Victoria: Last weekend, I was cooking and listening to Spotify radio. A song I had not heard in a long time came on: “I Don’t Feel Like Dancing” by Scissor Sisters. Immediately, I was transported back to the summer of 2008, when I binge-watched Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice.
In the very first episode of Private Practice (a spin-off of Grey’s Anatomy about absolute legend Addison Montgomery who moves to LA to start a new life) Addison starts her day by listening to this song and getting dressed. To me, it is iconic. It was the first time I ever remember hearing this song, and it was presented in such a beautiful moment of single woman joy. Not to turn this into another issue about single women in Hollywood, but to me at 16, this moment was about the risks and joys and liberation of adult life. The song is an intrinsic part of that.
So I wanted to do an issue about the songs we fell in love with because they were in TV shows and movies. The ones that make you think of that MOMENT when the character’s life and your life intersected via music.
Hayley: When you first suggested this topic, I immediately thought of two specific moments:
The first one is in the Pilot of Gossip Girl, when they play "Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn and John. I cannot think of ANYTHING ELSE when this song comes on now other than Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) resting her head on the window of a train, coming back to the Upper East Side. Part of the beauty of Gossip Girl was its use of new and indie music like four times per episode. I actually remember downloading the Gossip Girl soundtrack on my iPod back in like 2008.
The second one is in Bridesmaids, and it's the song "Paper Bag" by Fiona Apple. It plays during the scene where Annie (Kristen Wiig) makes a single cupcake. At that point in time my only knowledge of Fiona Apple was her big 1996 single “Criminal” (famously the song that J. Lo strips to in Hustlers) but “Paper Bag” quickly became a favorite of mine to belt along to in the car. I am always transported back to Annie's kitchen when the opening bars of this song begin.
I think that when a song is really used perfectly for the tone of any particular scene, it hits and sticks. And I don't even think it needs to be the first time you hear it (or are consciously aware of hearing it) for this to be the case.
Something that annoys me is when people critique the use of music to heighten or manipulate the emotional beat of the scene. This conversation has happened multiple times on Twitter around the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. It's the idea that the scene isn't strong enough from a writing or acting or plot development standpoint that you otherwise wouldn't have an emotional reaction if there was no music under what's happening. To which I say 1) duh and 2) I don't care? Like what is the argument here? That a scene can only be "good" if it evokes emotion without music? Songs and scores are just as important of a storytelling device as these other pieces. Awards logic is flawed, but why do you think we have Oscars for Best Original Score and Song?
Victoria: Literally every movie ever made uses music to emotionally manipulate us??? Wait until they find out that movies use image to emotionally manipulate us! I am baffled by their argument.
I was also going to mention Gossip Girl! I feel like during that era CW basically treated their TV shows like music videos, which was great. They used to tell you what all the songs were at the end so you could go buy them on iTunes. If I was a musician and my song was featured on a CW show, I would have been so happy! I believe many people have a similar aural connection to The OC, which I have never watched. Grey's Anatomy also ushered so many songs into my life.
Pre-Bridesmaids I don't think I had ever heard Wilson Phillips' "Hold On," but Bridesmaids turned that song into such a celebration of friendship and joy and freedom! When that song comes on now, I have to sing and dance — for myself and for Annie and Lillian and for all my friends!! I will stop talking about Bridesmaids because we will be doing a big issue about it for the film's 10th anniversary next month! I cannot believe how many exclamation points I am using today but it feels worth it!!
I don't want to get into discourse about Girls, but the music supervisor of that show really knew what they were doing. Two songs stick out the most. The first is Robyn's "Dancing On My Own," which Hannah and Marnie dance to in — you guessed it! — another moment of catharsis about the joys and terrors of being alive. The second is "I Love It" by Icona Pop and Charli XCX, which Hannah dances to when she tries cocaine. The show actually made that song a hit. I remember, in the winter of 2012, being drunk and dancing in my friend's living room and saying to her, "Play that song from Girls! Not the one, the other one!" and via some drunk girl magic she knew I meant "I Love It." That’s powerful.
One of the things that I think differentiates TV shows from movies is that TV shows are much less likely to get an original song, so they have to make due with the catalogue of songs already recorded that aren't too expensive for their weekly budget (though Mindy Project fans will remember that Mindy spent her own money to get Beyoncé's "XO" in the show). This means TV music supervisors constantly have to unearth classics that are a little forgotten or new songs that haven't broken through yet.
