Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag soundtrack

The Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag soundtrack is a collection of music tracks written by American composer Brian Tyler that were used as background music in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. It was released digitally on 14 October 2013. Two additional albums featuring the game's sea shanties and a "complete" compilation adding the multiplayer music were released later.

On 26 June 20226, as promotions for the then-upcoming release of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced, the sea shanties albums were merged and re-released again as the Sea Shanties Ultimate Collection. It notably included the previously unreleased song "The Parting Glass" from Black Flag's ending sequence sung Anne Bonny's voice actor Sarah Greene, as well as over a dozen new tracks consisting of 10 shanties, 3 tavern songs, and 2 returning cues from the 2014 video game Assassin's Creed: Rogue.

Track listing

1. Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag Main Theme - 2:13
2. Pyrates Beware - 3:16
3. On the Horizon - 3:01
4. The High Seas - 2:44
5. The Fortune of Edward Kenway - 1:57
6. In This World or the One Below - 2:49
7. Under the Black Flag - 3:21
8. The Ends of the Earth - 2:53
9. Stealing a Brig - 1:52
10. Fare Thee Well - 5:14
11. The Buccaneers - 4:05
12. Marked for Death - 3:21
13. Last Goodbyes - 2:24
14. Take What Is Ours! - 3:15
15. I'll Be with You - 6:04
16. Lay Aboard Lads - 2:24
17. A Pirate's Life - 2:02
18. Men of War - 2:57
19. Order of the Assassin - 3:10
20. In the Midst - 3:05
21. The British Empire - 3:08
22. Batten Down the Hatches - 1:37
23. Modernity - 2:14
24. A Merry Life and a Short One - 1:16
25. Queen Anne's Revenge - 4:42
26. Confrontation - 3:15
27. Prizes Plunder and Adventure - 2:12
28. Meet the Sage - 3:36
29. Into the Jungle - 1:46
30. The Spanish Empire - 3:57
31. The Islands of the West Indies - 3:06
32. Ships of Legend - 2:02
33. Secrets of the Maya - 3:24
34. Life at Sea - 3:10

Sea Shanty Vol 1

1. Randy Dandy Oh - 1:35
2. Maid of Amsterdam - 1:41
3. Leave Her Johnny - 2:12
4. Whisky Johnny O' - 1:21
5. Good Morning Ladies - 1:39
6. Fish in the Sea - 1:29
7. Dead Horse - 1:07
8. Running Down to Cuba - 1:29
9. Trooper and the Maid - 1:57
10. William Taylor - 2:16
11. Patrick Spens - 1:52
12. Fathom the Bowl - 2:13
13. Admiral Benbow - 1:53
14. All For Me Grog - 2:06
15. Bulería - 2:06
16. Verdiales - 1:26

Sea Shanty Vol 2

1. Drunken Sailor - 1:30
2. Lowlands Away - 2:58
3. Padstow Farewell - 2:19
4. Goodbye, Fare-ye-well - 2:36
5. Roll, Boys, Roll! - 1:55
6. So Early in the Morning - 1:28
7. Where am I to Go, M'Johnnies - 1:24
8. 'Way Me Susianah - 1:18
9. Billy Riley - 1:15
10. Captain Kidd - 1:25
11. The Golden Vanity - 1:52
12. Blow Away the Morning Dew - 1:43
13. Here's a Health to the Company - 2:35
14. Down Among the Dead Men - 2:12
15. Over the Hills and Far Away - 2:04
16. Spanish Ladies - 2:45
17. Star of the County Down - 1:56
18. We Be Three Poor Mariners - 1:48
19. Captain Ward - 1:27
20. The Nightingale - 2:49
21. Maggie Lauder - 1:41
22. Fandango 01 - 1:27
23. Fandango 02 - 1:20
24. Jaberas - 1:54
25. Tientos - 2:35

Complete Edition

Although this album was marketed as a "complete" soundtrack, the first 2 discs in this 3-disc set were actually the main soundtrack and volume 1 of the Sea Shanty Edition, respectively. The final disc was 8 previously-unreleased tracks that featured in the Black Flag multiplayer missions, all written by English music duo The Flight, consisting of Joe Henson and Alexis Smith.

