Start All Over Again Song Breaking Bad
Season One Featured Music Moments
A struggling high school chemistry teacher, Walter White (Bryan Cranston), is diagnosed with inoperable, advanced lung cancer. On a ride along with his DEA agent brother-in-law Hank (Dean Norris), Walter sees a former student of his, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), fleeing the scene of a meth lab bust. He later contacts Jesse and devises a scheme to become partners in an attempt to combine their skills to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine. Walter says he wants to provide financial stability for his pregnant wife, Skyler (Anna Gunn) and disabled son, and to pay for his expensive cancer treatment. During Walter and Jesse's first days of selling Albuquerque's finest meth, they encounter a series of problems with local drug dealers.
RODRIGO Y GABRIELA - "TAMACUN"
Episode 101 - "Pilot"
"Tamacun" came during the time we were experimenting with tone for the series, and trying to figure out whether we wanted to use score or songs for comedic moments. Rodrigo Y Gabriella have a really unique sound that draws from classic Spanish guitar but played with a heavy metal feeling, which felt like a great match to use in Breaking Bad. It proved to be a great way of introducing comedy into the show without making it slapstick, which score will often do. Almost everybody who hears Rodrigo Y Gabriella for the first time remembers the experience, and we were excited to introduce their music to a broader audience in the very first episode of the series.
MICK HARVEY - "OUT OF TIME MAN"
Episode 101 - "Pilot"
This was one of the first major music challenges in Breaking Bad, and was responsible for more than a few sleepless nights. We knew we wanted to end the pilot episode with something that was really distinctive and spoke to the predicament of Walter White. We are fans of Manu Chao and his first band Manu Negra. By happenstance Mick Harvey, a long time collaborator of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, had just released a solo record, and the second to last song on the album was a cover of Manu Negra's "Out Of Time Man". It felt like the perfect way to close the first chapter of our story.
FUJIYA AND MIYAGI - "UH"
Episode 105 - "Gray Matter"
Although Fujiya and Miyagi sounds like a Japanese duo, they are actually a trio of Englishmen – copping their name from Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid and a brand of record player. We have a lovely scene where knucklehead student Jesse Pinkman, gets to turn the tables and become the impatient teacher to his clown friend Badger. We needed a song that was playful, fun, and herky-jerky enough to help guide a ragged edit. Editor Kelley Dixon, who really excels at the art of the music montage, made a meal out of the song and really built the sequence with "Uh". The song had yet to be released when the episode aired, so for a lot of folks this was their first exposure to the song and the magic of Fujiya and Miyagi.
DARONODO - "DIDN'T I"
Episode 104 - "Cancer Man"
Darondo's "Didn't I" only made it into this episode of Breaking Bad because we couldn't afford "Sunny" by Bobby Hebb. Here is a good example where a more fitting choice makes it into the show because of financial limitations. Where "Sunny" was probably just riding clever counterpoint, "Didn't I" really taps into the sense of injustice that Walter White feels and validates this clearly insane act of sabotage. It really taps into his indignant sense of being unfairly treated by assholes, and the smug pleasures of getting a bit of revenge.
GNARLS BARKLEY - "WHO'S GONNA SAVE MY SOUL"
Episode 107 "A No-Rough-Stuff Type of Deal"
In the finale of season one we closed with an unreleased Gnarls Barkley song "Who's Gonna Save My Soul." When I first heard it, I thought: My God, the lyrics are absolutely perfect. We needed a song that would end the season on a strong note and really capture the notion that Walt and Jesse are now in way over their heads. Originally there were supposed to be nine episodes in season one, but a writer's strike cut the season short. Jesse was originally supposed to die in episode nine, and when the writer's strike happened, we were forced to end the season at seven episodes, saving the character of Jesse from an early and tragic demise. At the end of episode seven, Walt and Jesse watch gangster Tuco pummel one of his own henchmen to death. A decision was made to use a crane shot to make more out of that scene than was originally intended. While at the Sundance Film Festival, I bumped into my old friend Daniele Luppi, who had just worked with Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo Green on a forthcoming Gnarls Barkley album. Through these relationships, and with the licensing companies accommodating our very limited music budget, we were able to create something really special and unique for the closing of season one. The song breathes new life into the sequence and makes the moment as resonant and powerful as we could hope for.
