Question of the week #8

[jae]

One of the distinctive features of the show is the 80s music that sometimes goes along with scenes that don't have dialogue. For those of you who are familiar with 80s pop, is there a song that strikes you as something they should use on the show--and if so, what sort of scene might it accompany? (If that question confounds you too much, feel free to respond with your favourite existing example of music used on the show instead.) You can expect spoilers for the entire first season in the comments.

(There's no expiration date on these questions, so if you're reading this post months later and feel like jumping in, please do.)

Comments

[soupytwist]

I love the music! I really do - I think they've done a brilliant job of choosing songs which are immediately and unmistakeably 80s, without going into 'everyone has heard this on the radio fifty times a day every year since' territory. I think that's a really big part of why the show feels so 80s, in the best way.

And this is why I don't want to answer, because I am sure everything the showrunners come up with will be much better than anything a 1984 baby could! :)

[jae]

The two main actors may be a bit too young to have experienced the music of the era their characters are living in, but the showrunners were totally there and paying attention. :)

-J

[livrebleu]

I kind of think "Private Eyes" (Hall & Oates) would be amusing to bury in there somewhere, but I've no idea where it would be appropriate. 80s pop is hard for me--the content and the sound (often the rhythm) frequently feel like they're at odds.

[jae]

Oh my god, if the show were less earnest, that would be HILARIOUS. That or, like, "99 Red Balloons." ;)

-J

[livrebleu]

That was actually the first thing I thought of, but when I checked the date, it came out in 1983--same problem as the Peter Schilling songs you mentioned below.

[jae]

Well...it's only a problem until season three. ;)

-J

[treonb]

The songs I'm more familiar with are more from the mid-80s of the 'radio repeat ad infinitum' variety. So I wouldn't have thought of the songs the show actually used, but I can't think of better ones. I'm ashamed to say I've never heard the songs used in the pilot and season finale before, but after the episodes aired, I was humming them for weeks.

Favorite example: I'd go with 'Tusk'. I've seen so many people gush about the show and the song afterwards, I've never seen a show sold by a song before. Since I'm inclined to vid, I actually thought to use it. Maybe someday :-)

[jae]

If I'd asked this before the finale, my answer would have been "Games Without Frontiers" by Peter Gabriel, because yes. That song was WRITTEN to be on this show. So that would be my answer to the second question for sure.

As for the first, I can't help but think that something by German singer Peter Schilling (in English translation, that is) might not evoke the right mood. If you folks know his stuff, you probably just know Major Tom (Coming Home), but that one doesn't quite fit--but maybe Chill of the Night (for something generic and frantic) or The Noah Plan (for your basic Cold War angst). They'll have to wait a couple of years (they seem to be pretty careful to use only songs that were already out by the particular time a given episode is set), 'cause I'm pretty sure he was only around as of about 1983.

-J

[jae]

Or, oh my god, oh my god: Let's Play (USA)! I'd totally forgotten that one. :D Shame it's such a crap song...

-J

[livrebleu]

I'm on the same page here, both on the song choice and the regret that it's such crap song.

[jae]

Okay, I can't seem to find an English version of the Peter Schilling song I think might work best textually ("Error in the System"), but here's the original for the melody and here are the English lyrics.

-J

[jae]

And okay, one slightly more optimistic (and balladerific) take on Cold War teenage angst: Forever Young by Alphaville (the lyrics), though sadly that one will have to wait until season four.

(The Germans really did do Cold War angst better than anyone. :D)

-J

[ninety6tears]

The David Bowie version of "Wild Is the Wind" would be cool, even if it's just playing in a bar or something.

I could see some stuff off New Order's first album actually working pretty well in one of the more fast-paced/suspenseful scenes ("Denial" or "Senses", maybe).

[jae]

Ooh, I really like "Denial" for this.

-J