Every Single Song From 'Big Little Lies' Season 2
Big Little Lies season 2 premiered on HBO on June 9 and tackled guilt and grief—with a moody soundtrack to match.
Season 2, episode 6 featured songs from Roy Orbison and Patti Smith.
Big Little Lies is back. After two seemingly endless years, the Emmy-winning drama has returned to its rightful Sunday night spot on HBO (Game of Thrones who?), and we still can't take our eyes off of Madeline, Celeste, Bonnie, Renata, Jane, and the new face in Monterey, Mary Louise. (Honestly, can we have at least three more Mary Louise scenes in every episode? She's a brutally honest live wire, and more Meryl Streep makes anything better.)
The series' acting and writing remains top-notch, and so does another essential element of the show: its soundtrack. Season 1's music supervisor, Susan Jacobs, and director Jean-Marc Vallée brightened the show's overcast visuals with a heavy dose of soul (including the theme song that backs that iconic drive by the bay, Michael Kiwanuka's "Cold Little Heart"). Music is so central to Vallée's process that he even gave the cast and crew mix CDs full of the songs he intended to use in scenes.
Season 2 breaks away from that sound under new director Andrea Arnold, but many of the premiere's picks still prompted an "ooh, what's that song?" a couple of times throughout the episode (as with the Nirvana cover that plays while Jane's sketching the stuff of nightmares on her bed).
We'll keep up with every song choice throughout Big Little Lies season 2, so check back every Sunday to find out what your new favorites are.
Warning: spoilers ahead!
Episode 1 - What Have They Done?
Joan Jett, "Bad Reputation"
When we see Jane (Shailene Woodley) for the first time this season, she and her son Ziggy are dancing their way through the morning routine to Joan Jett's 1981 classic "Bad Reputation." (Freaks and Geeks fans will recognize it from that show's opening credits.)
The tone is way lighter than season 1's context-rich scene of Ziggy dancing to The Temptation's "Papa Was a Rolling Stone." It's also nice to see that life's been good to Jane's little family in the months since the finale.
The Spinners, "I'll Be Around"
DJ Chloe in the hooouuuse! Many of the hot tracks in season 1 came by way of Madeline (Reese Witherspoon) and Ed's grade-school-age daughter, who'd play perfectly-timed selections on her iPod. She's back at it again in the premiere, cooling Madeline's freakout during Otter Bay School drop-off with the Spinner's "I'll Be Around."
It's heartwarming as "I'll Be Around" soundtracks the main characters' huggy reunion— but things take a turn for the sinister as other parents start to stare at them in silent judgment.
Jimmy Ruffin, "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?"
Renata's blasting Jimmy Ruffin's bittersweet soul classic from 1966 as she pulls into her driveway—right before the most joyous scene in the entire episode.
Diana Ross, "It's My House"
A solid hour of Renata (Laura Dern) vamping in red lamé: Would watch.
The song Renata's lip syncing to while she's shot for a local "Women in Power" story was written by husband and wife duo Ashford & Simpson and recorded by Diana Ross in 1979.
Sufjan Stevens, "Mystery of Love"
Jane seems to have ditched her jogs on the beach for a bit of freestyle hippie dancing, and since she's in slo-mo, it's hard to tell if Sufjan Stevens' "Mystery of Love" is actually playing on her phone.
Those who only know Stevens' work from this Oscar-nominated Call Me By Your Name song should check out his equally devastating-yet-beautiful 2015 album, Carrie & Lowell, inspired by the death of the singer-songwriter's mother.
Portishead, "The Rip"
Abigail, Madeline's teenage daughter, is playing the folk-y song off of Portishead's Third on her laptop before she slams it shut to have yet another face-off with her mom. Their mother-daughter clash of wills is almost too real.
The Avener, Phoebe Killdeer, "Fade Out Lines"
This 2015 song by Australian musician Phoebe Killdeer and French deep house producer The Avener plays over the episodes's end credits, and during Jane and Celeste's bonding session.
Cassandra Wilson, "Harvest Moon"
The haunting cover of Neil Young's 1992 song plays as Celeste remembers her happier memories of Perry, seemingly struggling to reconcile them with her knowledge that he was an abusive monster.
