Sarah Paulson names her favourite songs of all time
Sarah Paulson rose to fame in the 1990s. After landing roles in Law & Order and American Gothic, she starred in some of the most popular shows of the 2000s and 2010s, including Strip, Game Change and American Horror Story. In 2015, she starred as Abby Gerhard in Todd Haynes’ Carol and won several awards for her performance in The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story the following year. Here, the six-time Oscar nominee discusses her favourite songs of all time.
First up, Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 Rumours cut ‘Never Going Back Again’, a track written by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. During her appearance on SirusXM’s My Favourite Song, Paulson explained how grateful she was to American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy for inviting Stevie Nicks to guest-star as a witch version of herself in the show’s fourth season. “I got to meet her, and then at Madison Square Garden at this concert she said my name on stage. She was like, ‘We have the Supreme here’. My phone blew up. It’s so surreal.”
When asked to name her favourite rock and roll track, Paulson chose Led Zeppelin’s ‘What Is & What Should Never Be’ from their 1969 Led Zeppelin II album. A song of firsts, this dynamic offering was one of the earliest songs Robert Plant recorded with the band. It also features the first appearance of John Bonham’s notorious Chinese gong, which he added to his drum kit for live performances.
Paulson also selected Prince’s ‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’ from his 1979 self-titled album. It’s undoubtedly one of the more sensual songs on her list, though perhaps not as filthy as 1980’s ‘Head’ or 1984’s ‘Darling Nikki’, in which the singer recalls an encounter with a woman in a hotel lobby who he finds “masturbating with a magazine”.
Regarding her favourite song to dance to, Paulson didn’t hesitate to name Robyn’s ‘Dancing On My Own’, the ultimate balm for anyone who’s ever been spurned on a night out. Speaking to Pop Justice, Robyn explained: “I think ‘Dancing On My Own’ is totally from me just being in clubs and going out and dancing a lot, and seeing people and thinking, ‘what are they doing here?’ All these people with their hopes and their dreams about their big nights out, ‘look at me I’m dressed up and dancing.’ There are so many hopes that people have when they go out.”
However, when the time comes to name her favourite song of all time, Paulson is quick to select ‘Into The Mystic’ by Van Morrison. You can see a complete list of Paulson’s favourite songs below.
Sarah Paulson’s favourite songs:
- ‘What Is & What Should Never Be’ – Led Zepplin
- ‘Polaroids’ – Shawn Colvin
- ‘Heavenly Day’ – Patty Griffin
- ‘Walking in Memphis’ – Marc Cohn
- ‘Against All Odds’ – Phil Collins
- ‘Never Going Back Again’- Fleetwood Mac
- ‘Leather and Lace’ – Stevie Nicks and Don Henley
- ‘Sweet Thing’ – Mary J. Blige
- ‘Dancing on My Own’ – Robyn
- ‘Being Alive’ – Patti LuPone
- ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’ – Thelma Houston
- ‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’ – Prince
- ‘Up Where We Belong’ from An Officer and a Gentleman – Jennifer Warnes and Joe Cocker
- ‘Human Nature’ – Michael Jackson
- ‘Tell Me Why’ – Wynonna Judd
- ‘Into The Mystic’ – Van Morrison