Another moment I cherish is near the end of season one of Friday Night Lights. "Read My Mind (Like Rebel Diamonds Mix)" by The Killers played during the "Mud Bowl" episode, underscoring the tender hopes and joys of the team in a way that really affected me. That remix became my canonical version of the song, and I still slip it on to playlists today. (Side note: remember what a pain it was in the mid-2000s to google songs you saw on TV shows? The info was only ever on the sketchiest websites.)
The series one finale of My Mad Fat Diary (streaming on Hulu please go watch) did the very hard thing of reframing an absolute classic for me forever. I cannot listen to Oasis' "Champagne Supernova" without thinking about Rae and Finn and the gang and the bubbly joys of first love!
Hayley: Wow I had NO idea that Girls was the reason that "I Love It" became a huge hit! I think your point about TV shows using existing songs that they can get on a budget is key. I always loved hearing new music on Gossip Girl and besides your friends burning you CDs or hearing something on the radio it was a lot harder to access new music in the mid-2000s. (I was afraid of Limewire and Napster). It was very hard to track down songs, like you said, and I remember that sometimes I would hear a song on the radio that I had been trying to pin down for WEEKS and waiting until that lineup was done so you could hear the DJ say the band and the name of the song. Wow I did not start writing this out expecting it to sound so "wHeN i WaS yOuR aGe" but alas that's just how it goes sometimes!
My dad has talked about how much he loved the musical performances on SNL because they were a great way to hear about new bands. Or to hear another song from a band or musician that currently had a hit single. Late night talk and sketch shows giving a platform to a musician or band to play a live set is also a really fascinating way to think about how music has been incorporated into television.
There's a song by The Kills, "Sour Cherry," that I first heard on an episode of Gossip Girl and immediately loved. Then the next year it was used in the movie House Bunny (here's the scene: "Sour Cherry" starts at 2:35) and I was like "It's the song from Gossip Girl!" And THEN in 2011 I went to Lollapalooza and one of the bands playing that year was The Kills, so I saw them perform "Sour Cherry" live. Thank you, Gossip Girl!
Victoria: Wow thank you Gossip Girl!!!!
SNL famously made Adele a hit in America — 19 debuted at number one in the UK, but only shot up here after her SNL performance ten months later. I did have Limewire (sorry, copyright laws) and would download lots of things I heard on TV. It was either that or take the advice of whatever boy I had a crush on then.
Lately I think a lot about how TikTok had changed the way songs become popular. A song trending on TikTok will make it climb the charts, even if people listen to a minute of it, at most. Next thing you know, it's playing on the radio and you're like "Wait, is this a good song, or is it just good for TikTok?" For every "Old Town Road" and "Say So" there's that annoying "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" cover that I absolutely hate.
But! Sometimes all these things intersect. Last winter, Ashe's "Moral of the Story" was in the second To All The Boys I Loved Before film. Then it became a huge TikTok song and both those forces pushed it up the chart, and Niall Horan ended up doing a remix with Ashe.
One of my main post-pandemic goals is to recreate the beginning of You've Got Mail, walking around the Upper East Side and listening to "Dreams."
To quote Liz Lemon: I want to go to there!!!
Here is our special Gold-Plated Girls playlist in honor of this convo!
What Victoria Loves:
I loved this article about Jonah Hill’s response to being fat-shamed by The Daily Mail, and how Jonah has had to fight being boxed in as “the fat guy.” I think as a fat women it’s easy for me to forget men deal with this shit, too.
I made these Swedish cardamom buns for the second ever last weekend, and they are just so good. When you click the link you’re going to think “Victoria these look so hard” but if you read the directions, which have photos, you will see they are very doable.
Lately the only thing I want to listen to is Lucy Dacus’ complete discography.
Things Hayley Recommends:
My former editor at the Cut, Kathleen Hou, wrote this really great piece on the recent rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans. She also spoke out on Instagram about the difficulty she faced getting this story into the print issue of New York Magazine.
My mom and I have been slowly making our way through as many Rabbit and Wolves recipes as possible, and they have all been absolutely incredible. Recent highlights include Tofu Katsu Bowls, Tempeh Lazone, and Creamy Miso Pasta with Caramelized Mushrooms.
Very into this Instagram account of Women Living Alone on Screen.
If you want more hyper-specific playlists, please enjoy this one and this other one that I have compiled.