Season Two Featured Music Moments
Walter continues to find himself facing insurmountable medical bills from his cancer treatment. Despite having had several bad experiences while producing meth with Jesse, Walter agrees to continue. The two begin producing meth but run into multiple problems. Jesse's friend Badger (Matt L. Jones) is arrested while selling meth in a sting operation, another of Jesse's friends is killed by a rival gang for selling meth on their territory. Walter hires a lawyer, Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), to help, and he suggests they find a new distribution model - introducing Walt and Jesse to Gus Fring. Throughout this, Jesse has been building a relationship with his neighbor and landlord, Jane (Krysten Ritter). Jane is revealed to be recovering from addiction. Skyler confronts Walter about his frequent absences and excuses and begins to piece together his secret life and demands that they separate.
TV ON THE RADIO - "DLZ"
Episode 210 "Over"
In episode ten of Season Two, we used TV On The Radio's "DLZ" to close out the episode with Walter White telling the local competition to "stay out of my territory." It's a key moment in Walt's story in that he decides to switch from his basic instincts as a teacher - lecturing a dumbfounded street kid about his meth purchasing strategy - to being a drug-dealer - willing to threaten his competition. I found the song around 3am after a very long night of digging and thought it was so perfect that I didn't want to pitch anything else for the scene. Finding a way to afford the song was a whole other battle. By some small miracle, we were able to steal money from another episode, got an okay on some overages, and negotiated best as we could with TV On The Radio's publishing company. In the end, we were able to keep the song and it remains one of my favorite music moments in Breaking Bad.
LOS CUATES DE SINALOA - "NEGRO Y AZUL: THE BALLAD OF HEISENBERG"
Episode 207 - "Negro Y Azul"
In episode 207, we open with a Spanish-language music video in the style of a "narcocorrido". Vince Gilligan asked about a narcocorrido video the writers room had been checking out, and suggested we create one for 'Heisenberg'. I was familiar with the genre, but not with the crazy videos (I suggest a YouTube search for those inclined). The videos appear to be home-made and rather crudely edited, complete with visual effects straight out of the mid-1980's. The music typically features an accordion and tuba, among other instrumentation and sounds quite similar to German "oompah-oompah" music. The episode was about 'building a rep' in the drug game, and Vince wanted to use a custom-created 'Ballad of Heisenberg' narcocorrido video as a truly bizarre teaser to open up the episode.
Instead of trying to create an even cheaper 'knockoff' ourselves, we decided to recruit an established narcocorrido songwriter, and through Robert Isaac of Telemundo we reached out to godfather of the genre Pepe Garza. Pepe took Vince Gilligan's lyrics, helping us adapt the song to the narcocorrido format (no verse chorus verse format, and changing the story to reflect that the Cartel always wins) and delivered an amazing song. Through Nir Seroussi of Sony Music Latin, we found Los Cuates de Sinaloa, a narcocorrido band based out of Phoenix, Arizona. We recorded the song in an understated suburban house in Burbank, and then flew out to Albuquerque to shoot the music video with the band, which was really fun. It ended up being one of the most memorable "wtf?" moments in Breaking Bad.
THE BE GOOD TANYANS - "WAITING AROUND TO DIE"
Episode 203 - "Bit By A Dead Bee"
This is perhaps one of my personal favorite music moments in the series. I always thought of this scene as a "Ghost of Christmas Past" type of moment, where Walt gains insight how his web of lies was impacting his family, and the sadness that would remain if he were to simply pass on. I love the beautiful harmonies of The Be Good Tanyas in this extraordinary cover of the heartbreaking song by the late, great Townes Van Zandt.
THE BLACK SEEDS - "ONE BY ONE"
Episode 209 - "4 Days Out"
This is a great example of where you really reap the rewards of having chosen a song early. Executive Producer Michelle MacLaren directed this episode and she knew very early on that she wanted to have a unique Meth Cook montage. She wanted to have a song available on set for playback, so she and the cast and the crew would all be in character from the start. When I pitched this song from Bret McKenzie's (of New Zealand group Flight of the Conchords) side project The Black Seeds, it grabbed everyone and felt like the right choice from the start. It feels very Breaking Bad to me, not really in any particular genre, but kind of dancing between styles. Michelle prepared the scenes listening to the song, gave it to the actors for inspirations and played this song when shooting the sequence. The scene was edited with this song from the very start. It feels just about perfect.
THE PLATTERS - "ENCHANTED"
Episode 211 - "Mandala"
The variety of choices that we gave Vince on this particular sequence was terrifying. We used everything from symphonic classical music to trippy electronica, from classic R&B to modern blues-rock. We ended up with a rather sweet song by The Platters, not quite rock n' roll and not quite doo-wop, that captures the feeling of first love that many addicts feel when they are first introduced to heroin. And somehow strangely that felt like the right choice.
