Billy Bob Thornton is a fan of country music… and thinks a couple of country classics in particular do a great job of representing Tommy Norris

The second season of Landman premiered back on November 16 – almost exactly a year after the show’s first season (it aired on November 17, 2024). And the show boasting a cast of Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore, Andy Garcia, Sam Elliott, Ali Larter, Jacob Lofland, and Michelle Randolph – among others – once again had massive ratings.

Season 2’s premiere holds the title of the biggest season or series premiere ever for Paramount+. More than 9 million people viewed the first episode of the second season in the first fews days it was available on the streamer. That number was more than triple what the series premiere of Landman did in 2024.

So in other words, Taylor Sheridan has another certifiable hit on his hands.

Much of that is thanks to Billy Bob Thornton’s performance as Tommy Norris – an oilman doing his best to juggle the complications of the Texas oil industry with his rather intricate and sometimes explosive family life. If it feels as though Thornton is the perfect fit for the role, that’s because he is. Taylor Sheridan handpicked him to play the Landman lead, as the show creator does with many of his shows.

Tommy Norris is a complicated character himself. That’s why it’s hard to imagine anyone else but Billy Bob bringing the personality to life on the small screen. And when Thornton sat down with Awards Buzz and was asked about his portrayal of Norris, it brought to mind a couple of classic country music songs.

Specifically, the 70-year-old actor was given this question: if there was a soundtrack to Season 2 of Landman that was based on Tommy’s internal world, what would the top three songs be? Thornton didn’t even have to think about the first two tracks, which belonged to Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard:

“‘Sunday Morning Coming Down’ by Kris Kristofferson, for sure. And then probably ‘If We Make It Through December’ by Merle Haggard. Gosh, the third one… I don’t know. I think just an instrumental so when he’s in the truck, he can just think and have some peace with nobody talking at him.”

All great choices… even the instrumental one.

Listen to either of those two songs (if you haven’t already) and it’s easy to see why Thornton chose those as representations of Tommy Norris’ internal world. And while he was giving his instrumental answer, he accidentally stumbled upon another song that would work well:

“When everybody’s talking at him, there’s a song by Harry Nilsson called ‘Everybody’s Talkin’,’ and it was the song from ‘Midnight Cowboy.’ Maybe (that could be the third one).”

Pretty good list of songs, if you ask me.

Do you want to feel like Tommy Norris in Season 2 of Landman? If you answered “yes,” then feel free to listen through all of these songs and experience the soundtrack that Billy Bob Thornton hand picked to represent the Tommy Norris vibes in the second season of the hit Paramount+ show.

“Sunday Morning Coming Down” by Kris Kristofferson

“If We Make It Through December” by Merle Haggard