The ‘Paper Girls’ Soundtrack Is Full of Time-Traveling Bangers
When the time period in which a show or movie is set is one of the most vital things about it, it's important to get the details right. In a recent interview with Harper's Bazaar, David Harbour revealed that Stranger Things' secret weapon on some of these intricacies was actually his fellow star, Winona Ryder. “She’d tell them, ‘This song actually came out in ’85, and you have it in ’83,’" he said. "She knew all of these minute, tiny details they didn’t even know, and they had to change things in the script based on that.” Kind of surprising that it made it so far that the star of the show had to make those corrections, but good changes to make nonetheless!
Like Stranger Things, Amazon Prime Video's new sci-fi series Paper Girls—based on the acclaimed comic series by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Cliff Chiang—features characters from the '80s. But where Stranger Things stays stationary and linear in making its way through the decade of Ghostbusters and Kate Bush, Paper Girls doesn't spin its wheels too much before traveling to the recent past of 2019. And that means a bunch of confused characters who love Danzig meeting up with some other confused characters who love Dave Matthews Band.
The music of Paper Girls is essential not only in establishing a subtext as to who these new characters are and what kind of music they feel expresses themselves, but also a good way to make clear just how much the worlds around them have changed as well. Even "hip" music can go from the synth of New Order to the (newer!) synth of LCD Soundsystem. It's the same...but different—a common theme of just about everything in Paper Girls.
Without further ado, here's what you came here for: the complete soundtrack to Amazon Prime Video's time-traveling Paper Girls. You can jam out in whichever time period you prefer.
Episode 1
"Age of Consent" - New Order
"Work It (Soulwax Remix) - Marie Davidson
"If I Could Turn Back Time"
"Hazy Shade Of Winter" - The Bangles
Episode 2
"Chicks Don't" - The Obscurities
"Rough N Tough" - Loosely Tight
https://www.marmosetmusic.com/browse/36287-rough-n-tough
"Someone Great" - LCD Soundsystem
"I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler" - YACHT
"Proudest Monkey" - Dave Matthews Band
"Wiggy" - K-Lab ft. Sam Ross
"Move" - Mobius VanChoStraw
"Cosmic Dancer" - T. Rex
"Out of the Blue" - Debbie Gibson
"Prim and Proper" - Goldo
"Down Like This" - Emma Sameth & BearFar
Episode 3
"Mother" - Danzig
"In Your Lifetime" - Moonbeam
"Blue Monday" - New Order
Episode 4
"School's Out" - Alice Cooper
"Cruel Summer" - Bananarama
"Space Song" - Beach House
Episode 5
"Kokomo" - Beach Boys
"Mambo No. 5 (a Little Bit of...) - Lou Bega
"Papa Loves Mambo" - Perry Como
"ABC of Love (House Edit)" - Shinequa
"Could It Be Love" - Slope
"The Cutter" - Echo & The Bunnymen
Episode 6
"Are You Ready (Phone Call Mix)" - Doug Laurent
"Eternal Fire (Doug Laurent Edit) - Doug Laurente
"Dirty" - Le Rosbifs
"Spit on a Stranger" - Pavement
"The Blue Danube" - Berliner Philharmonkier, Herbert von Karajan
"Global Warning" - Terminalhead
"No Conflict" - Terminalhead
"Ligeti: 2. Kyrie [Requiem (1963/65)]" - Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Francis Travis
"ethio remix 6" - Jan Weissenfeldt
"Arch Angel" - Antiqua Sub Via
"Parallel Universe" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Episode 7
"Vivrant Thing" - Q-Tip
"I Only Want You" - Chewie Marble
"Circle Round You" - Jackie Bristow
"The Real World 8: Hawaii Theme song"
"Bright Eyes" - Eric V. Hachikian
"Television" - Eric V. Hachikian
"It's Not Right, But It's Okay" - Whitney Houston
Episode 8
"Bad Medicine" - Bon Jovi
"Golden Years" - David Bowie
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