BoJack Horseman (soundtrack)

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BoJack Horseman (Music From The Netflix Original Series)
Soundtrack album by
Various Artists
ReleasedSeptember 1, 2017
Recorded2013–2017
Length42:01
LabelLakeshore Records
Producer

BoJack Horseman (Music From The Netflix Original Series) is the soundtrack album to the adult animated black comedy-drama series BoJack Horseman (2014–2020). The soundtrack for the series released by Lakeshore Records in digital and physical formats on September 1 and 29, 2017.[1] It includes several songs, among them the full version of the main theme, Patrick Carney and Michelle Branch's version of America's "A Horse with No Name", Sextina Aquafina's "Get Dat Fetus, Kill Dat Fetus", the themes from Horsin' Around and Mr. Peanutbutter's House, and the entire score for the episode "Fish Out of Water".[2][3] A vinyl edition was released on January 12, 2018,[4] and a second re-issue was released in September 2020.[5]

Development[edit]

The main title theme was composed by Patrick Carney, drummer for the blues-rock duo the Black Keys, with his uncle Ralph Carney.[6] The initial sound is Patrick's Roland Jupiter-4 analog synthesizer running an arpeggiator patch, triggered externally with a click track control voltage from Pro Tools. Patrick added acoustic drums, and emailed the music to his uncle Ralph who added various saxophone parts and bass trombone. Patrick composed the song merely as a test of his new home studio arrangement, not knowing where it would go. A few months later, Noel Bright emailed Patrick asking for a piece of music as a theme for BoJack Horseman, and Patrick sent him the collaboration tune, which was immediately accepted. The television show opening theme was edited down to about 55 seconds long but the Carneys' original collaboration is several minutes longer, containing parts not heard on the show.[7][8]

The ending credits theme "Back in the 90s (BoJack's Theme)" was performed by the indie-pop act Grouplove.[9] Jesse Novak composed the incidental music for the series.[10] Raphael Bob-Waksberg, the showrunner hired him for the scores, as he previously worked on some of the sketch comedies he hosted. Bob-Waksberg wanted him to score a demo for the series, which he agreed and sent his demo music pieces for the series.[11] He was a fan of Lisa Hanawalt's work, the illustrator of the show, and had added "A lot of the music I feel I continued in the show I started in that first week demoing for them because I felt that inspiration for a lot of the sound came from the visuals and feelings that I was already familiar with through Lisa and Rafael’s work."[11]

For the "Horsin' Around" theme song which Novak had sung, he stated that was interested on doing music which was a "genre parody" and attributed that composing for spoof and parody genres is an "opportunity to experiment with those sounds which manage to tickle your own funny bone and hopefully reach the viewers that way too".[12] The theme was primarily influenced from the musical sound of Full House (1987–1995) as he used saxophone and harmonica for the theme, which imitated the muzak sounds.[12] For the third episode Prickly-Muffin, he composed a score suite, which was a mix of "Britney Spears and The Neptunes"; as he was influenced by their works, he tried to attempt the same so as it recreates the music from the late-1990s and early-2000s. However, he tweaked the pop culture references, to be more comedic and felt that editing the vocals was the most important part of the show.[11]