Season Three Featured Music Moments
Walter wishes to reunite his family, but Skyler is still suspicious of his secret life. Walter believes he can mend the tension between them by confessing to her that he has been producing meth. Meanwhile, Gus offers to pay Walter three million dollars for three months of his service. He even offers to provide Walter with a state-of-the-art super-lab and a brilliant lab assistant, Gale (David Costabile). Jesse is continuing to produce and sell meth by himself. Hank is working with the DEA to investigate Jesse and is slowly gathering evidence to make an arrest. Jesse threatens to report Walter to the police if he is arrested. Walter proposes a solution that leads to their working together again. Jesse also gets romantically involved with a woman he meets in his rehab group and learns her kid brother was put up by Gus and his street dealers to kill Combo.
TIMBER TIMBRE - "MAGIC ARROW"
Episode 302 - "Caballo Sin Nombre"
There are very few records as uniquely enchanting as the self-titled album from Timber Timbre. On my first listen to the record I knew we had to find a home for it somewhere in Breaking Bad. Early on, I was convinced the song "Lay Down In The Tall Grass" would be the one, and would often play it against picture never quite finding an appropriate home. To my surprise, the bubbly pulsing energy of Timber Timbre's "Magic Arrow", placed against the efficient neutral professionalism of Mike The Cleaner and along manic Walt as he tries to break into his own home, felt like the perfect musical guide to the sequence.
QUARTETTO CETRA - "CRAPA PELADA"
Episode 313 - "Full Measure"
This one was certainly a labor of love. We knew there was very little time for the audience to get to know the character Gale before Jesse would dispatch him into the afterlife. We also knew that in the limited screen time with Gale we should take best advantage of every moment to further endear him to the audience. This would give Jesse's crime full impact, and help navigate a very dark turn in Jesse's story. David Costabile did an amazing job making Gale love-able, competent, compliant, sophisticated, detail oriented and enthusiastic. In a way, Gale was to be the perfect partner to Walt, the polar opposite of Jesse. This was one of those rare moments where we got to be alone with Gale and get a sense of the rich life that he has lead prior to our meeting him. From the art in his cramped apartment, we imagine that Gale was a world traveler and the kind of man who would try to learn the local language of everywhere he went, who would try to speak to the people in their native tongue to best absorb their culture. Vince wanted to have a scene where Gale was singing while watering his plants and I dug through my collection of music and found this wonderfully unique song on a music sampler from the Italian record label, Sugar Records, which included Italian pop songs from the 1940s. What we didn't realize in needing to translate the song for David to practice was that it was originally sung in a dialect spoken only in Milan, and that essentially no longer exists. My former colleague Joy Holland, a linguist, led us to a man who specializes in translations of Italian dialects. After much research he explained to us that this is essentially a song about a boy whose brothers won't let him eat an omelette. And David did some serious magic with it.
THE ASSOCIATION - "WINDY"
Episode 312 - "Half Measure"
I've got to give this one to Vince Gilligan. This was his idea, the scene was written with the song in mind. And the only miracle my team and myself can take credit for was convincing The Association's label and publishers to license the track. We were very honest about how Breaking Bad would be using the song, and to their great credit they all had a good sense of humor about it. We were very happy about it's use and it became another iconic music moment in Breaking Bad.
BEASTIE BOYS - "SHAMBALA"
Episode 313 - "Full Measure"
The Beastie Boys have always been known to be notoriously difficult to clear license requests, they are very particular about which projects they want to be a part of. And while we sent a request for "Shambala" early on, we never got a response. We also never found a song that was as close or as right to "Shambala". By good fortune I happened to be in New York for a film festival, and got invited to go to a party where two of the Beastie Boys happened to be. It was a quick conversation and a desperate plea, but we soon after got a clearance on the request and were thrilled to include it in the show. There is a lot of serendipity to music supervision and sometimes the stars line in your favor.
LOS ZAFIROS - "HE VENIDO"
Episode 305 - "Sunset"
Another favorite montage from Season 3 is the crushing of the beloved RV. This plays just after a very tense sequence where Hank almost catches Walt and Jesse and corners them at a junkyard in their RV. Up to this point, it is the closest that Walt has come to being caught by Hank. Disposing of the evidence of their criminal activity, the RV has to be crushed - essentially killing off a major character. This wonderful ballad from Cuban harmony vocal group from the mid 1960s called Los Zafiros. To my ears, their song"He Venido" really captures the sadness and romance in the scene and also the sense that they're saying goodbye to an old friend.
