Last week, the 2014 Emmy Awards honored many of the TV shows we’ve been watching (and maybe obsessing over) for the past year or more. But I noticed that the award categories don’t really touch on a vital element that helps to make these shows so compelling: the music. The right song choices can set the mood or add to the atmosphere of a whole series, or give an already powerful scene that extra intensity that makes you want to cry or shout or pump your fist in the air. TV is also a great way to discover new music; I often find myself using Shazam to ID a song during the show and later end up listening to the artist’s entire discography.
Here’s a few Emmy-winners that had me Shazaming song after song with every episode, and some of the fantastic music that I discovered. You can also find full lists of the songs featured in each episode of these shows on TuneFind.com
*minor spoilers ahead*
Breaking Bad
With five consistently mind-blowing seasons that earned it 58 Emmy nominations and 16 wins in various categories, Breaking Bad has proved to be arguably one of the best TV series of our time – and I think the song choices were a major factor in making some of its scenes so memorable. Much of the music in Breaking Bad is upbeat, which might seem odd considering the dark nature of the show’s main plot (a man with a terminal illness turning to selling meth in order to keep his family financially afloat). And, well, it is odd, but somehow it works. When it comes down to it, Breaking Bad is pretty serious, but part of its charm is that it usually doesn’t take itself too seriously. In season one you get a scene of Jesse cooking meth to the bouncy beat of “Uh” by Fujiya & Miyagi, as well as a scene of Walt setting fire to a car and nonchalantly walking away to the funky melody of “Didn’t I” by Darondo. One of my favorite tracks from the show, “Truth” by Alexander, is a feel-good tune that played during shots of police at a crime scene at the beginning of the fourth season and quickly became one of my favorite songs to listen to after acing a math quiz. On a more somber note, “Goodbye” by Apparat, which featured in a heavy scene also in season 4, is probably one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard and got me listening to more of Apparat’s haunting electronic music.
True Detective
Despite being only eight episodes long, True Detective’s first season starring Matthew McConaughey as Rust Cohle and Woody Harrelson as Martin Hart reeled in 12 nominations and 5 wins at its first Emmy Awards. It’s easy to see why; the show, which follows two detectives in their seventeen-year search for a Louisiana serial killer, is meticulously and superbly filmed, brilliantly acted, and dripping with swampy southern gothic atmosphere. The soundtrack was a crucial part of completing that atmosphere, featuring soulful gospel songs like “You Better Run” by C.J. Johnson and “Stand By Me” by The Staple Singers, and it introduced me to the musical world of ring shouting with “Sign of the Judgment” by The McIntosh County Shouters. Along with its wide repertoire of folk, gospel, and southern rock classics, True Detective includes many songs from modern bands and artists like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, School of Seven Bells, Wu-Tang Clan, and Vashti Bunyan. Also, the show’s theme song – “Far From Any Road” by The Handsome Family – is so good that I actually just sat and watched the whole title sequence every single episode. You’ve got to have a pretty good theme song to make me do that.
Orange Is the New Black
Speaking of shows with great theme songs, Netflix’s groundbreaking original series Orange Is the New Black definitely fits the bill. I was so excited when I first began watching this series and recognized Regina Spektor’s unique voice singing “You’ve Got Time” over the title sequence; Regina is one of my all-time favorite singers, and if you haven’t checked out everything she’s ever created since 2004, I highly recommend you get started right away. Aside from its stellar theme, this relatively new show – which has already been nominated for 12 Emmys and won three – seems to have a knack for playing just the right song during just the right moment. In the scene where Piper walks toward her new bunk in the more hardened part of prison, I can’t think of any song that would fit the situation better than “Gangsta” by tUnE-yArDs. The repeated use of an instrumental version of “Chicken” by Nancy Cassidy in the episode “The Chickening” and then hearing the full song play over the end credits is both ludicrous and hilarious. I became a fan of the band Leagues after their song “Walking Backwards” played during Piper’s release from SHU and steamy scene with Alex. And who can forget those final minutes of season 2 set to “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult? I’d say it was an iconic moment in television, and the song made it something truly memorable.