Enjoy a collection of Andrew Garfield’s favourite songs
Having long been beloved by a core group of fans, it has taken a few years for the star persona of British actor Andrew Garfield to reach its peak. Whilst several roles can be attributed to his renewed rise, there’s no doubt that his role in the Marvel movie Spider-Man: No Way Home. alongside Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire, where he stole the show as a refreshed version of his titular superhero, significantly bolstering his star persona in the process.
Having delivered impressive performances in the industry since 2005, appearing in several TV programmes before making his debut feature film appearance in Boy A in 2007, Garfield has only recently received the praise he deserves. In the time since his debut, the actor has had the chance to work with filmmakers like Robert Redford, David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, Mel Gibson, David Robert Mitchell, Andy Serkis and Lin-Manuel Miranda, building quite the filmography of supporting and leading roles.
As well as Spider-Man: No Way Home, 2021 proved to be quite the year for Garfield, appearing in a supporting role in Michael Showalter’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye, whilst also being nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of playwright and composer Jonathan Larson in Netflix’s tick, tick… BOOM!. Playing the iconic performer, Garfield had to tap into his inner musician to perfectly embody Larson.
Though, this wasn’t too difficult for Garfield, with the actor being an avid music fan, even joining KCRW to discuss five of his favourite tracks of all time.
His first pick went to the Don McLean tune ‘Vincent’ from the album American Pie from 1971. “This song gave me the courage to try to be an actor, really,” Garfield told the radio station, adding, “it kind of came into my consciousness just before I was doing my first public performance as an actor, which was at the Globe Theater, in London”.
The Cat Stevens song ‘Father and Son’ takes the second spot on Garfield’s list of particular favourites, with the actor telling the publication, “It feels like every young man, can’t help but be affected by this song.” Expressive in his love for the track, he adds, “what I love is the tone changes and how Cat Stevens, Yusuf Islam as we now know him, goes from the father voice, which is this kind of more deep resonant voice to the son voice which is this higher pitched yearning, to take the last leap out of the nest and fly.”
‘Just a Gigolo’ by Louis Prima is the third choice from Garfield, picking the 1956 song as, “when I hear it, I just have to move. I have to jiggle and shake. I can’t help but be joyous”. Speaking about the significance of the performer, he adds, “Louis Prima is someone that my dad introduced me to actually, as a musician. And his father before him, so there’s something kind of ancestral in it, I don’t know”.
Taking the penultimate spot on his top five is the song ‘You Give a Little Love’ from the 1976 movie musical Bugsy Malone, starring Jodie Foster, Dexter Fletcher and Florrie Dugger. “This musical was probably one of the first movies I saw that gave me the idea that being an actor was a thing to do,” Garfield tells the radio station before clarifying, “The essence of this song is kind of how I try and long to live my life, and it’s a very simple message, and a beautiful message, and it makes me happy any time I hear it”.
Bookending Garfield’s neat mixtape is the Nina Simone hit ‘Mississippi Goddam’ from the 1964 album Nina Simone in Concert. Calling it “kind of contrasting to what we’ve heard so far,” the actor explains, “It feels like a great protest song for what we’re experiencing in the U.S. right now, especially. And the beauty of it is that it can be applied to any struggling community”.
Five of Andrew Garfield’s favourite songs
- Don McLean – ‘Vincent’
- Cat Stevens – ‘Father and Son’
- Louis Prima – ‘Just a Gigolo’
- Bugsy Malone – ‘You Give a Little Love’
- Nina Simone – ‘Mississippi Goddam’