This version was recorded by Cassandra Wilson in 1995, on her album New Moon Daughter.
Sinead O'Connor, "All Apologies"
This cover of Nirvana's final song off 1993's In Utero comes from Sinead O'Connor's fourth album, Universal Mother.
While O'Connor's rendition of the mid-tempo grunge anthem is stunning, the sound mix in the brief scene turns up the creepy factor, between the crash of waves and the scratch of Jane's pencil on paper as she draws scary Perry.
Episode 2 - Tell-Tale Hearts
Neil Young with Crazy Horse, "Down By the River"
Celeste Ambien-drives herself into a guard rail in this week's opening scene, and yet it's somehow one of the least insane things to happen in this episode. But the track from the Canadian folk singer's 1969 release Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere certainly sets the woozy mood: Young says in the liner notes of anthology album Decade that he wrote the song in California's Topanga Canyon while delirious in bed with a fever.
Given the fact that Celeste's daydreams have been soundtracked by two Neil Young songs this season, it's safe to assume she's a fan.
Brenton Wood, "Great Big Bundle of Love"
Bonnie's husband Nathan may be the one calling in reinforcements and loudly grousing that his wife's "missing in mental action," but it's far more heartbreaking to see what Bonnie's checked-out status is doing to their daughter.
"Who are you mad at?" Skye Carlson asks, after her mom attempts to reassure her that there's no divorce in the future and she's not angry with Nathan. Then Bonnie tries to lighten the mood with Brenton Wood's "Great Big Bundle of Love"— which works, until Skye notices Bonnie get distracted yet again by a mysterious passing car.
Wood is a soul singer and songwriter who was most active in the 1960s; he's best known for his 1967 hits "Gimme Little Sign" and "Oogum Boogum" (you've probably heard it, even if the title isn't familiar).
Charles Bradley, "Let Love Stand a Chance"
Anyone else notice how extremely literal several of the song choices were this week? The title of Charles Bradley's "Let Love Stand a Chance" could be taken as a response to Jane and Bonnie's chat at the yoga studio, in which a dubious Jane describes her offbeat coworker Corey's flirting as "Asperger-y or something." (Bonnie's response: "They fake that sometimes you know...to get away with saying dumb shit.")
The slow-burn song is from 2013's Victim of Love, recorded with the Menahan Street Band, an ensemble that includes members of the late Sharon Jones' Dap-Kings. Bradley's story is an incredible one: He achieved fame toward the end of his life after being discovered by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings bandleader Gabriel Roth; prior to that he worked as a cook and a James Brown impersonator for decades. From 2011 on, Bradley toured the world and released three albums before his death from stomach cancer at 68 in 2017.
Alpha, "Somewhere Not Here"
As Celeste prepares dinner (and before Mary Louise blindsides her with the news that the twins know Ziggy is their brother), she flashes back to an early date with Perry. Their conversation must've felt steamy at the time, but it's retroactively loaded with creepy foreshadowing—they have a good laugh about how she might have siblings she doesn't know about, just as her own twins did eventually, and he says, "if this works out, I'll have you all to myself."
It's another very literal musical moment that underlines what's happening in the scene, given the lyrics: I remember when you came, I can just recall that day / Unexpected, undetected, If I'd have known I still would have done it...
"Somewhere Not Here" is from English group Alpha's 1997 debut album Come From Heaven.
Jimmy Ruffin, "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted"
Renata was blasting this song last week as a Woman in Power, but since facing a grim new life after her husband's arrest for securities fraud she can't listen. Maybe now that she truly is brokenhearted, she doesn't want to hear it?
Elle King, "Good Thing Gone"
Celeste's isn't the only dinner prep that gets derailed by a massively-dramatic moment. The "Good Thing Gone" here appears to be Ed and Madeline's marriage, after he learns that she's kept not one but two massive secrets from him (the fact that Perry was Ziggy's father, and her affair with the theater director).
Elle King's ballad is off her 2018 album Shake the Spirit; her song "Ex's and Oh's" was nominated for a Grammy in 2015.
Sufjan Stevens, Redford (For Yia-Yia & Pappou)
The evocative piano instrumental is from Sufjan Stevens' 2003 album Michigan, a 15-track tribute to the musician's home state.
The song plays as Celeste and her twins, Max and Josh, arrive at Jane's apartment bearing gifts for their half-brother Ziggy. The dialogue-free scene is the hour's sweetest moment, and amid what's been a pretty gloomy season so far, it highlights one of Big Little Lies' strengths: The ever-evolving friendships between five women living complicated, and now intertwined, lives.
"The Wonder of You," Villagers
Remember Trivia Night in the Big Little Lies finale? No, not the part where Bonnie shoved Perry down the stairs—before that, when both Bonnie and Ed dazzled the crowd with their respective singing talents?
That really was Zoë Kravitz singing the cover of the 1958 Elvis song; the actress and daughter of singer Lenny Kravitz has her own band, Lolawolf (you can find "Don't" on the Big Little Lies soundtrack). But Ed MacKenzie's velvety vocals came by way of Irish artist Conor O'Brien, and not actor Adam Scott, who plays Ed.
O'Brien's band, Villagers, performs the Elvis cover again as Madeline drinks wine alone, reflecting on how badly she's messed up.
Episode 3 - The End of the World
Elizabeth Cotten, "Shake Sugaree"
The story of Bonnie's complicated relationship with her mom continues to unfurl; in this week's opening scene, the two share a sweet singing moment with Bonnie's daughter Skye. Their backstory gets darker later on, when she flashes back to Elizabeth shoving her under the pool water as a kid (despite tiny Bonnie begging her not to). Bonnie did seem a little more perked up this week, but I'm still not nuts about how longingly she's staring at those waves. And will we ever get an explanation for why Bonnie pushed Perry (aside from his violence toward Celeste)?
The song the three generations sing is "Shake Sugaree," written by Black folk and blues artist Elizabeth Cotten. A lifelong musician, Cotten retired from playing professionally for 25 years to raise a family. Cotten recorded her first album at age 62 after she was "discovered" by folk-legend family the Seegers while working in their home, and is now remembered for her unique styles of banjo and guitar picking.
Cigarettes After Sex, "Keep on Loving You"
If there's one upside to Madeline and Ed's possible breakup after Abigail spilled Madeline's secret, it's that Abigail and Madeline have grown closer ("the blurting is not the problem, my doing it is the problem," she rightly tells her daughter). They're now having rational conversations about Abigail's choice to skip college, which is an upgrade.
The song Madeline and her daughter are listening to is a cover of R.E.O. Speedwagon's "Keep on Loving You," a 1980 soft-rock classic performed here by indie pop band Cigarettes After Sex.
Roxy Music, "Love Is the Drug"
Coming on the heels of Celeste's therapist asking her if "Perry was a drug" (yes, he was and still is), Jane's endearingly awkward first date with Corey is soundtracked by Roxy Music's "Love Is the Drug"—another extremely literal choice for this season's song picks.
"Love Is the Drug" is a 1975 single from British band Roxy Music, fronted by Bryan Ferry. Though the band enjoyed a long, globally successful career punctuated by a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2019, this was their only American top 40 hit.
Mojave 3, "Bluebird of Happiness"
Mojave 3's "Bluebird of Happiness" plays as Mary Louise springs herself on Jane and Ziggy in their apartments' parking lot (Mary Louise can truly lurk with the best of 'em). Jane shows Mary Louise a superhuman amount of grace, here.
"Bluebird of Happiness" is from the 2003 album Spoon and Rafter.
Massive Attack, "Karmacoma"
Once again, Renata was the queen of meme-worthy quotes this week ("I will be rich again, I will rise up, I will buy a f----ing polar bear for every kid in this school, and then I will squish you like the bug that you are!" must have been so fun for Laura Dern to say). Renata continues to burn with rage following her family's reversal of fortune, and despite her titanium exterior, in this ep we learn that her family's also noticed a shift in her since the night of Perry's death.
