There are many things to love about Red Dead Redemption 2, the flawed masterpiece that it is. From its huge open world to its breathtaking presentation to its engaging narrative, Red Dead Redemption 2 rarely skips a 🐽beat. One of its more understated qualities, however, is the game's superb soundtrack.
Spoilers lie ahead, so beware.
Red Dead Redemption 2 has several great, diverse tunes on its soundtrack. "American Venom" captures the heart of the Wild West by with its intense electric guitars while "That's the Way It Is" wonderfully concludes the penultimate mission of Chapter 6. However, no song better summarizes Red Dead Redemption 2, or my personal fascination✱, than "Cruel, Cruel World."
"Cruel, Cruel World" first plays during the epilogu🐈e in which you step in the boots of John Marston. Performed by famed country music artist Willie Nelson, it softly tells the tale of a man who lived a busy life of questionable mor▨al standing and ends up "gone."
The song plays a second time during the credits, this time sung by Joshua Homme of the Queens of the Stone Age. The lyrics are nearly indistinguishable, though this version of the song is now 🌊the most played song on my personal iTuneꦍs account.
Now, there are multiple reasons for this. Aside from the fact that I believe it is a great song with a catchy rhythm and fitting mood – "Cruel, Cruel World" also perfectly captures the heart of Red Dead Redemption 2. It parallels the life of Arthur Morgan, who contracted a disease while on a run to collect a debt from a victim of the Dutch van der Linde gang's schemes – and died because of it. Simultaneously, it fore𓃲shadows what would become of John Marston, who died trying to live a normal life following his esc🧸ape from a life of crime.
Sure, the song comes from one of my all-time favorite games, and the sequel to another favorite; merely hearing its reminds me of the wonderful experience that was the Red Dead 2 campaign. Yet, "Cruel, Cruel World" is nonetheless a lovely tune that tells a self-contained story, one that need not be associated with Red Dead Redemption 2 at all.