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For official score composed by Garry Schyman, see Sounds from the Lighthouse.

BioShock 2's licensed soundtrack reflects on Rapture's state of advanced decay after the events of BioShock. Many songs originate from an earlier period of musical theater which would become jazz and blues.

The orchestral score is included with purchase of the BioShock 2 Special Edition in the CD compilation "Sounds from the Lighthouse", and the game soundtrack is released digitally for purchase in two forms; Standard Edition with twelve tracks, and Special Edition with six additional tracks some of which do not play in-game.

The game itself contains many more songs that are not included on the official soundtrack.

Background[]

While BioShock focused more on the bright poppy songs of the era and the advocacy of commercialism tightly approved under Andrew Ryan's guidance, audio lead Michael Kamper and creative director Jordan Thomas tried to explore a broader range. Foremost was the usage of religion in Sofia Lamb's policies that she used to manipulate public perception of Ryan. The ongoing Civil War is back-dropped with Kay Kyser's "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" as the lyrics say that "We're all between perdition and the deep blue sea!".

Lamb's followers had become disenfranchised with the lack of regulation, making less than minimum wage and going home hungry. Wanting to believe in hope, they turned to spirituality and the blues, conveniently provided by Lamb.

Other songs were meant to reflect the tragedy of Rapture and the dangers that lurk behind corners which accompany Henry Hall's "Hush, Hush, Hush Here Comes The Bogey-man".

Several songs from the first game return in the multiplayer as emblematic of time closer to Rapture's heyday. But others are also re-featured in the single-player partly due to their popularity and to serve as a counterpoint to their first appearance.

For example, the cheery lyrics of Patti Page's "How Much is that Doggie In The Window?" were first used in Sinclair Spirits in Fort Frolic to contrast with the first appearance of an unmoving row of Plastered Splicers. It reappears in the Journey to the Surface ride in Ryan Amusements, harkening back to the childish nature of the novelty song, but echos among the ruined artificial set pieces.[1]

In addition, developer Karla Zimonja help to source some of the soundtrack from archive.org which inspired the use of another Adrian Rollini song in 2013's Gone Home.[2]

Before BioShock 2's release, a promotional Rapture Radio broadcast was held from February 9, 2010 to April 29 which previewed the in-game soundtrack as well as several others.

The 2016 release of BioShock: The Collection removed the following songs from BioShock 2 and replaced them: "Memories of You", "It's Only a Paper Moon", "Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat".

Standard Edition[]

Song title Artist Year Location(s) in game
"The Boogie Man" Todd Rollins & His Orchestra with Chick Bullock 1934 Loading screen of Dionysus Park
"(How Much is) That Doggie in the Window?" Patti Page 1966[3]
"Twentieth Century Blues" Noël Coward 1959[3]
"Nightmare" Artie Shaw & His New Music 1938
"Daddy Won't You Please Come Home?" Annette Hanshaw 1929
"Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" Kay Kyser & His Orchestra 1943
"Dawn of a New Day" Horace Heidt & His Musical Knights 1939
  • The Puppet Workshop in Journey to the Surface
"Night and Day" Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra 1939
"My Heart Belongs to Daddy" Eddy Duchin & His Orchestra, featuring Mary Martin 1938
  • In the Repair Shop in Outer Persephone.
"Chasing Shadows" Quintette Du Hot Club de France 1935
"Jitterbug Waltz" Fats Waller & His Rhythm 1942
"I Cover the Waterfront" Connie Boswell 1933

†Featured on the Rapture Radio broadcast

Special Edition Only[]

Song title Artist Year Location(s) in game
"Mental Strain at Dawn" Jack Purvis, trumpet solo, with rhythm accompaniment 1929
"Bei Mir Bist du Schon" Benny Goodman & His Orchestra, with vocal by Martha Tilton 1937
"The Trouble with Me is You" Red McKenzie 1935
"The Skeleton in the Closet" Putney Dandridge 1935
"We Saw the Sea" Fred Astaire 1936
"La Mer" Django Reinhardt; Stéphane Grappelli 1949

†Featured on the Rapture Radio broadcast

In Game Only[]

Song title Artist Year Location(s) in game
"Dream" The Pied Pipers 1945[4]
  • Teaser Trailer Sea of Dreams
  • BioShock 2 opening cinematic
"We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)" The Ink Spots 1940[5]
"Sweet Madness" Adrian Rollini & His Orchestra, including Benny Goodman, Bunny Berigan, etc. 1933[6]
  • Loading screen of the Atlantic Express Depot
  • Jukebox in the Lounge of the Triton Cinema
  • Ward A of the Infirmary Wing in Inner Persephone
  • The Protector Trials: Loading screen of Atlantic Express Train Upkeep
  • Minerva's Den: Loading screen of Operations
"I'm Making Believe" The Ink Spots; Ella Fitzgerald 1944[7]
"It's Only a Paper Moon" Ella Fitzgerald 1945[7]
  • Gift Shop in Ryan Amusements
  • The Protector Trials: While gathering in Pauper's Drop Market
  • Minerva's Den: Corporate Offices in the Executive Wing
  • (Remaster only): replaced with "(How Much is) That Doggie in the Window?"
"Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" Bessie Smith 1929[8]
  • Loading screen for Pauper's Drop
  • While gathering in the entrance of the Sinclair Deluxe (sung by Grace Holloway)
  • In Grace Holloway's apartment in the Sinclair Deluxe.
  • The Protector Trials: Loading screen for Pauper's Drop Market
"Pennies from Heaven" Bing Crosby 1936[9]
  • Marketplace apartments of Pauper's Drop
"Paper Doll" The Mills Brothers 1942[10]
  • Room 212 in the Sinclair Deluxe
"Ten Cents a Dance" Ruth Etting 1930[11]
  • Loading screen for Siren Alley
  • Phonograph in the Pink Pearl
  • The Protector Trials: Loading screen for Simon Wales' Church
"Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl" Bessie Smith 1931[8]
"Bei Mir Bist du Schon" The Andrews Sisters 1937
  • Multiplayer: Jukebox in the Player's Apartment
  • Jukebox in the Mermaid Lounge in Siren Alley
  • The Protector Trials: While harvesting in the Atlantic Express Train Upkeep
"Here Comes the Bogeyman" Henry Hall & His Orchestra 1932[12]
"Memories of You" The Ink Spots 1940[5]
  • Atlantic Express train station in Dionysus Park
  • Jukebox in the Lounge of the Triton Theater
  • Multiplayer: The Kashmir Reception at Kashmir Restaurant
  • Multiplayer: In the Bistro in the Farmer's Market
  • (Remaster only): replaced with "I'm Making Believe"
Cohen's Scherzo Gary Schyman 2007
"You Always Hurt the One You Love" The Mills Brothers 1944[10]
  • Loading screen for Fontaine Futuristics
  • Surveillance Office in the Live Test Facility in Fontaine Futuristics
"The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" Cab Calloway 1931[13]
  • Entrance to Lobby of Fontaine Futuristics
  • The Protector Trials: While gathering in The Adonis Baths
  • The Protector Trials: While gathering in Persephone Cell Block F
  • Minerva's Den: In Air-Tite Archives in Minerva's Den
"Daddy's Little Girl" The Mills Brothers 1976[14]
  • Subject Pacification Chamber in Fontaine Futuristics
"Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)" The Faux Frenchmen 2007
  • While the game is loading (PS3 version only)
  • While gathering downstairs in Fontaine Futuristics' lobby
  • Multiplayer: Loading screens
  • Multiplayer: Jukebox in the Player's Apartment
  • Multiplayer: At the Bistro in the Farmer's Market
  • The Protector Trials: While gathering in Simon Wales' Church
  • Minerva's Den: At the entrance of McClendon Robotics in Minerva's Den
"Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat" The Ink Spots 1941
  • The Protector Trials: While gathering in Persephone Cellblock F
  • Minerva's Den: In the Data Processing part of Operations
  • (Remaster only): replaced with "Twentieth Century Blues"
"It's Bad for Me" Rosemary Clooney 1955
  • While gathering in front of King Pawn in Pauper's Drop
  • Multiplayer: Loading screens
  • Multiplayer: Jukebox in the Player's Apartment
  • The Protector Trials: While harvesting in Simon Wales' Church
  • Minerva's Den: At the entrance to Core Access in The Thinker
"It Had to be You" The Faux Frenchmen 2007
  • While gathering in the Atrium next to Triton Cinema
  • Multiplayer: Loading screens
  • Multiplayer: Jukebox in the Player's Apartment
  • The Protector Trials: While harvesting in The Adonis Baths
  • Minerva's Den: Lobby of Minerva's Den after defeating Splicers and restoring power

Additional songs[]

Song title Artist Year Location(s) in game
"Lover Boy" (instrumental) Barker and Lomax (composers) production music Game Trailers Pop-Block BioShock 2 Special (an annotated version of the "Hunting the Big Sister" demo)

Note: This song is licensed by the production music company "Extreme Music". It takes heavy inspiration from Santo and Johnny's 1959 song, "Sleep Walk".

Gallery[]

Behind the Scenes[]

  • It was often rumored that the songs "Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll away)" and "It Had to Be You" as heard in the game were performed by Django Reinhardt, given the song credits. However, while Reinhardt did perform his own renditions of both songs, the songs as heard in the game are not his, and were actually performed by The Faux Frenchmen, who used Django Reinhardt-inspired melodies.

External links[]

References[]

  1. Destructoid interview: The music of BioShock 2
  2. Gone Home developer commentary: Karla - Adrian Rollini (walkthrough @ 25:45)
    This is our old timey record that we got uh, from Archive.org, source of all good things. Um, it's um by Adrian Rollini, um when he was with apparently the Tap Room Gang. Uh, the song is entitled "Got a Need For You" um in case you can't read, but you should be able to read it. And the duck I found on the internet. Um the uh Adrian Rollini was I got into him when I was on BioShock 2 and helping uh source the soundtrack for that. And I did a lot of listening to um 40s uh big band stuff and Adrian Rollini was one of those that I really liked. And it was so cool to um be able to revisit that.
  3. 3.0 3.1 See notes on BioShock Licensed Soundtrack
  4. Dream (1944 song) on Wikipedia
  5. 5.0 5.1 List of hit records by The Ink Spots on Wikipedia
  6. List of songs recorded by Adrian Rollini & His Orchestra on RedHotJazz.com
  7. 7.0 7.1 Discography of Ella Fitzgerald on Wikipedia
  8. 8.0 8.1 List of songs by Bessie Smith on RedHotJaz.com
  9. Discography of Bing Crosby on Wikipedia
  10. 10.0 10.1 Discography of the Mills Brothers on Wikipedia
  11. Ten Cents a Dance on Wikipedia
  12. Biography of Douglas Brownsmith (composer of "Hush, Hush, Hush Here Comes The Bogey-man")
  13. The Works of Cab Calloway at Heptune.com
  14. The game does not use the original 1950 hit recording. It is a re-recorded version from the 1976 album The Mills Bros.: Golden Anniversary which adds an additional electric organ.
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