The song that Renata's husband Gordon is listening to when she tears into his man-cave is "Karmacoma," off of Massive Attack's 1994 album Protection. The U.K. trip hop pioneers birthed the career of former member Tricky. There's also a longtime rumor that group founder Robert Del Naja is Banksy, the anonymous yet highly successful street artist and prankster. The band's song "Teardrop" was the theme song to the medical drama House.
Cowboy Junkies, "Dreaming My Dreams With You"
Despite having an extremely spot-on therapist (who's turned her laser-beam insights on Ed and Madeline too, as of this week), Celeste is sinking deeper into the grief-pit of nostalgia. How big is this Perry video archive, anyway? And does anyone else get the feeling we, or maybe even Mary Louise, will eventually see a clip that betrays his sadistic side?
The song in episode 2's final scene (when Celeste, um, enjoys watching Perry on video) is a cover of "Dreaming My Dreams With You," written by Allen Reynolds and popularized by country Waylon Jennings in 1975. The song was covered by Canadian folk-rock band Cowboy Junkies for their 1988 album The Trinity Session.
Episode 4 - She Knows
POP ETC, "Dreams" (Fleetwood Mac cover)
One positive aspect of these five women being bound by a nightmare-inducing lie is how far they've come with each other, friendship-wise. Renata's gone from making a hobby of her feud with Madeline to offering up her own messy brand of support, and it's gratifying character development.
This hushed indie pop cover of Fleetwood Mac's 1977 song from Rumours plays as the kids of Monterey carve pumpkins and debate the likelihood of neighborhood gang stabbings (so morbid and fun!). It comes from trio POP ETC, formerly known as the Morning Benders.
Timmy Thomas, "Why Can't We Live Together"
Thomas's 1972 song softly plays when Mary Louise swoops into the pumpkin party unannounced (forever prowlin' around, that one).
Donna Summer, "Try Me, I Know We Can Make It"
This 1976 Donna Summer song, co-produced by superstar electronic music producer Giorgio Moroder, plays as Renata welcomes guests (and us) to Amabella's disco birthday party. Before all of the drama kicks off, we get to see everyone's take on a "disco" outfit and marvel at how incredible Zoe Kravitz manages to look in electric blue eye shadow.
Bee Gees, "How Deep Is Your Love"
The Gibbs brothers' song plays during Renata's devastating "it's my picker that's broken" monologue to her husband, Gordon, as they watch their daughter slow dance at her last over-the-top birthday celebration ever. "How Deep Is Your Love" is also one of six Bee Gees songs featured on the soundtrack to the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever.
Donna Summer, "Lucky"
Summer's disco anthem soundtracks yet another squabble between Madeline and Ed, who makes a very solid point about how everything at that party (and in their town) is for appearances. Then, Nathan and Ed's escalating series of charged interactions finally escalates into a physical altercation (if you'd call pulling down someone's afro wig and some brief slap-fighting an altercation). Also, Bonnie's mom either thinks she has sixth-sense powers or definitely has sixth-sense powers?
The Trampps, "Disco Inferno"
Renata really did get 1970s disco-soul ensemble The Trampps to play Amabella's birthday party, because there's nothing eight year olds go crazier for in 2019 than old disco (??). That said, they sounded great!
"Disco Inferno" also appears on the soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever, which like Big Little Lies also features [SPOILER ALERT] someone falling to their death.
Al Green, "Jesus Is Waiting"
Al Green's "Jesus Is Waiting," from his 1973 album Call Me, plays at the bar while Jane and Celeste are having another remarkably candid conversation about Perry, aka Jane's rapist and Celeste's late husband. Healthy-ish, that is; Celeste isn't 100 percent honest, and after Jane leaves she Ambien-and-alchohols her way into a one-night stand with the bartender.
"Why Can't We Live Together" cover
This Timmy Thomas cover (a callback from the original playing as Mary Louise showed up to the carving party) plays over the episode 4 closing credits.
Episode 5 - Kill Me
Carole King, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"
This song plays as Madeline and Ed head to their marriage retreat, when Madeline makes an awkward situation worse with her cringeworthy attempt at serenading Ed. Reese Witherspoon proves her acting skills once again here—singing that badly is actually hard, particularly for someone who used her real vocals in Sing and her Oscar-winning role as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line.
