There’s a striking vocal moment in ‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ that happens when the song ‘Unshaken’ plays. Here’s who sings the score’s signature track.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Credit: Rockstar Games
Spoilers below, but I’ll keep them light
If you’ve played far enough into Red Dead Redemption 2, it’s hard to miss this moment. Protagonist Arthur Morgan is alone and tired: his journey has taken him further than he ever thought it would, and he’s returning to an uncertain future with a man he trusts less and less to look out for his safety. He saddles up and tries to track down the only people he can call family, stuck down in the swamps of Louisiana Lemoyne.
It’s a big moment made bigger by the game’s always staggering score: we hear a song in the background play as we lie, a full vocal track when all we’ve heard is more traditional orchestral work throughout the rest of the game. It’s a powerful thing, made more powerful by the fact that it isn’t quite what we expect out of this here cowboy story. It’s a deep gospel piece, marked best by a strong percussion track that rhymes the horse hooves in-game and a quiet guitar line that nods to the western game it finds itself in. Let’s listen to it below:
As it turns out, the track « Unshaken » comes to us from none other than D’angelo, and it’s original for the game. Which is an impressive thing indeed: Rockstar is no stranger to licensed music and even original work, but this collaboration is one of the best I’ve seen and heard. We can see it in the credits here:
Red dead Redemption 2 Credit: Rockstar Games
And while there’s no reason to spoil this particular plot point, I will say that you hear this song twice in the game.
Fans of the series will remember that the original Red Dead Redemption played a similar trick twice in its runtime, the first of which left an indelible mark on gaming history: John Marston far from his home and his family, alone and unsure he’ll ever be able to get back to the life he built. Fast travel is disabled for Marston’s first trip to Mexico, and we hear this song from Jose Gonzales play as we ride out past the sunset:
The moment in this prequel lands just as well despite the fact that we’ve heard it before, mostly based on the strength of the track itself. Which I guess is what happens when you get D’angelo to write an original song for your game.
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