Barry Keoghan names his 10 favourite songs of all time
Arguably, Barry Keoghan’s career-defining role thus far was in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer, in which he played a severely deranged and utterly terrifying young lad who seeks revenge on a heart surgeon played by Colin Farrell as he ‘allowed’ his father to die on the operating table.
Keoghan also has a further string of impressive film credits to his name; among them are Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, the A24 fantasy picture The Green Knight, and the recent superhero flick The Batman, in which he played the Joker. A few years back, Keoghan gave some clues as to his tastes and his history when he ran through his favourite ten songs.
It appears from the off that Keoghan is a massive Oasis fan and is in particular admiration of ‘Supersonic’. Discussing the band, he said, “So hard to choose one song from this band. I’m a huge fan of Oasis. My uncle always played them in the house. These lads have an Irish background. They remind me of the working-class era where I’m from. They are important to me because they inspired me to be myself.”
In a similar fashion, Keoghan pays his respects to another of the best British rock bands of the 1990s (this time not Oasis). Of The Verve’s ‘Lucky Man’, he said, “This song is special to me. It takes me back to that growing-up thing again. It is [another] song that reminds me of my uncle who lived in London. He played it in the house when I was growing up.”
Like many of us, our favourite songs are influenced by our childhood memories and the tastes of our loved ones. In this light, Keoghan is no different and has fond memories of Elvis’ ‘A Little Less Conversation’. He said of the King of Rock and Roll’s tune, “This is special to me because it was my mother’s favourite song. It was used over a sequence I was in during American Animals; I had no idea it would be used. It was a song she used to play when me and my brother would visit her. Bart [Layton] had no idea either. He just picked that song. I guess it was like a hello from her.”
As an Irishman, it would be somewhat strange for Keoghan not to pay his respects to the most influential Irish rock band of all time, U2. Selecting their iconic ‘Beautiful Day’ and referencing their remarkable Croke Park concerts in 2005, Keoghan said, “I live by Croke Park, and I remember we couldn’t get into Croke Park as lads, kids, so we would sit on the canal underneath and listen to the concert blaring. I remember hearing that song and just having such a good time.”
Keoghan is also in admiration of the rags-to-riches narrative trope, particularly the one explored by Eminem in 8 Mile and its Academy Award-winning track ‘Lose Yourself’. “I guess the song just reminds me of the build to that ‘rise’,” Keoghan said. “It is a track which reminds you to always feel the constant hunger and motivation during acting. It especially reminds me of the importance of that humility that you must have. It also reminds me that you should only have a plan A.”
Barry Keoghan’s 10 favourite songs:
- 50 Cent – ‘Patiently Waiting’
- Kenny Rogers – ‘The Gambler’
- The Who – ‘Baba O’Reilly’
- The Verve – ‘Lucky Man’
- Oasis – ‘Supersonic’
- Elvis Presley – ‘A Little Less Conversation’
- Frank Sinatra – ‘Bad, Bad Leroy Brown’
- Paul Newman – ‘Plastic Jesus’
- U2 – ‘Beautiful Day’
- Eminem – ‘Lose Yourself’