While Aretha Franklin may sing the best-known version of "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," the song was co-written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, and King's version appears on her 1971 album Tapestry.
Supertramp, "School"
Poor, sweet Ziggy! Last season he'd wished Jane would tell him who his father was; now he probably wishes he never found out. It's tough to blame Celeste's twins for coming to their half-brother's honor and beating up the bully who told Ziggy he was a "mistake" and that his father was a rapist. And by the way—how did the bully know about Perry and Jane? Who is his brother? Who else but Corey and the Monterey women know what happened to Jane?
The lyrics to Supertramp's "School" have all the subtlety of a punch to the lip as they directly apply to the boys' situation. "School" is from Supertramp's 1974 album Crime of the Century.
Donnie & Joe Emerson, "Baby"
Ed's "I was the sound choice" monologue is the most depressing Big Little Lies marriage moment since...well, there's so many it's honestly tough to pick. Will the two of them patch things up? And should they?
"Baby," the song that plays during Madeline and Ed's car scene and in the closing credits of Big Little Lies episode 5, is from Dreamin' Wild, the only album released by teenage brothers Donnie and Joe Emerson in 1979. The story of Dreamin' Wild is fascinating: The record was made in a home studio their father built for them in an expensive show of support. Dreamin' Wild would have disappeared into obscurity forever, had it not been randomly discovered by a record collector in a Washington antique shop decades later.
"A Change Is Gonna Come" cover
The fact that so many Big Little Lies scenes involve a main character making dinner says everything about how good it is at capturing the minutiae of family life, making the absurd lives of these wealthy Californians surprisingly relatable (sometimes). This scene, in which Ed's listening to "A Change Is Gonna Come" when his concerned-looking daughter Chloe comes up and hugs him, is nearly wordless, yet it says so much.
Chicago, "If You Leave Me Now"
Speaking of the absurd lives of these wealthy Californians, Bonnie's "singing for sleep apnea" class is the most amazing thing since Bo Peep the child therapist (it's also a real thing, apparently). It looks so fun, and I want in.
The song that Bonnie's class is singing as her father shows up at her place of business to dredge of memories of her childhood abuse (so inappropriate) is Chicago's "If You Leave Me Now" from their 1976 album Chicago X.
Sparklehorse, "It's a Wonderful Life"
The song that plays during Jane's heartbreaking attempt to navigate her PTSD and hook up with Corey is "It's a Wonderful Life" by Sparklehorse from the 2001 album of the same name.
My Morning Jacket, "Victory Dance"
Is Corey a COP? It did, at times, seem like he was too good to be true (but maybe I've just been conditioned to expect the absolute worst of people in Big Little Lies' Monterey). When we first met him he was informing Jane that he knew exactly what her rep was with that "you're the Monterey Five" line; within a few episodes he'd insinuated his way into every aspect of her life. If Corey is an undercover police officer, his surfing lessons with Corey and hooking up with Jane is ten kinds of wrong. Is it too much to hope he's filing a stolen iPhone report or something?
Kentucky rock band My Morning Jacket's "Victory Dance" soundtracks Bonnie's realization that Corey might not be who he seems, intercut with...what was that, exactly, between Ed and Tori Bachman? She was hitting on him (again), ostensibly to even the score given Madeline's affair with her husband Joseph. But then we see that Joseph's been watching Madeline and Ed flirt at the bar—is this some creepy game the two of them are playing?
Episode 6 - The Bad Mother
Golden Boy feat. Miss Kittin, "Rippin Kittin"
This is the song Jane is listening to when she rolls up to Corey's house, confronting him about why Bonnie saw him leaving the police station. Is Corey a cop? We won't know for sure until next week's finale. But if so, making out with Jane and becoming a part of her son's life would certainly be an ethical violation, if not a legal one (is it legal? Someone call Celeste's completely apathetic lawyer and ask her).
"Rippin Kittin" is a 2002 single from Golden Boy with Miss Kittin, a French DJ and music producer.
