Seven Samurai (1954) - Episode Playlist

Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai isn't just a film—it's an epic meditation on honor, sacrifice, and the unbridgeable gulf between warriors and those they protect. This playlist captures the film's sweep and soul, from the pounding taiko drums of feudal Japan to the universal anthems of struggle and justice that echo across centuries.

We open in the village with traditional Japanese music—Tsugaru shamisen and court ceremonial pieces—before gathering our heroes with David Bowie's "Heroes" and Charles Mingus's jazz fury. As the samurai train the farmers and prepare for battle, the playlist moves through themes of warrior spirit, social injustice, and hard-won hope. Nina Simone's "Mississippi Goddam" and Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" aren't just protest songs—they're the farmers' cry, the samurai's resolve, the eternal fight against oppression.

The battle sequences demand Ennio Morricone's "The Ecstasy of Gold" and Metallica's "One"—operatic violence and the high cost of victory. We acknowledge the film's DNA in Western cinema with Elmer Bernstein's Magnificent Seven theme, then sink into brotherhood and loss with Dire Straits and Muse.

By the end, only three samurai remain. Kambei stands at the graves and delivers the film's devastating truth: "The victory belongs to the peasants. Not to us." Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Bibo No Aozora" and Brian Eno's "An Ending (Ascent)" close the playlist in transcendent melancholy—beauty, duty, and the knowledge that warriors are never the real winners.

This is music for rain, mud, sacrifice, and the bittersweet ache of doing what's right even when it costs everything.

Runtime: ~90 minutes

Opening - The Village & Japan

"Tsugaru Jongara-Bushi" - Hiromitsu Agatsuma

"Konju no Ha" - Music Department of the Imperial Household, Toshio Tsuji

The Call - Gathering Heroes

"Heroes - 2017 Remaster" - David Bowie

"Better Git It in Your Soul" - Charles Mingus

"De Ushuaia a La Quiaca" - Gustavo Santaolalla

The Warrior's Spirit

"O-daiko" - 鼓童 (Kodo)

"You And Whose Army?" - Radiohead

"Theme (From "The Magnificent Seven")" - Elmer Bernstein

Struggle & Injustice

"Mississippi Goddam" - Nina Simone

"Wade In The Water (Songbird)" - Eva Cassidy

"Way Down In The Hole" - Tom Waits

Hope & Transformation

"A Change Is Gonna Come" - Sam Cooke

"The Lark Ascending" - Ralph Vaughan Williams, Iona Brown, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner

Battle - Conflict & Sacrifice

"The Ecstasy Of Gold" - Ennio Morricone

"The Shrine / An Argument" - Fleet Foxes

"One" - Metallica

Brotherhood & Loss

"Brothers in Arms" - Dire Straits

"Soldier's Poem" - Muse

Closing - Transcendence & Memory

"Bibo No Aozora - Version for Piano Trio" - Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jaques Morelenbaum, Everton Nelson

"An Ending (Ascent)" - Brian Eno