about something else.

Then someone yelled out "Contact!" and the bloke behind me swore
We hooked in there for hours, then a Godalmighty roar
Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon,
God help me, he was going home in June.

I can still see Frankie, drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel
On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau
And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle
Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row.

And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears
And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real.
I caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feel
God help me, I was only nineteen.

And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?
And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only nineteen.

[Neal5x5]

There's an obscure one by Puscifier that's melancholoy and though-provoking: The Humbling River.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHUczW3sXjU

[raketenjagdpanzer]

How about "The Man Comes Around" by Johnny Cash? Or "Drive On" (ibid)

I love the suggestion of "Gimme Shelter".

[bobcat]

i tend to open sessions with "nuclear attack" by sabaton. its great for setting the mood.

[Rainbow Six]

The song I Was Only 19 by Redgum is, I think, the most poignant song about the experiences of young Australians in the Vietnam War...

One of my favourites is "Khe Sanh" by Cold Chisel. Love that song. First heard it in a bar in Adelaide in 1991, didn't manage to get a copy on CD until around 2000 when an Aussie girl at work got her family back home to post a copy over for me (internet shopping was in its infancy then (at least for me) and the record stores I tried in the UK hadn't heard of Cold Chisel)

[Raellus]

... by Donovan has an eons-spanning theme and a somber feel. It was inspired by the Vietnam War but it addresses the timelessness of war. One could easily add a verse about the Twilight War. Here are the lyrics.

He is five foot two,
And he's six feet four,
He fights with missiles and with spears,
He's all of thirty-one,
And he's only seventeen,
He's been a soldier for a thousand years.

He's a Catholic, a Hindu,
An atheist, a Chein,
A Budhist, and a Baptist and a Jew,
And he knows, he shouldn't kill,
And he knows, he always will,
Killing for me, my friend, and me for you.

And he's fighting for Canada,
He's fighting for France,
He's fighting for the USA
And he's fighting for the Russians,
He's fighting for Japan,
And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way.

And he's fighting for democracy,
He's fighting for the Reds,
He says it's for the peace of all,
He's the one who must decide,
Who's to live and who's to die,
And he never sees the writing on the wall.

But without him, how would Hitler
Have condemned him at Lw'ow, (German concentration camp)
Without him Cesar would have stood alone,
He's the one, who gives his body
As a weapon of the war,
And without him all this killing can't go on.

He's the universal soldier,
And he really is to blame,
His orders come from far away, no more,
They come from here and there,
And you and me and brothers,
Can't you see,
This is not the way we put the end to war.

[Rainbow Six]

James mentioned Brothers in Arms earlier - not sure if he meant the album or the individual track, but there's a track on the album called "Ride Across The River" that has lyrics appropriate for T2K:

"I'm a soldier of fortune, I'm a dog of war
And we don't give a damn who the killing is for
It's the same old story with a different name
Death or glory, it's the killing game "

(I keep planning on using those lyrics as an intro to a piece about a mercenary / marauder group)

Also Masters of War by Bob Dylan (since covered by various artists)

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks.

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly.

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain.

You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion'
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud.

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins.

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do.

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes it's toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul.

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand over your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead.

[Bullet Magnet]

"Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon,
God help me, he was going home in June."


I get that it rhymes, but I take "mankind kicked the moon" as a reference to the first moon landing, which of course, was in July of 1969. So, Frankie was going home in 11 more months? Hell, anything could've happened in that time.

But damn, that song gave me chills listening to it. Thanks for pointing it out.

[Cdnwolf]

I use this one for a session after the team got home and were trying to create a resistance group in a town controlled by a New American government.

Take the children and yourself
And hide out in the cellar
By now the fighting will be close at hand
Don't believe the church and state
And everything they tell you
Believe in me, I'm with the high command

Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?
Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?

There's a gun and ammunition
Just inside the doorway
Use it only in emergency
Better you should pray to God
The Father and the Spirit
Will guide you and protect from up here

Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?
Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?

Swear allegiance to the flag
Whatever flag they offer
Never hint at what you really feel
Teach the children quietly
For some day sons and daughters
Will rise up and fight while we stood still

Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?
Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you