Music on The Sopranos
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The role of music is an important one on the HBO television drama The Sopranos. The show has received considerable critical attention for its effective use of an eclectic array of previously recorded songs.[1][2][3][4] Series creator David Chase personally selects all of the show's music with the producer Martin Bruestle and music editor Kathryn Dayak, sometimes also consulting Steven Van Zandt, who, in addition to portraying Silvio Dante on the show, also serves as guitarist for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.[1] The music is often selected once the production and editting of an episode is completed but on occasion sequences will be filmed to match pre-selected pieces of music.[5]
Stylistically, the music on the show can range from mainstream pop (Britney Spears, The Bangles) to '60s British rock (The Kinks, The Rolling Stones) to classic jazz and soul (Ella Fitzgerald, Ben E. King), often within the span of a single episode.[6]
Contents |
[edit] Opening credits
The opening credits for each episode consists of Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) driving from New York City to his home in suburban Essex County, New Jersey. The musical accompaniment for this segment is a remix of the song "Woke Up This Morning" by the British group Alabama 3 (known in the United States as A3 for legal reasons).
[edit] End credits
Each episode's closing credits sequence features a unique piece of previously recorded music, with few exceptions. The episode "A Hit Is a Hit" uses a song by the fictional band Defiler, which was featured earlier in the episode. Two episodes feature multiple songs in the credits sequence ("Commendatori" and "Whitecaps"), while one episode ("Full Leather Jacket") has no music at all.
The following is a list of songs used at the end of each episode:[6]
[edit] Season 1
| Season | # | Episode title | Song title | Artist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Sopranos" | "The Beast in Me" | Nick Lowe | |
| 2 | "46 Long" | "Battle Flag" | Lo Fidelity Allstars feat. Pigeonhed | ||
| 3 | "Denial, Anger, Acceptance" | "Complicated Shadows" | Elvis Costello & the Attractions | ||
| 4 | "Meadowlands" | "Look on Down from the Bridge" | Mazzy Star | ||
| 5 | "College" | "Gold Leaves" | Michael Hoppé | ||
| 6 | "Pax Soprana" | "Paparazzi" (instrumental version) | Xzibit | ||
| 7 | "Down Neck" | "White Rabbit" | Jefferson Airplane | ||
| 8 | "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti" | "Frank Sinatra" | Cake | ||
| 9 | "Boca" | "Buena" | Morphine | ||
| 10 | "A Hit Is a Hit" | "We're Coming to Defile You" | Defiler (fictional group) | ||
| 11 | "Nobody Knows Anything" | "Manifold de Amour" | Latin Playboys | ||
| 12 | "Isabella" | "I Feel Free" | Cream | ||
| 13 | "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano" | "State Trooper" | Bruce Springsteen | ||
[edit] Season 2
| Season | # | Episode title | Song title | Artist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 14 | "Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office..." | "Time Is on My Side" | Irma Thomas | |
| 15 | "Do Not Resuscitate" | "Goodnight, My Love" | Ella Fitzgerald | ||
| 16 | "Toodle Fucking-Oo" | "Viking" | Los Lobos | ||
| 17 | "Commendatori" | "Con te partirò" | Andrea Bocelli | ||
| "Piove" | Jovanotti | ||||
| 18 | "Big Girls Don't Cry" | "White Mustang II" | Daniel Lanois | ||
| 19 | "The Happy Wanderer" | "The Happy Wanderer" | Frankie Yankovic | ||
| 20 | "D-Girl" | "Vedi, Maria" | Emma Shapplin | ||
| 21 | "Full Leather Jacket" | none — only a ventilator and an electrocardiogram are heard | n/a | ||
| 22 | "From Where to Eternity" | "My Lover's Prayer" | Otis Redding | ||
| 23 | "Bust Out" | "Wheel in the Sky" | Journey | ||
| 24 | "House Arrest" | "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" | Johnny Thunders | ||
| 25 | "The Knight in White Satin Armor" | "I Saved the World Today" | Eurythmics | ||
| 26 | "Funhouse" | "Thru and Thru" | The Rolling Stones | ||
