Why New Vegas’ Music is Impossible to Forget

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Hey yo, in this video I talk about the music in Fallout New Vegas 🤠

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CHAPTERS
0:00 – Intro
0:04 – Inon Zur
1:12 – The Radio Stations
2:15 – “Blue Moon” by Frank Sinatra
3:51 – “Heartaches by the Number” by Guy Mitchell
5:02 – “Big Iron” by Marty Robbins
8:14 – Licensed Music
9:55 – Anachronistic
10:14 – Limited Music
11:22 – Radio Systems in Games
11:48 – Conclusion

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38 thoughts on “Why New Vegas’ Music is Impossible to Forget”

  1. Thanks for the awesome video and all the work you put into it! 💕

    In New Vegas, I could hardly get enough of the radio music and only turned it off in places where, contextually, it felt out of place—like during stealth or in mysterious vaults. Lately, in RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 or The Outer Worlds, I find myself turning off the music even though it's beautiful. It sometimes feels a bit too melodic and repetitive. In Baldur's Gate 3, I even accidentally missed the spectacular musical number during the boss fight with Raphael because I had the music turned off. 😩

    I’m curious, what’s your take on the use of music in Red Dead Redemption 2? It feels similarly melodic but leans more toward the ambient style you described in your video about the early Fallout games. Of course, progress doesn’t stand still, and there are moments where the music contextually becomes more dynamic and rhythmic, like during chases or heists. But I’m constantly amazed by how perfectly it fits the "quiet" moments, like when I’m wandering through the world without any specific goal.

    Again, love your work and analysis! 😍

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  6. Wtf dude you didn’t talk about Johny guitar. JK
    But regarding Race Ryder it may be the first movie to start using that method but it’s not the first to make it famous and trendy. American Graffiti was the first to make this style of using licensed pop music especially the 50’s and 60’s ones and then Full Metal Jacket afterwards Goodfellas pushed that calumniating Tarintino’s masterpiece Pulp Fiction. All that of course inspired Rockstars to adapt this style

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  8. Ah, New Vegas. I will never admit to how many hours are listed on my Steam account.

    I had an idea. The last game to really impress me music wise was Cyberpunk 2077. I mean there were a few great instrumental tracks when it was first released and Phantom Liberty knocked it out of the park in that area but those were not what really stuck with me. It was the songs created for the game radio stations. I don't think I have heard a game have such a wide variety of songs created by talented artists specifically to fit in its world. It is expensive but man does it leave an impression.

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  9. In this game i find music that i never think i gonna love. Why Don't You Do Right · Peggy Lee /Soundies Legends/ and Heartaches by the numbers Guy Mitchell, are songs that were never going to go anywhere near my radar, but I fell in love with these songs thanks to this game.

    Thanks you again for the content. I know it's a little late, but happy holidays

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  11. Excellent as always but I feel like this video could have been 5x longer and still have stuff to talk about.

    Also Inon Zur is underrated imo – hardly a household name but between fallout and BG2 and a bunch of other games I have a fond memories of a lot of his work

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  23. To paraphrase Shamus Young, Fallout has never been about the 1950's per se. It "was about the future that the 1950’s anticipated. It was a game that took place in the future of the past. " Realized by people who grew up in the 1970's and 1980's. And I think that's a rather unique cultural synthesis where you can get away with playing A Kiss to Build a Dream On right before a family is mowed down by a minigun. Fear that tomorrow isn't coming, and nostalgia for what America perhaps once was. Or was imagined as. Old World Blues.

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  30. I understand the New Vegas meme songs are bangers, lord knows how many times I've called a revolver a Big Iron because of Marty Robins, but I always took a liking to the tracks that Mojave plays but New Vegas doesn't. The Gerhard Trede tracks specifically are in my personal music rotation. It's always a pleasure when I'm having downtime in a game and Wonderland Romance comes on. Sometimes I'll even just put the controller down and just soak in the vibe.

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  31. Pretty cool that you mentioned Inor Zur as a sometimes underrated composer. His music is one of the key elements of why we love the games he was involved in (IMO). Would love to see a separate video about him!

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  32. Thanks for another great video! I’d love to hear a 5-second snippet of every song you’re talking about. Also, I miss the quirky edits you used to do—they gave that perfect vibe of lightheartedness that so many channels lack.
    Anyway, thanks again! Love your channel

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  38. I wanna mention, fallout is all about the idea of Retrofuturism. The 40s-60s idea of the future. By playing the music, yeah its a strange world where the only artifacts are from the 40s-60s, but most importantly, you are placed culturally into the 40s-60s to help you understand how they saw the future.

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