Placebo, "Running Up That Hill"
Tori Bachman clearly wants to even the score against her husband and Madeline's affair by sleeping with Ben, a story that's been simmering since the season premiere when she alerted him to her boob job in the produce aisle. But...Tori has "certified weirdo" energy.
Furthermore, with just one more episode to go, one wonders why we're burning screen time with this B plot at all? Madeline and Ed's marital struggles are substantive enough without introducing this secondary conflict. It kind of feels like filler...and as have all of the many season one flashbacks. Given Indiewire's recent report that season 2 director Andrea Arnold essentially had to cede all creative control to show HBO, show creator David E. Kelley, and season one director Jean Marc Vallée, it's hard not to wonder if Arnold's version would have felt less bogged down.
Kate Bush's 1985 song "Running Up That Hill" has received the cover treatment many times, and the version that plays during Ed and Tori's chat is from alt-rock band Placebo.
Ann Peebles, "Until You Came Into My Life"
This song, from Memphis soul icon Ann Peebles, plays as Madeline takes a classic, grey-Monterey-style Big Little Lies drive. Peebles is best known for "I Can't Stand the Rain."
Roy Orbison, "It's Over"
This was Nicole Kidman's episode, to be sure—her work as Celeste sorting through her own choices in real time, while interrogated by Denis O'Hare's piranha lawyer, was astounding. But Shailene Woodley's anger as Jane confronts Mary Louise was pretty great stuff, too (and satisfying to watch).
The song that plays as Mary Louise literally shuts Jane out and descends into an even more toxic spiral was "It's Over" by Roy Orbison.
Patti Smith, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"
Witherspoon got to bust out her finest romantic comedy monologue skills in this scene, in which Ed discovers her partying in her wedding dress.
Ed comes home to find Madeline listening to Patti Smith's cover of Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World."
Elizabeth Cotten and Brenda Evans, "Shake Sugaree"
In season one, Zoë Kravitz's Bonnie wasn't given much to do until that fateful moment in the final episode—she was just kind of...perfect, in a way that let us see almost nothing about her inner life. Season one set that right, and we finally learned exactly what made her push Perry that night. It was already becoming apparent through the slow reveal of her mom Elizabeth's abusive behavior growing up, but that didn't make Bonnie's confession to her mother any less heartbreaking.
The song that plays in Elizabeth's hospital room is Elizabeth Cotten's "Shake Sugaree," a callback to the scene in season two, episode three, when Bonnie, Elizabeth, and Skye sang it together.
Episode 7 — I Want to Know
Melissa Etheridge, "Piece of My Heart"
This song plays the first time Ed is boxing outside, as his daughter and stepdaughter discuss his alienation from Madeline. It also plays over episode 7's closing credits.
There weren't many musical moments in the season (series?) finale, given that so much of it was taken up by the jaw-dropping courtroom scenes and Bonnie's mother's death. Though the joyous sounds of Renata destroying Gordon's toy room should be released as a single.
Melissa Etheridge's cover of Janis Joplin's classic is available on Etheridge's Greatest Hits - The Road Less Traveled, released in 2005.
Gloria Ann Taylor, "Deep Inside of You"
"Deep Inside of You" plays as Chloe watches Ed boxing outside again. Is Ed working off his anger at Madeline? Or is he blowing off steam after refusing Tori Bachman's offer of a revenge affair (again, what was the point of that storyline)? We'll never know.
Leon Bridges, "That Was Yesterday"
Leon Bridges' ballad plays as Ed and Madeline discuss renewing their vows, and Ed shakes Madeline free of the very Monterey impulse to turn it into a big party with seafood towers. Honestly rooting for these two in their fictional future!
Willie Nelson and Paula Nelson, "Have You Ever Seen the Rain"
One last gorgeous cover song soundtracks the final Big Little Lies musical montage, in which Ed and Madeline renew their vows, Mary Louise finally blows out of town on her broomstick in her car, Jane and Corey try getting intimate again, Celeste, the twins, and Ziggy enjoy a craft night, and the Monterey Five file into the Carmel By the Sea PD to confess the real events surrounding Perry's death (offscreen, grr).
It was a sort-of-satisfying end to a wildly uneven season—but hey, at least the music was always great.
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