1. Saba Island - 3:37
2. Santa Lucia - 3:10
3. Tampa Bay - 3:19
4. Prison - 3:00
5. La Havana - 3:18
6. Portobelo - 3:45
7. Saint Pierre - 3:23
8. Palenque - 3:08

Sea Shanties Ultimate Collection

1. Leave Her Johnny (Woodkid Resynced) - 3:25
2. The Parting Glass - 2:21
3. A Long Time Ago - 2:47
4. The Wellerman - 2:39
5. Song of Singapura (Light Upon the River) - 2:11
6. Blow the Man Down - 2:00
7. Reuben Renzo - 1:48
8. Stede Bonnet - 1:29
9. Burn' Blackbeard's Beard - 1:28
10. At Home Across the Sea - 1:41
11. Here's a Health to the Company (Anne Bonny's Version) - 1:12
12. Paddy Layback - 2:34
13. Don't Forget Your Old Shipmates - 2:13
14. Malagueña - 2:03
15. Polo - 2:24
16. Solea - 2:15
17. Randy Dandy Oh - 1:35
18. Maid of Amsterdam - 1:41
19. Leave Her Johnny - 2:12
20. Whisky Johnny O' - 1:21
21. Good Morning Ladies - 1:39
22. Fish in the Sea - 1:29
23. Dead Horse - 1:07
24. Running Down to Cuba - 1:29
25. Trooper and the Maid - 1:57
26. William Taylor - 2:16
27. Patrick Spens - 1:52
28. Fathom the Bowl - 2:13
29. Admiral Benbow - 1:53
30. All for Me Grog - 2:06
31. Bulería - 2:06
32. Verdiales - 1:26
33. Drunken Sailor - 1:29
34. Lowlands Away - 2:53
35. Padstow Farewell - 2:19
36. Goodbye, Fare-ye-well - 2:36
37. Roll, Boys, Roll! - 1:55
38. So Early in the Morning - 1:28
39. Where Am I to Go, M'Johnnies - 1:24
40. 'Way Me Susianah - 1:18
41. Billy Riley - 1:15
42. Captain Kidd - 1:25
43. The Golden Vanity - 1:52
44. Blow Away the Morning Dew - 1:43
45. Here's a Health to the Company - 2:35
46. Down Among the Dead Men - 2:12
47. Over the Hills and Far Away - 2:04
48. Spanish Ladies - 2:45
49. Star of the County Down - 1:56
50. We Be Three Poor Mariners - 1:48
51. Captain Ward - 1:27
52. The Nightingale - 2:49
53. Maggie Lauder - 1:41
54. Fandango 01 - 1:27
55. Fandango 02 - 1:20
56. Jaberas - 1:54
57. Tientos - 2:35

Behind the scenes

Contrary to its name, the Complete Edition album excluded 17 shanties and Sarah Greene's rendition of "The Parting Glass"; the latter was added in the Ultimate Collection released 12 years later. According to Lead Writer Darby McDevitt, he loved the song ever since his days at University College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland, and upon realizing that its lyrics were strongly reflected in Edward Kenway's emotional journey, especially after hearing Cara Dillon's rendition at the 2009 Shetland Folk Festival, he was inspired to incorporate it into the game. Despite it being early in Black Flag's development, he wrote a quick draft of the end scene and was firm about the song's inclusion. Soon after, development staff decided Anne Bonny would survive the game and felt it would be appropriate if she sang the song, reasoning that she likely would know it by heart as an Irishwoman. Coincidentally, when Greene stepped into the sound booth to record her lines, Darby noted that she also had memorized the song herself and did not need to practice or read the printed lyrics.

The inclusion of "Star of the County Down" in Sea Shanty Edition Vol. 2 is anachronistic to Black Flag's setting in the Golden Age of Piracy. The melody as it is known today comes from the traditional English song "Dives and Lazarus", a common tune in 19th-century Worcestershire possibly derived from an unknown 15th-century song, while the lyrics were likely written by Cathal MacGarvey from County Donegal, Scotland in the 20th century.

The tavern song version of "Spanish Ladies" in Sea Shanty Edition Vol. 2 does not actually play in-game as it is not present in the game's files. Similarly, the full version of "Admiral Benbow" in Sea Shanty Edition Vol. 1 also does not play in-game, though its instrumental version does. In contrast, the in-game version of "Patrick Spens" features an additional verse which was omitted from Sea Shanty Edition Vol. 1.

Despite many new songs being added in the Sea Shanties Ultimate Collection, it still did not include the following tavern songs in its track list:

• As I Was Going to Banbury
• Barbara Allen
• Blow the Candles Out
• Henri Martin (instrumental)
• The Bay of Biscay-O (instrumental)
• The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood
• The Three Ravens
• Young Edwin in the Lowlands Low