Butcher Pete and His Insatiable Appetite For “Meat”

Last month, Bethesda released a preorder bonus for Fallout 3: a five-song “featured” soundtrack. Three songs were licensed tracks from the 1940s and 1950s, and the other two were original compositions by Inon Zur. For the first time ever, I was taken in more by the licensed tracks than the original work.

Hit the jump for more details about the music and a video featuring the tracks.

The big difference between most licensed soundtracks and Fallout 3‘s licensed selections is this: while most licensed soundtracks intend to promote new artists and cater to an audience that desires to hear radio-friendly pop music, Fallout 3 uses music from an era before that of your average gamer. The result is that Fallout 3‘s soundtrack serves not only to set the mood for this strange post-apocalyptic title, it also provides some cultural and historical education.

For example, did you know that even in the late 1940s, musicians were happy to sing about mass murderers with some sexual overtones? At the very least, singer Roy Brown was. Check out these lyrics:

Butcher Pete’s got a long sharp knife
He starts choppin’ and don’t know when to stop
All you fellas better watch your wives
‘Cause Pete don’t care whose meat he chops

Yeah…the only thing that could frighten (and excite) me more is if they include a character in Fallout 3 who actually resembles ol’ Butcher Pete. Heck, they may as well name the NPC “Pete” or “Butcher Pete” to clue us in.

We can only hope we’ll find more excellent tunes from those bygone days on Fallout 3. What oldies would you like to see in Fallout 3, and why would they fit? Also, what are your thoughts on “Butcher Pete,” particularly its lyrical content?