The HBO television drama The Sopranos received considerable critical attention for effective use of an eclectic array of music. Series creator David Chase personally selected all the show's music, with the producer Martin Bruestle and music editor Kathryn Dayak—sometimes also consulting Steven Van Zandt, who portrays Silvio Dante on the show and is also a guitarist for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. They often selected music after completing an episode's production and editing, but occasionally filmed sequences to match pre-selected pieces of music.
Stylistically, the music on the show ranges from mainstream pop (Britney Spears, The Bangles) to oldies and classic rock artists (The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd), from classic jazz and soul (Ella Fitzgerald, Ben E. King) to hip-hop (Xzibit, Time Zone), often within a single episode.
Opening credits In the opening credits for each episode, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) drives from the Lincoln Tunnel to his home in North Caldwell, New Jersey. The musical accompaniment for this segment is the "Chosen One Mix" of the song "Woke Up This Morning" by the British band Alabama 3 (known in the United States as A3 for legal reasons). "Woke Up This Morning (Chosen One Mix)" is four minutes and five seconds long, so a shortened version of it is used in the opening credits, which is approximately one minute and thirty seconds long.
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 appeared earlier in the episode. Three episodes feature multiple songs in the credits sequence ("Commendatori," "Whitecaps" and "Cold Stones"), while two episodes ("Full Leather Jacket" and "Made in America") have no music at all.
The following is a list of songs used at the end of each episode:
Season 1 # Episode title Song title Artist 1 "The Sopranos" "The Beast in Me" Nick Lowe 2 "46 Long" "Battle Flag" 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 (produced by Thayod Ausar) 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" song unnamed 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
Season 2 # Episode title Song title Artist 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 Lobos17 "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 & His Yanks 20 "D-Girl" "Vedi, Maria" Emma Shapplin 21 "Full Leather Jacket" none — only a ventilator and an electrocardiogram are heard none 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
Season 3 # Episode title Song title Artist 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 (The Sopranos)" "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
Season 4 # Episode title Song title Artist 40 "For All Debts Public and Private" "World Destruction" Time Zone featuring John Lydon 41 "No Show" "Kid A" Radiohead 42 "Christopher" "Dawn (Go Away)" The Four Seasons 43 "The Weight" "Vesuvio" Spaccanapoli 44 "Pie-O-My" "My Rifle, My Pony and Me" (from Rio Bravo) Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson 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" Eric J.Tuener; Drum Major for George Westinghouse School of Music 50 "Calling All Cars" "Surfin' U.S.A." The Beach Boys 51 "Eloise" "Little Bird" Annie Lennox52 "Whitecaps" "I Love Paris" (Vegas) Dean Martin"I Have Dreamed" Fantastic Strings
Season 5 # Episode title Song title Artist 53 "Two Tonys" "Heaven Only Knows" Emmylou Harris 54 "Rat Pack" "Undercover of the Night" The Rolling Stones 55 "Where's Johnny?" "Earth, Wind, Water" Mitch Coodley (The Metro Music Production Library) 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 Orgonášová 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" (live) 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
Season 6 Part I # Episode title Song title Artist 66 "Members Only" "Seven Souls" Material featuring 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" Pepe 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 Berry76 "Cold Stones" "Home" Persephone's Bees"As Time Goes By" (from Casablanca) Dooley Wilson 77 "Kaisha" "Moonlight Mile" The Rolling Stones
Part II # Episode title Song title Artist 78 "Soprano Home Movies" "This Magic Moment" Ben E. King and The Drifters 79 "Stage 5" "Evidently Chickentown" John Cooper Clarke 80 "Remember When" "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" Benny Goodman Orchestra 81 "Chasing It" "Goin' Down Slow" Howlin' Wolf 82 "Walk Like a Man" "The Valley" Los Lobos 83 "Kennedy and Heidi" "Minas De Cobre (For Better Metal)" Calexico 84 "The Second Coming" "Ninna Ninna (Lullaby)" Smithsonian Folkways recording, artist unknown 85 "The Blue Comet" "Running Wild (Extended Instrumental)" Tindersticks 86 "Made in America" none — the credits play in complete silence none
Alternate music in Europe For the version of the series aired in Europe, the producers partially replaced the music for licensing reasons. European DVD editions (in the case of the first season, only the 16:9 re-issue) contain these altered versions as foreign-language dubs as well as the original unaltered English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1.
Soundtrack compilations
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 show's first two seasons. 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.
Track listings 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 featuring G & B "I've Tried Everything" — Eurythmics
The Sopranos - Peppers & Eggs: Music from the HBO Series Disc one
"Every Breath You Take/Theme from Peter Gunn" (Mr. Ruggerio's Remix) - The Police; Henry Mancini and His Orchestra "Battle Flag" (Album Version) - Pigeonhed "I've Got A Feeling" (Album Version) - The Campbell Brothers with Katie Jackson "The Captain" (Album Version) - Kasey Chambers "Shuck Dub" (Album Version) - R.L. Burnside "Affection" (Album Version) - The Lost Boys "My Lover's Prayer" (Album Version) - Otis Redding "Certamente" (Album Version) Madreblu "Black Books" (Album Version) - Nils Lofgren "Frank Sinatra" (Album Version) - Cake "Baubles, Bangles and Beads" (Album Version) - Frank Sinatra "Thru And Thru" (Album Version) - The Rolling Stones
Disc two "High Fidelity" - Elvis Costello & The Attractions "Living on a Thin Line" - The Kinks "Girl" - Vue "Vivaldi: Sposa son disprezzata" - Cecilia Bartoli "I Who Have Nothing" - Ben E. King "Return to Me" - Bob Dylan "Make no Mistake" - Keith Richards "Piove" - Lorenzo Jovanotti "Space Invader" - The Pretenders "Tiny Tears" - Tindersticks "Gloria" - Van Morrison "Core 'ngrato" - Dominic Chianese "Dialogue From 'The Sopranos'" - The Sopranos Cast
External links The Sopranos soundtracks on Tunefind
References