Summary
Ever since it went 3D, theFalloutseries has been known for its immersive radio system.Fallout 3,Fallout: New Vegas,Fallout 4, andFallout76each give the player access to a Pip-Boy radio, which allows them to tune into one or more stations that play period- or thematically-appropriate music. From the patriotic fife and drum of Enclave Radio, to the country twang of Mojave Music, to the big-city swing of Radio New Vegas, each station has something unique to offer, and contributes greatly to the atmosphere of the Wasteland.
But to be honest, not everyFalloutradio song is as good as the last one. Some songs set a pitch-perfect mood for a little post-nuclear adventuring; others just inspire a change in station. That said, whether jumping intoFallout 76’s limited eventsfor the first time, orreplayingNew Vegasfor the thousandth, there are some songs that instantly get the toes tapping and the VATS finger itching. These are ten of the best songs to grace the airwaves throughout theFalloutseries.
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10Roy Brown’s “Butcher Pete” Is The Perfect Example Of What Fallout Radio Is About
From Fallout 3, Fallout 4, & Fallout 76
“Butcher Pete” is a 1949 song by blues singer Roy Brown. It’s a narrative song, telling the story of a drifter named Butcher Pete who chops his way through an entire town. While the immediate connotations are those of a serial killer, some have interpreted Butcher Pete not as a violent figure, but an amorous one. That’s particularly apparent in the lines, “All you fellas gotta watch your wives/‘Cause Pete don’t care whose meat he chops.”
The metaphor is further explored in “Butcher Pete (Part 2)”, which only appears inFallout 4.
“Butcher Pete” is a microcosm ofFalloutradio as a whole: it contrasts upbeat, jaunty music with violent (or at least risqué) lyrics, much as the rest of the jazzy soundtrack contrasts the stark violence of the Wasteland setting. It’s also just really catchy. With a swinging band and a ridiculous refrain (“He keeps hackin’ and whackin' and smackin'"), it’s hard not to tap one’s feet to “Butcher Pete.” It also ends with a great little fourth wall break - Brown addresses the listener directly, encouraging them to “turn this record over, you ain’t heard nothing yet.”
9The Five Stars' “Atom Bomb Baby” Plays On Pre-War Nuclear Anxiety
From Fallout 4 & Fallout 76
Fallout’s many radio stations feature many songs that explicitly reference the threat of nuclear devastation: “Uranium Rock,” “Uranium Fever,” even “Crawl Out Through the Fallout.” Most of these are novelty songs that trade musical complexity for cutesy or clever lyrics, but that’s not the case with The Five Stars' 1957 “Atom Bomb Baby.” Featuring non-stop piano riffs and some nice little harmonies from its five singers. (And honestly, its lyrics are lacking a bit in the cleverness department, rhyming “bomb” with “wigwam.")
The central conceit of this song is a metaphor, comparing the speaker’s love to an atomic bomb in terms of heat and explosive potential. It portrays a very real threat through humorous comparison, making ita perfect example of the Cold War obsession with mutually-assured destruction. That culture is whatFallout’s entire worldview is based on. In a post-nuclear world, the song even takes on a shade of irony.
8"Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall” Is A Rare Collab
From Fallout 3 & Fallout 4
Many songs by the Ink Spots grace the soundtracks of theFalloutseries. The recurring structure of their songs - the arpeggiated chords, the turn-based solos, the harmonized riffs in the background - areas much a part ofFallout’s soundtrack as the gunfire and the grunts of Super Mutants. Their 1944 song “Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall” follows the Ink Spots archetype pretty closely, but breaks it byincluding a rare collaboration with jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald fits seamlessly into the formula, showing off her improvisational skill and tonal purity right between Bill Kenny’s and Hoppy Jones' solos. It’s also a bit more upbeat than the typical Ink Spots song, with a little jaunty piano riff underscoring the whole affair. That helps send home the message of the lyrics, which acknowledge the inevitability of tragedy in an otherwise happy life, while lamenting the overabundance of it in the singer’s.
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From Fallout: New Vegas
As far asFalloutmusic goes, “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” is a little anachronistic. It was released in 1960, not in the ’40s or ’50s like most of the other songs on the radio. That said,it has every right to be featured inNew Vegas. It was originally written for the filmOcean’s 11, which prominently features a series of casino heists. It’s also sung by legendary crooner Dean Martin, who starred in the film, and was known for his Las Vegas residencies.
Every bit of that comes across in the song, which pairs a boisterous, big-city brass section with Martin’s seductive dulcet tones. Its lyrics tell the story of a lovestruck man who grapples with the abruptness and intensity of his feelings. It’s also the perfect pun on the prologue ofFallout: New Vegas, in which Courier Six narrowly survives a bullet to the head.
6"Jingle Jangle Jingle” Is Fallout’s Greatest Earworm
EveryFallout: New Vegasplayer recognizes the opening notes of Kay Kyser’s 1942 “Jingle Jangle Jingle.” It may have originally been written for the filmThe Forest Rangers, but “Jingle Jangle Jingle,” but in the modern day, it’s more closely associated withNew Vegas. Although performed by a big band, it could almost pass for a simple country song but for those first few horn hits, and the short instrumentals that punctuate the verses.
If “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” represents big-city New Vegas,“Jingle Jangle Jingle” perfectly represents the rural Mojave. It’s full of nostalgia for a bygone era of individualist cowboys, which may not have ever actually existed. It’ll inevitably get stuck in the player’s head every time they hear it, and even sometimes when they don’t. It’s inherently whistle-alongable, and with such a simple chorus and a call-and-response lyrical structure, very easy to sing along with.
5Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” Is Extra Ironic In The Wasteland
Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” was the title song for his 1934 musical of the same name. It’s almost like a Depression-era “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” lamenting the pitfalls of modernity through a series of socio-cultural-historical references. It counts increasingly scant clothing, radical shifts in wealth distribution, and the brain-draining effect of radio among its all-star cast of societal upheavals. It’s a clever song with lyrics that bear closer examination, with lots of biting, if now obscure, references to icons of its day.
But when played in the post-apocalyptic wasteland ofFallout,“Anything Goes” is recontextualized with a new kind of irony. Now, the greatest threat to a comfortable, well-examined life isn’t Rockefeller’s money hoarding - it’s the feral ghouls at the door. Also, as a pre-war song lamenting the pitfalls of modernity, it shows how little things have changed - no matter how society is altered, there’ll always be someone to complain about it.
4Nat King Cole’s “Orange Colored Sky” Is The Perfect Soundtrack For Fallout’s Combat
The version of “Orange Colored Sky” that plays in theFalloutgames was recorded by Nat King Cole in 1950. The lyrics are about love at first sight, the suddenness of which is portrayed through the onomatopoeic refrain, “Flash! Bam! Alakazam,” each word of which is punctuated by a powerful blast from the horn section. That’s offset by the sweetness of Cole’s voice, the dichotomy of which he even acknowledges directly in an ad lib near the end of the song: “Wow, I thought love was much softer than that. What a most disturbing sound.”
Although meant to represent the shock of sudden love,thepunchy brass and explosive lyrics also make the perfect soundtrack forFallout’s combat. The song’s title could equally refer to the sky’s hue at dawn, at sunset, or after a nuclear explosion. It may not always be perfectly timed, but when the chorus comes in at just the right moment, it adds a lot of excitement and cinematic flair to the averageFalloutfirefight.
3The Events Of Fallout Prove “Civilization” Right
“Civilization” featuresFalloutsoundtrack staple The Andrews Sisters alongside triple threat Danny Kaye. Its lyrics tell a satirical story of a Christian missionary visiting an uncontacted group in the jungles of the Congo. He attempts to sell them on the idea of western-style society, but with each new advancement he introduces - cars, guns, capitalism - his audience grows increasingly horrified. This eventually leads them to declare they have no interest in “civilization,” preferring instead to remain where they are.
This song’s inclusion could be interpreted ironically - in the aftermath ofFallout’s Great War,there really is no such thing as civilization in the sense that Danny Kaye and The Andrews Sisters sang about. But it works just as well played straight. The song ends with the words, “They have things like the atom bomb/So I think I’ll stay where I am.” The totalnuclear destruction ofFallout’s settingproves, beyond a doubt, that they were right to be skeptical of civilization.
2The Ink Spots' “I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire” Is Fallout’s Unofficial Theme Song
TheFalloutseries has a long history with “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire,“a 1941 song by The Ink Spots. The NPC Dane references its first line in the originalFallout, it appears in the intro ofFallout 3, and it even plays in a trailer for theFalloutTV show. It also appears on the radio in all three BethesdaFalloutgames.
And it’s easy to see why. Besides its period-appropriateness, the song’s title puns on the central conceit of theFalloutseries, set in the afterglow of a world on fire. Of course, at the end of the day, it’s another love song, about people who have lost all motivation to do anything in the shadow of love. But its slow tempo and somber vocals give “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” a slightly funereal sound, as if mourning the world’s destruction.
Custom by Kate Bove
Marty Robbins' 1959 country ballad"Big Iron” is the best song on any of theFalloutseries' radio stations. It’s a narrative song, telling the story of a gunfight between an Arizona ranger and an outlaw named Texas Red. It’s a simple morality tale: the ranger’s arrival gets the people talking, especially when they notice the “big iron” he carries. Word gets around that he’s after Texas Red, who, on hearing the rumors, is confident of an easy victory. But when they meet for a mid-morning duel, the ranger outdraws Texas Red, ending his reign of terror instantly.
Besides its story, “Big Iron” is a beautiful song. Marty Robbins' clear voice comes across as both mournful of Texas Red’s folly and reverent of the ranger’s swiftness. Twangy guitar riffs fill the spaces between the lyrics, which are carefully metered and perfectly rhymed. The whole thing plays out, like most of Marty Robbins' gunfighter ballads, as a chapter of an epic poem. It perfectly encapsulates the western setting ofFallout: New Vegas, and is also generally a delight to listen to.
As much as it may seem like a bit of set dressing, the radio system is as important toFalloutas VATS or Stimpaks. It’s an important element of atmosphere in the Wasteland, and a small spot of human brightness in an otherwise bleak and dangerous world. For these reasons among others, the radio is vital to theFalloutseries, and it’d be a lot less enjoyable without its greatest hits.
Fallout
Fallout is a post-apocalyptic RPG franchise set in an alternate future where a nuclear war devastates the world. Players explore vast, open worlds filled with mutants, raiders, and advanced technology. The series emphasizes player choice, allowing various approaches to combat, dialogue, and decision-making. Each game follows different protagonists navigating the wasteland to uncover secrets, form alliances, and rebuild civilization amidst the ruins of the old world. The franchise is known for its rich lore, dark humor, and retro-futuristic aesthetic, which has transferred over into its new series on Amazon Prime.
