A collection of John Cusack’s favourite songs
In many of his films, John Cusack has expressed his love for music, with several of the actor’s favourite songs making their way into chosen soundtracks. In a feature with KCRW, Cusack named several of his favourite tracks, including The Clash’s ‘Safe European Home’.
Discussing his love for the band, Cusack said: “When you heard the Clash, and you heard them interviewed, [you] realised that it wasn’t just, you know, as a white, suburban punk, or wannabe, myself at the time. You realized it wasn’t just enough to rebel, but you had to use that anger, that rebellion, as fuel to a higher world.”
When looking for some suitable music for his film War, Inc., Cusack referred to an old favourite in Ray Davies and his track ‘The Tourist’. Discussing the “edge” the song has, Cusack said: “And so, we’re looking for something that had that right kind of savage edge, and somehow Ray Davies just keeps working for me whenever I try to make a film.”
That same “edge” that ‘The Tourist’ has is also found in another Cusack favourite: ‘Blood of the Lamb’, a collaborative effort by Wilco and Billy Bragg. Cusack said of the track: “It’s kind of like apocalyptic carnival music. I don’t know how it manages to be heartfelt and spiritual and completely whacked and savage irony at the same time. So it has that sort of paradox in it where it contains all that, and you can sort of ride that edge.”
Next, Cusack selects something a bit different, some classical music, this time by Strauss. He said of ‘Blue Danube’: “[It’s] a beautiful song, and we put this in [a] movie at a time to sort of juxtapose the comic absurdity of a character’s violent past with the absurd kind of ballet of a choreographed fight. So I guess it was in a strange way a homage to Kubrick.“
Cusack rounds off his selections with a bit of The King of Rock and Roll. Discussing Elvis Presley’s magnificent ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’, he said,:”It also goes into ‘Glory Glory Hallelujah’ and ‘Dixieland’. I guess the official title is ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’, but it’s kind of all songs rolled into one, and it’s an epic, epic song – must be like a 100-piece orchestra, and so it’s the biggest craziest and most absurd glorious, you know, 2001: A Space Odyssey Elvis moment, battle hymn. I love this song.”
Listen to the playlist of John Cusack’s favourite songs below.
John Cusack’s favourite songs:
- ‘Safe European Home’ – The Clash
- ‘The Tourist’ – Ray Davies
- ‘Blood of the Lamb’ Wilco & Billy Bragg
- ‘Blue Danube’ – Strauss
- ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’ – Elvis Presley