Season Four Music Moments
Jesse follows Walter's instructions and murders Gale. Gus decides to discipline the two by enforcing stricter policies at the lab. He also tries to break Walter and Jesse's friendship by assigning them to separate work details. While Walter works in the meth lab, Jesse escorts Mike (Jonathan Banks), one of Gus's enforcers, to retrieve payments and provide back-up. Walter and Jesse become increasingly distant from, and hostile to, each other. Meanwhile, Hank, who has been recovering from his last engagement with the cartel, finds evidence linking Gale to Gus. He believes Gus is a major drug distributor and starts looking for tangible evidence to file charges. Gus realizes Walter's close ties with Hank could jeopardize his entire operation. Gus fires Walter and threatens to kill his entire family. Jesse and Walter put their differences aside and agree to murder Gus.
ALEXANDER - "TRUTH"
Episode 401 - "Box Cutter"
When Alex Ebert, lead songwriter to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, first introduced me to his solo album, Alexander – I knew one of the songs would find a home in Breaking Bad. As luck would have it, the closing of episode 401 following the aftermath of the murder of Gale was the perfect fit for the song truth. The lyrics in particular felt very prescient to the story we were telling.
FEVER RAY - "IF I HAD A HEART"
Episode 403 - "Open House"
Some of the best ideas come out of the music spotting sessions, where when watching the episode together, we stumble upon creative epiphanies. In the third episode of season four we had trouble stitching together three scenes. One involved Jesse at a Go-Kart track where we wanted source music playing from the sound-system. Then we follow Jesse driving home and end up at a loud raging party going on at his house. The basic sentiment of the sequence is that Jesse, devastated by guilt, would do anything to avoid being alone in his thoughts. The non-stop party at his house had gone terribly wrong, but he found peace within that chaos. In that music spotting session, we decided to use a single song to stitch together these moments and succinctly capture Jesse's headspace. The song "If I Had a Heart" by the band 'Fever Ray' captured this moment wonderfully.
"MAJOR TOM" AS PERFORMED BY DAVID COSTABILE (GALE BOETTICHER)
Episode 404 - "Bullet Points"
Our original plan for the Gale karaoke video (which by the way was under the premise that Gale, the world traveler, had recorded himself doing a karaoke number in Thailand) was to use Enya. Enya did not want to cooperate with our licensing and rejected our use of "Orinoco Flow". So we had to come up with a plan B, which to our great fortune, and David Costabile's amazingly brilliant performance as Gale, we ended up selecting Major Tom by Peter Schhilling.
ANA TIJOUX - "1977"
Episode 405 - "Shotgun"
This song actually came from episode writer Tom Schnauz's wife, Maya, who had heard the song on an NPR feature. It made perfect sense over the very funny sequence where a very bored Jesse is stuck along for a ride with Mike. We also reprise it with Walt struggling to finish the cook alone in the super lab.
BANG DATA - "BANG DATA" & THE OH SEES -"TIDAL WAVE"
Episode 410 - "Salud"
It's always a pleasure working on an episode that Michelle MacLaren directed. And anybody who watches the episode "Salud", wont' forget the scene where Gus enacts his revenge on Don Eladio. We got a chance to throw in our own contribution to the scene by bringing a Surf/Psychedelic/Garage Rock band from Orange County called The Oh Sees, along with the Latin hip-hop crew, Bang Data. I'm not sure it's realistic that Mexican gangsters would be listening to Orange County surf-rock and Latin electronic hip-hop, but we thought it served the scene nicely.
APPARAT - "GOODBYE
Episode 413 - "Face Off"
A favorite music moment of both Vince and myself is from the final episode of season four as Gus purposefully strides into the retirement home where his arch nemesis Tio resides. Like a great Greek myth, Gus marches forward ready to taste revenge, but Walt has turned the tables on him by strapping a bomb to Tio, killing them both. We found the song, "Goodbye" by a German electronic artist named Apparat. What made "Goodbye" so special was that the song has an understated dark, menacing and dangerous tone but also has a slight hint of sadness, which really captures the essence of the sequence perfectly.
