TV and movies are about more than the actors, despite much of the discourse concerning these forms of media revolving around their performances, appearances and personal lives. In fact, good TV in particular is reliant on consistent cinematography, detailed costume and believable hair and makeup, among other things. One of the most important of these other things, in my opinion, is music.
Soundtracks have the ability to instill in the viewer a feeling that cannot be achieved merely through images and acting. A clear example can be found in this scene Game of Thrones: although the audience certainly feels that what comes next cannot be good, Ramin Djiwadi’s Light of the Seven swelling in the background pushes the impending sense of dread over the edge – leaving the audience tangibly more impacted than they would have been without music.
Soundtracks can also be good without necessarily corresponding perfectly to a scene or a moment. In these instances, the soundtrack of the show can be thought of as an elaborate playlist, capturing the overall storyline and feeling of a show in auditory form.
In this piece, I’m going to recommend three shows that fall into the latter category rather than the former, shows that don’t rely on original music but rather a curated playlist of sorts.
She’s Gotta Have It
Spike Lee’s series adaption of his 1989 movie with the same title could practically be considered a 19 hour music video. The music is a prominent feature of each episode, with album covers being flashed between scenes, an episode taking place during a parade in homage to Prince and black artists being celebrated in every episode.
She’s Gotta Have It is essentially a celebration of the main character Nola Darling: of her creativity, sexuality, activism and blackness – themes that are largely channeled through the music and the ambiance it provides to the episodes.
The soundtrack is dominated by older and contemporary RnB, eighties and nineties rap along with smoother jazz, all curated by Spike Lee himself, and makes for coherent and intense listening as all more or less all of the songs are songs that are strong on their own and don’t necessarily make for good background music. It’s immensely enjoyable and can constitute both an emotional solitary listen or a fun playlist for a party.
Some of my favorites include The Seed 2.0 by The Roots, Losing You by Solange and Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer by Stevie Wonder. The soundtrack essentially makes the show for me, and is this definitely worth a listen (or a watch – it does have a beautiful portrayal of Brooklyn).
Atlanta
This is one of my favorite shows for several reasons — the music definitely being one of them. Donald Glover is the star and creator of Atlanta, a show that can be described briefly as revolving around the rap scene in Atlanta. Although Glover plays the cousin/manager of a rapper in the show, in real life Glover himself raps and sings under the nom de plume Childish Gambino. Gambino is one of my all time favorite artists, and unsurprisingly he sells me completely on the soundtrack of the show.
Atlanta-produced rap is both centric to the story and the soundtrack, with bands like Migos both being included in the soundtrack and in the show as (parodied) versions of themselves. At the same time more ponderous soulful music can be found in the likes of Nina Simone; intense and intriguing piano instrumentals stir our sadness and dread; and the soft, poppy notes of a Troye Sivan song can just as easily play over a scene. The show also uses Glover’s own music, but it’s never in a gratuitous or self-promoting way, and always in tune with the emotion of the scene in question.
The show itself deals with the trials and tribulations of the music industry in many ways. From managing a rapper, to touring, to the fate of Michael Jackson. Atlanta doesn’t exactly have a linear plot, but this allows each episode to be a wonderful microcosm of music, philosophy, great acting and humor (gotta love the dramedy genre!).
Favorites include everything Gambino, My Angel (Malaika) by Harry Belafonte and Bank Account by 21 Savage.
Sex Education
This show is lovely all around. From a vibrant palette, to the awkwardness of being a (British) teenager, to the weirdness of seeing Mikael Persbrandt on a big Netflix show. The one thing that ties it all together is the bubbling (mostly) 80s soundtrack.
The show itself isn’t set in the 80s, although the aesthetic could easily fool you. As a fan of mixed settings time-wise (think Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) I really dig everything essentially being in the 80s, with the addition of cellphones. It leads to a killer soundtrack, which mostly consists of classic tunes my parents loved back in the day – The Cure, Go West, The Smiths – and newer, lesser-known (at least to me) stuff like Ezra Furman and Sløtface. For me, the 80s stuff is the best, but every song fits in so well with the themes and emotions of the show and the combination of old and new blends seamlessly with the mixed setting mentioned earlier. Older stuff blends in well too, like Jackie Wilson’s (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.
Patiently waiting for season two so I can get my Gillian Anderson fix again. And Eric! Eric is the best character, don’t @ me.
Favorites include Road to Nowhere by the Talking Heads, King of Wishful Thinking by Go West, Ain’t No Love In he Heart Of The City by Bobby “Blue” Bland and Boys Don’t Cry by The Cure.
Conclusion (and disclaimer?)
In truth, this piece was really hard to get around to, especially the last show. I’ve had this piece half finished for months but haven’t been able to finish it. I’ve been thinking about and listening the soundtracks for both Atlanta and She’s Gotta Have It for months but have not felt as strongly about a third soundtrack yet, although contenders keep appearing. Honorable mentions, that probably are stronger than Sex Education in truth, can be found in both Derry Girls and Euphoria, though the latter falls into the orginial music category.
Anyways. I strongly recommend all three shows, but especially the first two for their music! That’s all folks.
xoxo,
Mel
What to watch when... 