Cillian Murphy shares a curated playlist of songs that capture the essence of Peaky Blinders, timed with the release of the new film Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. The Oscar-winning actor reprises his iconic role as Thomas “Tommy” Shelby, the Birmingham gangster who emerges from exile to battle his inner demons and aid his son, played by Barry Keoghan. The film also features Tim Roth and Rebecca Ferguson and arrives on Netflix on March 20 after a limited theatrical run.
The Essential Peaky Blinders Playlist
In a video posted to the official Peaky Blinders Instagram account, Murphy selects seven tracks tied to key themes and characters from the series.
‘War Pigs’ by Black Sabbath
Murphy kicks off with the Black Sabbath anthem, hailing it as “a song from Birmingham” and “a phenomenal, blistering piece of music.” He draws parallels between Tommy Shelby and Ozzy Osbourne, calling both “kind of rebels.”
‘You Want It Darker’ by Leonard Cohen
For a standout series track, Murphy chooses Leonard Cohen’s ‘You Want It Darker,’ which he says “feels like it’s the essence of Peaky Blinders and Tommy Shelby kind of distilled into a track.” He praises its dark, brilliant quality.
‘The Eraser’ by Thom Yorke
To get into character, Murphy picks Thom Yorke’s ‘The Eraser,’ which inspired him during filming. “It’s the atmosphere of the song, but there’s a lyric in it which is, ‘The more you try to erase me, the more that I appear.’ That felt to me very much like Tommy Shelby, like you can’t get rid of him,” he explains.
‘Mandika’ by Sinéad O’Connor
Dedicating a track to Polly Gray, Shelby’s fierce sister portrayed by the late Helen McCrory, Murphy selects Sinéad O’Connor’s ‘Mandika.’ “(O’Connor) was such a punk and a rebel, and she spoke truth to power… it’s such a classic and it’s so energetic and I feel like Polly Gray had that same ferocity and fearlessness as a woman that Sinéad O’Connor embodied,” he states.
‘Lazarus’ by David Bowie
David Bowie’s music permeates the show, as the late icon championed it early on. Murphy favors ‘Lazarus’ from Blackstar. “David Bowie was a very early advocate of the TV show. He loved it from the start when many people didn’t… I worked with him briefly in the year before he died and we’d spoken about it. He told me how much he loved it. I sent him the cap I wear in series one with the razor blade in it and everything, and he sent me back a picture of him wearing it, which I treasure,” Murphy recalls.
‘In The Bleak Midwinter’ by Christina Rossetti
Set amid World War II and exploring Tommy’s World War I trauma, Murphy chooses Christina Rossetti’s ‘In The Bleak Midwinter.’ This musical adaptation of the poem recited at Peaky Blinders funerals strikes him as “so bleak and dark and massive. It’s just beautiful.”
‘All The Tired Horses’ by Lisa O’Neill (Bob Dylan cover)
For a rebel anthem, Murphy opts for Lisa O’Neill’s cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘All The Tired Horses.’ “(Creator) Steven Knight specifically requested that the series end with that Bob Dylan tune… We couldn’t get the Dylan version, but that was actually a blessing because we got Lisa O’Neill to do a version of it. It’s one of the most remarkable cover versions I think you’ll ever hear,” he reveals.
Behind the Music of Peaky Blinders
Murphy explains song selection for the series: “You just know when a song is ‘Peaky.’ The artists are outsiders. They have resisted the tyranny of the mainstream, shall we say?”
Composers Martin Slattery and Antony Gennell highlight the film’s soundtrack, an indie lineup featuring Grian Chatten—described as an “edgy fucker”—alongside Lankum, Girl In The Year Above, Nick Cave, Amy Taylor, and others. “It’s got a lot of guts and the feeling of the human hand,” Genn says, “brought to you by a lot of brilliant human hearts, minds and souls.”
