Awesome Music / The Sims

The Sims 1

• The Sims 1 main theme. If you are in the proper mood, it WILL make you cry. But they're the most glorious of tears.
• All the Build Mode Music. Beautiful, nostalgic and emotional, they perfectly embody the best moments of childhood. The following quote is what Marc Russo said they wished to achieve in composing the songs, and they successfully captured the emotion well:
  Marc Russo: We'd throw around some catchphrases: hope, dream, with a hint of sadness because you're growing up, and you're leaving behind something you really enjoy, and you're also looking ahead to a place where you hopefully will be filled with joy and wonder.
• Compared to the Build music, the Buy mode soundtrack is more upbeat and materialistic, but it does evoke the joy of shopping in a mall or department store as you turn your house into a home.
• Most of the Neighbourhood, Rock, Jazz tracks from the base game, the Disco tracks from House Party, and the neighborhood tracks from all subsequent expansion tracks.
  • If you've played the American version of The Sims without any expansion packs, chances are you'll recognize Neighborhood 1, the first song that plays every time you enter the neighborhood screen for the first time. This jazzy tune lovably conjures up imagery of 1960s and 1970s suburbia.
  • While for players of the European version, this song may be the equivalent. It frequently plays on the neighborhood screen. Songs like this were definitely the icing on the cake for The Sims 1, taking a great game and giving it a lovely soundtrack to boot.

• The last expansion, Makin' Magic, had, probably, one of the best soundtracks in video gaming history; with the expansion's theme being wizardry and witchcraft, the music itself turned away from the pop-, jazz- and rock-inspired themes and instead brought out accordions and classical woodwind instruments, turning into a mix of French bal-musette, Creepy Circus Music and classical chamber music:
  • The menu music is called Carrousel du Diable (The Devil's Merry-Go-Round), and it will immediately signal that mysterious stuff's about to happen. Similarly, energetic Pas vu pas pris also lets you know that something magical's definitely cooking in the kitchen.
  • Examples like La valse a dédé, L'accordeoniste or Sur les quais sound so French that some of them have featured years later as background music in France in part 3's expansion pack World Adventures.
  • And other examples like Hotel des bains, Marilu and, of course, L'autre bal are so hauntingly beautiful, one could feel that they're made of magic itself.

The Sims 2

• All the neighbourhood themes:
  • The original by Mark Mothersbaugh deserves special mention because most of the future S2 expansions' themes AND The Sims 3's main theme are essentially remixes of it. It has basically grown into the Leitmotif of the entire series. Or at least that of Sims 2 & 3. Very crowning music indeed.
  • Seasons. It could qualify as a lullaby with how relaxing it is.
  • Apartment Life. Incredibly upbeat and energetic, since Apartment Life was the last expansion, it was a perfect way to end The Sims 2 on a high note.

• All the real life songs played on the radio are excellently chosen, but many consider this, played on the College Rock channel, to be the best one by far. They actually got the real singers to do their song in Simlish.
• The University trailer song, which was thankfully reused in the College Rock channel, is pure greatness.
• W of P3 - Aff Wubbas Doo. Unfortunately, it was created just for Sims 2 Pets, but it's unlikely you'll ever hear it if you don't also have University.
• "It wouldn't be so bad" stands out amongst OFB's New Wave music channel. There simply isn't any better music for your sims to smustle to. It's a legitimately good song, unfortunately since it was purely made for the game, there's no non-Simlish version. What a shame.
• Any devoted Sims 2 player will remember "Show me the Way". It's the most easily recognized radio song in The Sims 2, as one of the game's early trailers used it, and it's frequently heard during several of the ingame TV shows.
• The Sims 2 somehow had a Crazy Awesome Black Metal Song in the base game on one of their radio stations.
• The console versions of the game have a nice little one: Chameleon, which sounds like a French top pop hit in that game's signature language.

• The in-game pop song Chocolate, first appearing in the Chocolate Factory promo video, is so well-known that it became the theme for the Life Stories spin-off and created two spin-off songs for Pets Stories and Castaway Stories.
• Sims in this entry have a memetic reputation in the community for autonomously setting their radio to the salsa channel. Of course, hard to blame them when it gives them the chance to listen to Who Can Say?, one of the catchiest tracks of the series, and famous with long time players for the unintentional Soundtrack Dissonance when this cheerful song plays in the background as their story's drama heightens.

The Sims 3

Background music

• The entire soundtrack is such a wonderful collection of different tunes that each has a distinct feeling to them.
  • The Build Mode tracks have a contemplative and relaxed sound to them, perfect for getting you in the mood to build your house.
  • The Buy Mode themes are very upbeat and catchy, capturing the feeling of furnishing your newly bought/built house and being just about ready to begin playing.
  • The Map Screen tracks sound introspective and almost mysterious, as if they're getting you ready to begin to go somewhere new and exciting.
  • And the Create A Sim themes have a very animated and optimistic sound to them, sounding very encouraging in that a promising new life awaits your Sim.
• The main theme is one of the first things you hear upon starting the game and it can get one very excited to begin playing.

• Maps and Symbols, one of the map screen's music tracks, is a nice and jaunty little tune that's nice to listen to, especially if you've just started the game up.

• Amazing Facsimile from the intro video is the perfect way to get hyped and maybe even nostalgic whenever you start the game up. It also sometimes plays when you're creating your Sim and it's just such a joy to listen to.
• Fortissimo Personality from "Create a Sim" is an epic tune to listen to! It's incredibly catchy and just puts you in such a good mood. The background vocals also add a lot to the feel of this song.
• Building a Nest for Eggs from Generations is just beautiful.
• Every Create a Sim theme. One standout is Looking For Kitty from the Pets expansion.
• Aisles of Miles of Smiles, a supremely cheerful theme from Build/Buy mode that really encapsulates the feeling of a fun, successful shopping trip.

Radio songs

• The pop songs you can hear on your Sims' radio are all amazing but special mentions go to Da Linnip and Sta Moogie, which are both by Eric Pressley. "Da Linnip" has a slower melody and Eric puts a lot of passion into the nonsensical lyrics. The same goes for "Sta Moogie", which is a lot rockier and groovier.
• From the Seasons expansion pack, we have Elevator by Erin McCarley and Paralyzed by Sisse Marie. "Elevator" has a nice and groovy tune to it while "Paralyzed" has a passionate singer in Sisse as well as a heck of a beat.

The Sims 4

• Vampires CAS & Build Mode 1 could be mistaken for being from an epic RPG.
• Some of the Map View songs have a wonderfully atmospheric feel to them, like this from City Living, this from Cats & Dogs, and this Map View track, from the base game - which manages to evoke the feels and musical styles of all the main titles so far while still having a unique tone in its own right.
• Much like The Sims 3, almost all of the Create A Sim songs are fun to listen to while making families. Some standouts include: these two from Cats & Dogs, this from Dine Out, this from Get to Work and these two from the base game.
• The Build Mode themes are also fun to listen to as you pick out furniture and lay down rooms and floors. Build Mode 4 in particular ties in nicely with the vibrancy of this installment.

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