THE TAALBI BROTHERS - "FREESTYLE"
Episode 413 - "Face Off"
Although frequently mistaken for Rodrigo Y Gabriela, "Freestyle" was actually written and created by two teenage (aged 14 and 16) Spanish guitar-playing prodigies from Madison, WI. Their blazing guitar skills were magic against the Vince Gilligan directed "destruction of the super-lab" scene. Which, by the way, was all done in one take.
DANGER MOUSE & DANIELE LUPPI - "BLACK (FEATURING NORAH JONES)"
Episode 413 - "Face Off"
This was a song we placed on an early mix tape for season four, and never quite found a home for it, though we knew it felt perfect for Breaking Bad. Vince found the perfect home for it during Walter White's rare moment of triumph at the end of season four. To which he declares "I Won" to Skylar.
Season 5A Featured Music Moments
Walt and Jesse revive their meth cooking and dealing while Skyler and Walter's marriage is deteriorating. Walt's intimidation of his wife eventually leads to Skyler faking a suicide attempt to force her husband's hand and place her children at her sister's home and out of harm's way. Walt, Jesse, and Mike then work hand in hand to revive the meth trade Gus' death has left wide open to Walt and other competitors. Walter and Jesse use a business's fumigation tent on random houses as a mobile laboratory. With the DEA following Mike ever closer, Mike decides it is time to get out of the business for good. Meanwhile, Jesse continues to feel bad about the murder of a boy by Todd (Jesse Plemons) after a methylamine heist. Skyler has been storing Walt's meth earnings in a storage locker and has accumulated too much money to count and launder. Walt finally relents and agrees to quit producing meth for good.
TOMMY JAMES AND THE SHONDELLS - "CRYSTAL BLUE PERSUASION"
Episode 508 - "Gliding All Over"
Folks always ask how long we were sitting on this song before using it. I think it was on a mix tape for the very first season, but we never quite found a home for it until the Breaking Bad power trio – creator Vince Gilligan, writer Moira Walley-Becket and director Michelle MacLaren - collaborated to create this amazing sequence in one of the show's final episodes.
WHITEY - "STAY ON THE OUTSIDE"
Episode 502 - "Madrigal"
One of Walter White's bigger crimes is his emotional manipulation of Jesse. This scene was a fast paced cleaning montage in Jesse's house – where Walter White "finds" the missing ricin cigarette. We selected the punchy, feel-bad, indie-electro song "Stay On The Outside" by Whitey to underscore yet another betrayal of Jesse by Walt.
THE PEDDLERS - "ON A CLEAR DAY (YOU CAN SEE FOREVER)"
Episode 503 - "Hazard Pay"
There is no scene in Breaking Bad that had more songs tried against it than this one. At first we were convinced that Django Django's "Default" (which was just about to be released when the episode aired) was going to be the right choice. However, Vince always challenges us to keep searching for options, especially in Season Five. We then ended up with a Serge Gainsbourg Afro influenced jazz number, which we couldn't clear. It was weeks upon weeks of digging before we arrived at a song that we put on our very first mix tape for the scene, a wonderfully unique cover of "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever", which originally was featured in the 1968 Barbara Streisand movie of the same name. The cover was by the aptly named UK pop trio The Peddlers.
KNIFE PARTY - "BONFIRE"
Episode 504 - "Fifty-One"
Thanks to an un-cleared Jamaican vocal sample this song almost didn't make it into Breaking Bad. The song is a hybrid bro-step/dancehall electronic number, with a lot of energy. One of the things we loved about the song is that Walter White is being a complete jackass, and Walt Jr. is more than happy to play along with him. This blazing bro-step number seemed to capture their knuckleheaded glory. Director Ryan Johnson certainly made the most of our product placement moment.
THE MONKEES - "GOIN' DOWN"
Episode 507 - "Say My Name"
Writer and director Tom Schnauz can take credit for this one. He had the song in mind and when he presented the song for the sequence, it edited beautifully to it. Micky Dolenz's rabid fire vocals still add a smile to the sequence.
NAT KING COLE - "PICK YOURSELF UP"
Episode 508 - "Gliding All Over"
Music ideas also come from the writers or from Vince Gilligan himself. We were having a hard time figuring out what the right tone was for an incredibly violent prison execution sequence at the end of the first half of season five. Vince had found and suggested a breezy 1962 Nat King Cole song called "Pick Yourself Up", which took everyone by surprise, but ended up being the absolute right choice. I'm so happy that that is what we ended up with, and I think so were the fans. It feels completely counter-intuitive, but I can't imagine that sequence with anything else.
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