James Vincent McMorrow on Game of Thrones’ “Wicked Game”

One of the unexpected pleasures of watching the Game of Thrones Season 6 trailer was hearing the song that accompanied the new footage. Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Games” gained fame thanks to David Lynch, who used it in his 1990 film Wild at Heart, and has been covered extensively ever since. Irish singer-songwriter James Vincent McMorrow joins that group with his cover, which appeared in the trailer. The Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy blog talked with him about it shortly after the trailer’s release.

Hilariously, the decision seems to have come and gone in a flash: “…when the request came in to use the song I was literally on the last day of my new record, I was so absorbed in it that the request barely caught my eye,” and he went against his usual method of seeing everything before approving the use of his music: “You say yes and then you watch the trailer with everyone else.” (Which is also what you should say if someone asks if you’re a god, RAY.)

McMorrow’s instinctive “yes” may have something to do with the fact that he’s a fan. Despite being “one of those annoying book-readers,” he enjoys the TV show more than the books and thought that “Wicked Games” was a good fit for the show—a “rare love song that is also incredibly gritty… sentimental but… hard as nails.” Unfortunately, he dodges the question of which character he relates to most in spectacular fashion: “I’m not sure how relatable anyone can ever feel to a bunch of murderous maniacal sex fiends from a fantasy world.”

Anyway, cheers to McMorrow for giving us more trailer soundtrack goodness. McMorrow’s version is a live cut featured as a bonus track on his album Early in the Morning, if you’re collecting trailer music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuH3tJPiP-U