I’m not a gamer. I’m a gamer ‘passenger.’My skills on the joystick have waned since the days of getting creamed on the grenade launcher stage of GOLDENEYE. Since then, the gaming world has exploded with surprising artistry and depth. I don’t play anymore… I dare not. There’s already enough humiliation in this world.

So I stay out of the driver’s seat.

But I love to ride shotgun.

Like a proper voyeur… I like to watch.

Case in point: RED DEAD REDEMPTION.

I watched my roommate skin a horse the other day. I saw him gallop across landscapes so incredibly detailed that I could’ve just… watched. There was a throwaway detail in the dirt below – hoofprints. The haze you see in the distance when looking into the sunlight. There’s tumbleweeds. There’s bloody violence. But most of all… it’s in the sumptious details of the landscape that sucked me in.

Apparently, you can spend weeks in this world. And I fell in love after thirty minutes.

Now here’s the interesting thing.

A Swedish folk singer named Jose Gonzalez – someone I’ve never heard of before, but who’s been around for a little while – was commissioned to write a song specifically for RED DEAD REDEMPTION.  Something suitably haunting and atmospheric to ‘ride along’ with this tale of a lonely and desperate gunman making his way across Mexico. It actually plays during the game at one point – so if you’re in the middle of RED DEAD REDEMPTION and want to save this song for when it naturally occurs – consider this a SPOILER.

The song’s called ‘Far Away’ – and it’s beautifully affecting.  I’ve watched the below video about a dozen times now, and the song – accompanied by clips from the game – makes for a truly hypnotic experience.*   It’s elegant yet simple -  lowkey, atmospheric, foreboding, and perfectly suited for a Western. I’d be surprised if this was the last we’d heard of it, and if this was the last Western to make use of it.

Do yourself a favor. Watch this one by candlelight. While it’s raining.

And tell me I’m wrong.

*It’s unfortunate that the music cuts out about fifteen seconds from the end… but the choices of images here went too perfectly with the music to try and find an alternate. I still love it.

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