[edit] Season 3
| Season | # | Episode title | Song title | Artist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 27 | "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood" | "High Fidelity" | Elvis Costello & the Attractions | |
| 28 | "Proshai, Livushka" | "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" | Les Paul | ||
| 29 | "Fortunate Son" | "Where's the Money?" | Dan Hicks | ||
| 30 | "Employee of the Month" | "Fisherman's Daughter" | Daniel Lanois | ||
| 31 | "Another Toothpick" | "Shuck Dub" | R.L. Burnside | ||
| 32 | "University" | "Living on a Thin Line" | The Kinks | ||
| 33 | "Second Opinion" | "Black Books" | Nils Lofgren | ||
| 34 | "He Is Risen" | "The Captain" | Kasey Chambers | ||
| 35 | "The Telltale Moozadell" | "I (Who Have Nothing)" | Ben E. King | ||
| 36 | "...To Save Us All From Satan's Power" | "I've Got a Feeling" | The Campbell Brothers with Katie Jackson | ||
| 37 | "Pine Barrens" | "Sposa son disprezzata" (from Bajazet) | Cecilia Bartoli | ||
| 38 | "Amour Fou" | "Affection" | Little Steven and the Lost Boys | ||
| 39 | "Army of One" | "Blur" | Aphex Twin | ||
[edit] Season 4
| Season | # | Episode title | Song title | Artist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 40 | "For All Debts Public and Private" | "World Destruction" | Time Zone feat. John Lydon | |
| 41 | "No Show" | "Kid A" | Radiohead | ||
| 42 | "Christopher" | "Dawn (Go Away)" | Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons | ||
| 43 | "The Weight" | "Vesuvio" | Angelo De Falco | ||
| 44 | "Pie-O-My" | "My Rifle, My Pony and Me" | Dean Martin | ||
| 45 | "Everybody Hurts" | "Take Me for a Little While" | Dave Edmunds | ||
| 46 | "Watching Too Much Television" | "Oh Girl" | The Chi-Lites | ||
| 47 | "Mergers and Acquisitions" | "When the Battle is Over" | Delaney & Bonnie | ||
| 48 | "Whoever Did This" | "The Man with the Harmonica" | Apollo 440 | ||
| 49 | "The Strong, Silent Type" | "Drum Score" | Uncredited | ||
| 50 | "Calling All Cars" | "Surfin' U.S.A." | The Beach Boys | ||
| 51 | "Eloise" | "Little Bird" | Annie Lennox | ||
| 52 | "Whitecaps" | "I Love Paris" (Vegas) | Dean Martin | ||
| "I Have Dreamed" | Fantastic Strings | ||||
[edit] Season 5
| Season | # | Episode title | Song title | Artist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 53 | "Two Tonys" | "Heaven Only Knows" | Emmylou Harris | |
| 54 | "Rat Pack" | "Undercover of the Night" | The Rolling Stones | ||
| 55 | "Where's Johnny?" | "Sirius" | The Alan Parsons Project | ||
| 56 | "All Happy Families..." | "La Petite Mer" | Thierry 'Titi' Robin | ||
| 57 | "Irregular Around the Margins" | "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta" (from La rondine) | Luba Orgonasova | ||
| 58 | "Sentimental Education" | "The Blues is My Business" | Etta James | ||
| 59 | "In Camelot" | "Melancholy Serenade" | Jackie Gleason | ||
| 60 | "Marco Polo" | "Bad 'N' Ruin | Faces | ||
| 61 | "Unidentified Black Males" | "If I Were a Carpenter" | Bobby Darin | ||
| 62 | "Cold Cuts" | "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" | The Kinks | ||
| 63 | "The Test Dream" | "Three Times a Lady" | Commodores | ||
| 64 | "Long Term Parking" | "Wrapped in My Memory" | Shawn Smith | ||
| 65 | "All Due Respect" | "Glad Tidings" | Van Morrison | ||
[edit] Season 6
| Season | # | Episode title | Song title | Artist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 66 | "Members Only" | "Seven Souls" | William S. Burroughs | |
| 67 | "Join the Club" | "When It's Cold I'd Like to Die" | Moby | ||
| 68 | "Mayham" | "The Deadly Nightshade" | Daniel Lanois | ||
| 69 | "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh" | "One of These Days" | Pink Floyd | ||
| 70 | "Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request" | "Every Day of the Week" | The Students | ||
| 71 | "Live Free or Die" | "4th of July" | X | ||
| 72 | "Luxury Lounge" | "Recuerdos De La Alhambra" | Pepé Romero | ||
| 73 | "Johnny Cakes" | "I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town" | Ray Charles | ||
