Mafia is known for its brilliant interpretations of some of the best periods in America. We've seen these time periods recognized in some of the best movies and TV shows such as Mad Men, Goodfellas, and The Godfather. There's a lot of things that makes these periods so iconic and recognizable, the clothing, the flashy cars, and most importantly… the legendary music.
Mafia 3 takes us away from the '40s and '50s into the '60s which took us into a new age of all the things I previously mentioned. Clothing changed, we got sexier cars, and the music took on things happening in the political world and many other things. The '60s is arguably one of the most important decades of the 20th century.
Today, Rolling Stone revealed the official tracklist for Mafia 3 which has so many iconic songs it may make you wonder how the hell 2K Games could afford all this music or how they managed to secure all this incredible music. Director Hayden Blackman spoke on how they chose the music for the game and how exactly it fits into the game.
"From the outset we knew we had to have a kick-ass soundtrack," Blackman says. "Our approach was very much that we have to make sure it's an amazing soundtrack, because that will lead to an amazing game."
"The first song I knew I wanted to get into the game is a pretty obscure one," Blackman says. "A song called 'Desperation' by Steppenwolf, which I knew from their greatest hits album or whatever. It's this very moody Steppenwolf song that's very different than anything else that you know them for." The song is first used for an emotional scene between Lincoln and Father James, who is a Catholic priest that helped raise him. "He's kind of an Old Testament guy, so he totally understands Lincoln's war against the mob," Blackman explains. "He supports it up to a point, but he warns Lincoln about the cost of this war. Not just in terms of the people that might die, but also on his soul. That's a hard moment for Lincoln and we have 'Desperation' playing in the background."
Blackman didn't even think that they would get as many of the artists and songs that they ended up getting. "There were artists that I thought there would be no way we'd ever get, and yet they came through," Blackman says. "So Creedence, the Rolling Stones, we have the Beach Boys, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash, Sam Cooke, Elvis. Honestly, I was doubtful that we'd be able to get this wide spectrum of Sixties artists."
Blackman said that he was very keen on getting some specific songs that we have all heard in some of the best Vietnam films. "I really wanted to get 'Sympathy for the Devil' in, and 'Paint It Black' obviously, because it's such a Vietnam-era song. And then Sam and Dave. It was really important to me to get some representation from Sam and Dave because I could see driving to that, being in combat to that, applying it to cinematics or story moments. Their music is so versatile."
You can view the full track list for Mafia 3 below.
"Mother's Little Helper" by the Rolling Stones
"Paint it Black" by the Rolling Stones
"Sympathy for the Devil" by the Rolling Stones
"Street Fighting Man" by the Rolling Stones
"Chain Gang" by Sam Cooke
"Wonderful World" by Sam Cooke
"Bring it on Home to Me" by Sam Cooke
"Another Saturday Night" by Sam Cooke
"I'm Gonna Forget About You" by Sam Cooke
"Ninety-Six Tears" by Question Mark and the Mysterians
"Go Go Shoes" by Lonnie Youngblood
"Take me for What I Am" by L.C. Cooke
"I Let a Good Thing Go By" by Dewey Edwards
"Dance of the Hours" by Beethoven Ben
"Hang Ten" by the Fun Sons
"Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals
"Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"You" by Marvin Gaye
"Hold On, I’m Comin’" by Sam and Dave
"Pictures Of Matchstick Men" by Status Quo
"Chain Of Fools" by Aretha Franklin
"Respect" by Aretha Franklin
"Piece Of My Heart" by Big Brother & the Holding Company
"I Fought the Law" by Bobby Fuller Four
"The Letter" by Box Tops
"Time Has Come Today" by the Chambers Brothers
"Slip Away" by Clarence Carter
"Psychotic Reaction" by Count Five
"White Room" by Cream
"Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Born On The Bayou" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Palisades Park" by Freddy Cannon
"Somebody To Love" by Jefferson Airplane
"Folsom Prison Blues (Live)" by Johnny Cash
"Shotgun" by Jr. Walker and the All Stars
"Nowhere To Run" by Martha and the Vendellas
"(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding
"Palisades Park" by Ramones
"King of the Road" by Roger Miller
"Soul Man" by Sam and Dave
"Li'l Red Riding Hood" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
"Desperation" by Steppenwolf
"You Keep Me Hangin’ On [#1]" by the Supremes
"Ain't Too Proud To Beg" by the Temptations
"Wild Thing" by the Troggs
"One" by Three Dog Night
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" by Vanilla Fudge
"One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" by John Lee Hooker
"Good Times are so Hard to Find" by Blue Cheer
"Ay-Tete Fee" by Clifton Chenier
"You Belong To Me" by The Duprees
"Take Me for What I'm Worth" by the Searchers
"What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)" by The Tams
"Black Ghost Blues" by Lightnin' Hopkins
"Green River" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Walking the Dog" by Rufus Thomas
"I Got My Mojo Working" by the Shadows of Knight
"You Belong To Me" by Misfits
"Bad Moon Rising" by Mourning Ritual ft Peter Dreimanis
"Tramp" by Otis Redding & Carla Thomas
"On The Road Again" by Canned Heat
"Don't Go To Strangers" by Etta James
"Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard
"Running Scared" by Roy Orbison
"Crazy" by Patsy Cline
"Runaway (1967 version)" by Del Shannon
"Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire
"Knock on Wood" by Eddie Floyd
"Help Me, Rhonda" by Beach Boys
"Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf
"I Wish It Would Rain" by Temptations
"Heroes and Villains Beach Boys
"Reach Out, I'll Be There" by Four Tops
"White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane
"G.I. Blues" by Lightnin' Slim
"Keep Searchin’ (We’ll Follow The Sun)" by Del Shannon
"Love Child" by Diana Ross & the Supremes
"You've Really Got a Hold on Me" by the Miracles
"Baby Love" by the Supremes
"Son of a Preacher Man" by Dusty Springfield
"Wouldn’t It Be Nice" by Beach Boys
"Get Up and Get Down" by the Dramatics
"Bottom of the River" by Delta Rae
"Ring Of Fire" by Johnny Cash
"Kicks" by Paul Revere and the Raiders
"We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" by the Animals
"Needles & Pins" by the Searchers
"In-a-Gadda-da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly
"I Can't Turn You Loose" by Chambers Brothers
"Hard to Handle"by Otis Redding
"The Weight" by The Band
"Paint it Black" by the Avengers
"Five Card Hand" by Mercy Dee Walton
"You Better Stop" by Sonny Rhodes
"Must Have Been the Devil" by Otis Spann
"I Got You (I Feel Good)" by James Brown
"Hey Big Momma" by Roosevelt Sykes
"Sinner's Prayer" by Lightnin' Hopkins
"The Howling Wolf" by Lightnin' Hopkins
"A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis
