Daniel Radcliffe is back and suggesting songs for fans to listen to
If you’ve ever gotten a fan letter from Daniel Radcliffe, you know that he used to tell fans what songs he was listening to and now, he’s back to suggesting some music for us to try out.
Talking to BBC Radio 4 for Desert Island Discs, Daniel Radcliffe does what he’s done for fans for years: Suggest songs to listen to! Back when the Harry Potter movies were coming out, Radcliffe would put what songs he was listening to in his newsletters and getting to see what he was loving was always a treat.
In the interview, he talked about his career, being sober, and talked about some of his new suggestions for songs and honestly, can’t wait to add them to a playlist! From TV theme songs to a song from Tom Lehrer, the list is a great thing to read just to understand a bit more about Daniel Radcliffe. Music gives us a look into how the others are thinking about things and it helps that Daniel Radcliffe also talked about why he wanted to include each of these songs in his line up!
Track No. 1: “Bring Me Sunshine,” the theme from the TV series The Morecambe & Wise Show
"I think it’s one of the most joyous songs ever recorded. […] [Morecambe & Wise] were a part of what I loved about comedy. A huge amount of my sense of humour is drawn from them. They still make me laugh."
Track No. 2: “We Will All Go Together When We Go” by Tom Lehrer
"My parents had fairly crappy experiences as actors. I actually think that one of the many ways in which I was blessed with my parents was that they knew enough about the industry to be really helpful and guide me through it and also knowing what was expected of you on set but also not jaded by it so that they’d be like, ‘Yeah, we’ve seen it all, done it all.’ […] This is Tom Lehrer […], [whom] my parents have introduced me to. […] There’s a sort of cheerful nihilism [in this song], which again I think very well represents me or my worldview."
Track No. 3: “Where Is My Mind?” by Pixies
"I wasn’t very good at school. I was nice, I wasn’t totally disruptive, but I was just not good academically. Just the act of writing, not thinking of what to write, but the act just took me an unbelievably long time. That was all a struggle. So I think they thought, ‘Oh, maybe he’s a bit thick or something.’"
Track No. 4: “He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s the Pilot” by Grandaddy
"Gary Oldman was always really helpful and encouraging. I remember having a conversation with him very early on when he said, ‘Don’t be scared to use your own stuff and the stuff that’s going on with you because it’ll be projected through a character, and that is all the audience would see.’"
Track No. 5: “Killer Parties” by the Hold Steady
"This is a song that I was listening to on the way back, in my friend’s car, from a truly terrible weekend or a weekend that had ended terribly. I was hungover and coming back to reality, and this song played, and it just hit me at a very specific moment—y’know bands, films, writers—everyone makes drinking look super cool most of the time. The Hold Steady were the first band that I ever heard, sort of talking about the aftermath of drinking."
Track No. 6: “Into My Arms” by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
"I’m sure there are many people who have many different entries into the ‘What is the best love song of all time?’ argument—this would be mine. It has the effect on me that almost nothing can have, which is that it makes me want to be religious."
Track No. 7: Emily by Joanna Newsom
"You can get to a point in the industry where everyone’s just telling you you’re great all the time. […] Erin [Darke, girlfriend], definitely I work on scenes with her, and she can give criticism in a way that it’s constructive but I know she’s not lying."
Track No. 8: “Attaboy” by Stuart Duncan, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile
"I think I could listen to it anywhere and make me both nostalgic for the past and excited for the future."
Daniel Radcliffe should start a podcast where he just suggests songs for everyone to listen to every week. It’d be great, I’d listen to it religiously, and we’d all end up with new songs to listen to time and time again!
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