The theme for Mr. Peanutbutter's House was composed by the help of Los Angeles Philharmonic. Novak admitted Mr. Peanutbutter as his favourite character and wanted his theme to be "influenced by hip-hop but in a slightly uninformed way". Originally planned as a 10-second song, as he did not have an idea to compose a full theme, it was later extended to a 45-second theme after the creators requested for a full-length theme for a character in the third season. So he hired vocalists from the Philharmonic orchestra to perform the theme song.[11] Novak took a lot of time to write the entire score for the "Fish Out Of Water" episode and also re-wrote twice for two instances as the first piece he wrote, was not well received.[11] He incorporated electronic sounds to add more color for the score.[13]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."BoJack's Theme"Patrick Carney, Ralph CarneyPatrick Carney feat. Ralph Carney0:56
2."Horsin' Around Theme"Jesse Novak & Raphael Bob-WaksbergJesse Novak0:44
3."A Horse with No Name"Dewey BunnellPatrick Carney feat. Michelle Branch4:35
4."Mr. Peanutbutter's House Theme"Jesse NovakJesse Novak0:40
5."I Will Always Think of You"Jesse Novak, David Corwin & Rachel KaplanJane Krakowski & Colman Domingo1:22
6."Get Dat Fetus Kill Dat Fetus"Jesse Novak & Joanna CaloJesse Novak feat. Daniele Gaither & Manus Dunbar1:30
7."Kyle and the Kids"Jesse NovakJesse Novak feat. Carrick Moore Gerety0:36
8."Stars" (Live at Montreux)Janis IanNina Simone6:37
9."Back in the 90's"Christian ZucconiGrouplove0:43
10."BoJack's Theme" (Full Length)Patrick Carney, Ralph CarneyPatrick Carney feat. Ralph Carney4:23
11."Seaport"Jesse NovakJesse Novak1:00
12."Hallway"Jesse NovakJesse Novak1:35
13."Kelsey Apology"Jesse NovakJesse Novak0:57
14."Chasing Kelsey"Jesse NovakJesse Novak1:42
15."Seahorse Birth"Jesse NovakJesse Novak0:47
16."Post Birth"Jesse NovakJesse Novak0:26
17."Baby Seahorse and Convenience Store"Jesse NovakJesse Novak2:29
18."Shark Chase"Jesse NovakJesse Novak0:34
19."Darkness and Tunnel"Jesse NovakJesse Novak0:54
20."Fan Section"Jesse NovakJesse Novak0:39
21."Factory"Jesse NovakJesse Novak1:58
22."Flying"Jesse NovakJesse Novak0:54
23."Seahorse Reunion"Jesse NovakJesse Novak0:49
24."Final Kelsey Pursuit"Jesse NovakJesse Novak0:28
25."Sea of Dreams"Brad OberhoferOberhofer4:43

Songs featured in the series[edit]

In addition to Novak's score, the show has occasionally featured other songs in the closing credits.[14] In season one, Lyla Foy's song "Impossible" appears in the end credits of the seventh episode, "Say Anything"; the Death Grips song "No Love" is used in "Downer Ending", the eleventh episode; and the Rolling Stones song "Wild Horses" and Tegan and Sara's "Closer" in "Later", the first-season finale. The Kevin Morby song "Parade" closed out "Yes And", episode ten of the second season, and the Courtney Barnett song "Avant Gardener" plays during "Out to Sea", the second-season finale. The show features Oberhofer's song "Sea of Dreams" in the fourth episode of the third season, "Fish out of Water", and Nina Simone's cover of Janis Ian's "Stars" in "That Went Well", the last episode of that season. In season four, Magic Sword's "Infinite" is used in "Thoughts and Prayers", the fifth episode of the season, K.Flay's "Blood in the Cut" in "Stupid Piece of Sh*t", the sixth episode, and Jenny Owen Youngs's "Wake Up" in "What Time Is It Right Now", the twelfth episode.

Princess Carolyn's hold music is the song "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats" from the musical Cats. The St. Vincent song "Los Ageless" plays throughout "The Light Bulb Scene", the first episode of the fifth season, including the credits. Vetiver's "Last Hurrah" plays near the end credits in season five, episode 9, "Ancient History." The song "Under the Pressure" by the War on Drugs plays through the end of the episode and credits of season five, episode 12, "The Stopped Show". The 2007 song "Mr. Blue" by Catherine Feeny, used in the final moments of the series finale, received appreciation from fans.[15]

Reception[edit]

