What SAMURAI's Score by Refused Tells Us About the World of Cyberpunk 2077

“We don’t have a different mode than just going all in, so we’ve really worked on these songs trying to make them as good as possible.
But then, they are not actually our songs.”
– David Sandström, Refused

A couple of days ago CD Projekt Red made fans hold on to the edge of their seats once again, with Night City Wire: Episode 2. Last episode came with the announcement of separate development of Cyberpunk: EDGERUNNERS anime, but CDPR didn’t need to step too far away from the game this time to keep our interest.

This time we got a chance to hear about the game’s music score that, like many other aspects of Cyberpunk 2077, is connected to the game’s setting and its main story.

Sure, CD Projekt Red isn’t about to tell us where in the game we will see the epic footage of Johnny Silverhand playing with their band on stage, but there are still a few things we can expect.

Why? Because Johnny Silverhand Rockerboy is in Cyberpunk‘s very genes.

Johnny Silverhand’s Influence as a Rockerboy in Cyberpunk 2077

Last November we discussed how Keanu Reeves came in to brought Johnny Silverhand to life in our Cyberpunk 2077: How Keanu Reeves Became Johnny Silverhand post. But we also mentioned a little bit more aside from Keanu’s love for an ex-military guy playing protest music in a rock band: we talked about Johnny’s rise to a legendary figure in the Never Fade Away module from the TTRPG Cyberpunk 2020 (as well as his tragic death that could very well be connected to Johnny now being stuck inside the chip of immortality).

Long story short, Johnny is one of the Rockerboys, musical artists whose words shine light on the discriminatory and violent edges of the modern Cyberpunk society. Their screams and loud notes challenge status quo, their presence and fame call fans touched by the art to action.

As Cyberpunk 2020 Core Rulebook tells us, “Rockerboy legends have led armies against Corporations and Governments. Rockerboy songs have exposed corruption, brought down dictators.”

Is that relevant? Well, consider that when The Free State of Southern California was trying to purge Arasaka’s influence from the Night City, the headquarters of this corporation could only hold their place until the so-called “Atlantis Group” (made up of such modern legends as Rogue, Morgan Blackhand, and Johnny Silverhand) supposedly led a tactical assault on the Arasaka Towers, detonating a nuclear weapon to alter the course of Night City’s history forever. (You can read about this in the official The World of Cyberpunk 2077 book that we recently reviewed in this article.)

So, Johnny’s influence as one of the stars of Night City might become quite an epic surprise once we uncover his mysterious history.
Stuck inside the immortality chip, his fate now intertwined with that of V, Johnny’s compelling history could come to shake the society of Night City once again.

Suits run when I come undone
Can’t kill me, I’m zero and one
Add justice to the people’s math
Blaze your way down the rebel path
Hear my call, I’m chippin’ in

– From “Chippin’ In” by Refused

Keanu Reeves’s performance brought forth by Dennis Lyxzén’s vocals in the hardcore punk tone of Refused is likely to make Silverhand an impressive, inspiring musician. The fan community of Cyberpunk 2077 is already demonstrating the impact the game’s score had made with their cheerful support for the officially released music by the band.

We can already enjoy listening to “Chippin’ In”, “Never Fade Away”, and “The Ballad of Buck Ravers”, in addition to “A Like Supreme” just joining the official playlist.

This impact is interesting to consider in light of how Dennis Lyxzén thinks about his role in creating the SAMURAI:
“It’s a very interesting thing to be a part of. As a person that’s not a gamer I don’t think I fully understand the impact that this might have. If people like these songs, and if people are excited then that’s gonna be great.”