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Goodfellas is Martin Scorsese's 1990 crime film based on the real life of Henry Hill, and this narration comes from its famous opening, where Hill recalls wanting to join the mob as a boy. The line has lived on far beyond the film because it sums up the movie's seductive view of gangster life in a single sentence. Editors reuse it for mafia edits, character introductions and ironic everyday moments, where a mundane decision is framed as the start of a criminal career.
About this sound
The opening narration from Goodfellas where Henry Hill explains that he always wanted to be a gangster, used for mafia edits and dramatic reveals.
This short clip captures the calm, confident voiceover that opens Goodfellas, with Henry Hill looking back on his childhood and saying he always wanted to be a gangster. The delivery is matter-of-fact rather than loud, which makes the line feel both nostalgic and menacing, as if a life of crime was simply the obvious ambition. Heard on its own, it instantly sets a mafia mood, turning an ordinary introduction into a declaration of intent and giving any edit a cool, cinematic swagger.