The Afterglow magazine's C.S Harper wrote that the soundtrack "creates a grim storyline, one that is often the reality for those in the entertainment world. By mirroring BoJack’s story through song, the soundtrack adds a tone of self-awareness to the show. Each season uses diverse tracks from different genres to comment on a variety of themes, including substance abuse and the meaninglessness of celebrity life. Though these topics are dark, they explore the less glamorous facets of the Hollywood experience that many people overlook."[16] Relight's A. J. Martin wrote "the soundtrack is really only something that’s appealing for fans of the show, but there’s pieces of it anyone could enjoy".[17] Variety named the title theme as one of the "best theme songs of the streaming era".[18] Writing for Looper magazine, Mike Floorwalker praised about the theme song saying, "Its dream-like vibe, punctuated with pounding, distorted drums and a knife-edged horn section, is nothing short of perfect; it somehow manages to broadcast the show's entire aesthetic despite its complete absence of lyrics."[19]

Chart performance[edit]

Chart (2017) Peak

position

UK Soundtrack Albums (OCC)[20] 24
US Billboard 200[21] 81
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)[22] 10

References[edit]

  1. ^ "ET Obsessions: Finn Wolfhard in 'It,' All Things 'Outlander' and More!". Entertainment Tonight. September 4, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  2. ^ Kim, Michelle (August 28, 2017). "Listen to the Black Keys' Patrick Carney and Michelle Branch's New Song for "BoJack Horseman"". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  3. ^ Reed, Ryan (August 28, 2017). "Hear Patrick Carney, Michelle Branch's New Song for 'BoJack Horseman'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  4. ^ Various Artists, Bojack Horseman, retrieved July 20, 2022
  5. ^ "BoJack Horseman Soundtrack Vinyl Record Picture Disc NEW Sealed 780163508222". eBay. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  6. ^ Liptak, Andrew (August 6, 2016). "The Bojack Horseman theme song was never intended to be on the show". The Verge. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  7. ^ "Song Exploder: BOJACK HORSEMAN (Main Title Theme) Interview with Patrick Carney and Ralph Carney". Song Exploder. August 4, 2016. Archived from the original on November 3, 2019. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  8. ^ August 04, Eric Renner Brown Updated; EDT, 2016 at 04:23 PM. "Black Keys' Patrick Carney explains BoJack Horseman theme song origins". EW.com. Retrieved July 20, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Reilly, Dan (August 29, 2014). "The Black Keys' Patrick Carney Wrote the 'BoJack Horseman' Theme Song". Spin. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  10. ^ "Jesse Novak to Score Netflix's 'BoJack Horseman'". Film Music Reporter. June 30, 2014. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Composer Jesse Novak takes us through BoJack Horseman's greatest hits". The A.V. Club. November 8, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  12. ^ a b "Jesse Novak | Interview with BoJack Horseman composer". The HotCorn. February 27, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  13. ^ "How BoJack Horseman's Music Made It One of the Boldest Cartoons of the Year". Esquire. August 15, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  14. ^ O'Brien, Jon (October 23, 2019). "Say Goodbye to 'BoJack Horseman' With Its 10 Greatest Songs". Billboard. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  15. ^ "What Song Plays In BoJack Horseman's Ending (& What It Means)". ScreenRant. February 1, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  16. ^ "Media and Music: How the "BoJack Horseman" Soundtrack Explores Debauchery, Depression, and L.A. Existentialism". afterglow. November 30, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  17. ^ admin (January 29, 2018). "Bojack Horseman Soundtrack". Relight Magazine. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  18. ^ Moayeri, Lily (December 21, 2021). "From 'BoJack Horseman' to 'WandaVision,' 10 Standout Theme Songs of the Streaming Era". Variety. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  19. ^ Floorwalker, Mike (January 12, 2021). "The Truth About The BoJack Horseman Theme Song". Looper.com. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  20. ^ "Official Soundtrack Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  21. ^ "Soundtrack Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  22. ^ "Soundtrack Chart History (Soundtrack Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
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