| 74 | "The Ride" | "Pipeline" | Johnny Thunders | ||
| 75 | "Moe N' Joe" | "Let It Rock" | Chuck Berry | ||
| 76 | "Cold Stones" | "As Time Goes By" | Dooley Wilson | ||
| 77 | "Kaisha" | "Moonlight Mile" | The Rolling Stones | ||
[edit] Soundtrack compilations
| The Sopranos: Music from the HBO Original Series | ||
 |
||
| Soundtrack by various artists | ||
| Released | December 14, 1999 | |
| Genre | Various | |
| Length | 54:11 | |
| Label | Sony | |
| Producer(s) | Various David Chase (exec. producer) |
|
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| The Sopranos: Peppers & Eggs: Music from the HBO Original Series | ||
 |
||
| Soundtrack by various artists | ||
| Released | May 8, 2001 | |
| Genre | Various | |
| Label | Sony | |
| Producer(s) | Various David Chase, Brad Grey (exec. producers) |
|
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
To date, there have been two official soundtrack compilations released in association with The Sopranos. The first, titled The Sopranos: Music from the HBO Original Series, was released in 1999, and contains selections from the the show's first two seasons.[7] The second, titled The Sopranos: Peppers & Eggs: Music from the HBO Original Series, was released in 2001, and contains two Compact Discs of songs from the show's first three seasons.[8]
[edit] Track listings
[edit] The Sopranos: Music from the HBO Original Series
- "Woke Up This Morning" (Chosen One Mix) — Alabama 3
- "It's Bad You Know" — R. L. Burnside
- "It Was a Very Good Year" — Frank Sinatra
- "Gotta Serve Somebody" — Bob Dylan
- "Inside of Me" — Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul
- "I Feel Free" — Cream
- "Mystic Eyes" — Them
- "State Trooper" — Bruce Springsteen
- "I'm a Man" — Bo Diddley
- "Complicated Shadows" — Elvis Costello & the Attractions
- "The Beast in Me" — Nick Lowe
- "Viking" — Los Lobos
- "Blood Is Thicker than Water" — Wyclef Jean feat. G & B
- "I've Tried Everything" — Eurythmics
[edit] The Sopranos: Peppers & Eggs: Music from the HBO Original Series
[edit] Disc one
- "Every Breath You Take"/"Theme from Peter Gunn" — The Police/Henry Mancini
- "Battle Flag" — Lo Fidelity Allstars feat. Pigeonhed
- "I've Got a Feeling" — The Campbell Brothers feat. Katie Jackson
- "The Captain" — Kasey Chambers
- "Shuck Dub" — R. L. Burnside
- "Affection" - Little Steven and the Lost Boys
- "My Lover's Prayer" — Otis Redding
- "Certamente" — Madreblu
- "Black Books" — Nils Lofgren
- "Frank Sinatra" — Cake
- "Baubles, Bangles, & Beads" — Frank Sinatra
- "Thru and Thru" — The Rolling Stones
[edit] Disc two
- "High Fidelity" — Elvis Costello & the Attractions
- "Living on a Thin Line" — The Kinks
- "Girl" — Vue
- "Sposa son disprezzata" — Cecilia Bartoli
- "I (Who Have Nothing)" — Ben E. King
- "Return to Me" — Bob Dylan
- "Make No Mistake" — Keith Richards
- "Piove" — Jovanotti
- "Space Invader" — The Pretenders
- "Tiny Tears" — Tindersticks
- "Gloria" — Them
- "Core 'ngrato" — Dominic Chianese
- Dialogue from The Sopranos
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Sepinwall, Alan (March 3, 2006). The hits keep on coming. The Star-Ledger. Retrieved on 2007-02-20.
- ^ Gross, Joe (January 4, 2000). Sharps & Flats. Salon.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-20.
- ^ Ventre, Michael (April 2, 2006). Music another member of the Sopranos’ crew. MSNBC. Retrieved on 2007-02-20.
- ^ Browne, David (May 18, 2001). The Sopranos; Peppers & Eggs. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
- ^ Biskind, Peter (March 13, 2007). The Family that Preys Together. Vanity Fair. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
- ^ a b HBO: The Sopranos: Episode Guide. Retrieved on 2007-02-20.
- ^ Amazon.com: The Sopranos: Music From The HBO Original Series. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ Amazon.com: The Sopranos - Peppers and Eggs: Music From The HBO Series. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
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