Great choices for TV soundtrack moments

Cafe Society
1

What songs worked, perfectly (or at least well) played in TV episodes?

Two come to mind for me:

Goodbye to You, Michelle Branch, played at the end of Buffy’s Season 6 “Tabula Rasa.” The lyrics fit the events of the show perfectly, as Tara leaves Willow and Giles leaves Buffy, both struggling with their decisions as they do.

Any Other World, MIKA, was the song played at the end of The Good Wife’s Season 2 finale “Closing Arguments,” as Will and Alicia finally consummate their flirtation. The lyrics say goodbye to the world as you knew it are a perfect coda to the change in landscape that this episode starts.

What others?

2

Mancini. Whatever he did worked. Things like Peter Gunn and Mr. Lucky were exceptional. If he fucked up, I don’t remember where or how.

Others with almost as good a record for shows that worked because of the music: Lalo Schifrin, Nelson Riddle, Mike Post.

3

‘Goodbye’, by Apparat was used to great effect in the last episode of season 4 of Breaking Bad when Gus goes to see Hector for the last time.

I’m not a big fan of the show but I have to admit that in The Following, If I Had a Heart by Fever Ray worked really well in the scene in episode 6 when Joe Carroll finally met his cult.

Keaton Henson’s To Your Health worked really well in the UK Zombie horror/drama ‘In The Flesh’.

FYI - Here are some YouTube links the songs in question:

1). Goodbye, by Apparat
2). If I Had A Heart, by Fever Ray
3). To Your Health, by Keaton Henson (slightly NSFW lyrics).

4

The finale of Six Feet Under with “Breathe Me” by Sia.

5

The use of “Crystal Blue Persuasion” during a montage of scenes in the Breaking Bad episode “Gliding Over All” was so perfectly done.

6

I thought the Seven Souls montage, from the opening of The Sopranos final season, was very effective.

7

Venture Brothers season 4 finale: Pulp “Like A Friend”

Breaking Bad series finale: Badfinger “Baby Blue”.

8

I may have misread the OP in that I wasn’t focusing on specific moments or episodes when I passed judgment on entire shows and their composers.

But this one from The Sopranos was a standout for me: R L Burnside - Its Bad You Know

It’s hard to beat this intro to the series episodes: House of Cards (2013) Intro Credits Theme Extended - Jeff Beal

There were several episodes of House where the music worked so well that I had to find the music on YouTube and add it to my Favorites. Two I can remember well were:

Zero 7 - In The Waiting Line

Fiona Apple - Why Try To Change Me Now

You can hear the actual dialog in the background from the Sons of Anarchy episode where Fortunate Son instrumental was so effectively used. There were others as well. I’d give the entire show a B+ on that aspect.

And I surely sat up and took notice of Fleetwood Mac “Tusk” - The Americans s01e01. It pretty well hooked me on the whole show! I still watch it as a fan.

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One show whose music was so inappropriate and loud that I quit even watching was Grey’s Anatomy. There’s an art to matching music to action and that show got it wrong every time.

9

The Sopranos had many great ones but the “Every Breath You Take/Peter Gunn Theme” mashup at the beginning of Mr. Ruggerio’s Neighborhood was genius. And as a bonus, it starts with Tony doing his cover of “Dirty Work” by Steely Dan.

Three from The West Wing
• “Angel” by Massive Attack playing over Zoey’s kidnapping during the Commencement episode
• “Brothers In Arms” by Dire Straits from the episode Two Cathedrals
• “The Little Drummer Boy” during the funeral montage from In Excelsis Deo

And of course Europe’s “The Final Countdown” on Arrested Development. Come on!

10

The re-use of the TOS Battlestar Galactica theme as the reimagined Battlestar Colonial Anthem.

11

The show Scrubs often used music perfectly. One of the best was (before the song became a crutch) “How to Save a Life” in the episode My Lunch.