The perfect music in Breaking Bad

This is a very self-indulgent post, but what is this blog if not self-indulgent.

If you haven't caught on yet, I really, really love Breaking Bad. One of the things I've been enjoying about it recently is the soundtrack. I don't know who exactly was in charge of finding and using songs, but they deserve all the awards, because my god - every song is perfect. And not just perfect, but the kind of perfect where at first you're like - "hm. I'm not sure if this song... wait a second... wait... yes... it's perfect." That kind of perfect.

A lot of these songs are ones that I don't think I would enjoy much apart from the association with Breaking Bad, but I love this show so much that it actually eclipses my pre-existing music taste. Here are some of favorites that make up my Breaking Bad mix CD which I play all the time. Seriously, if you see me driving around town, there's a 100% chance I'm listening to it.

Click on the song title to listen.

Out Of Time Man (101 - Pilot)

This song is my jam. It brings me back to a much simpler time in the show -- specifically, the end of the first episode. There was already a body count of 1, but you still like Walt as a person at this point. You share in his exhilaration.

One By One (209 - Four Days Out)

This song accompanies the fantastic montage from this episode -- which is the scene that defines the happier times that all Breaking Bad fans feel desperately nostalgic for.

Rocket Scientist (305 - Mas)

This is my punk-rock, rebellious teenager song. It works well in the flashback strip-club scene and is an all-around fun song to bring us back to the relatively carefree Jesse of season 1.

He Venido (306 - Sunset)

This song works well with the bittersweet RV destruction scene and the segue into the episode's closing scene, which gets things rolling for the next episode.

Truth (401 - Box Cutter)

This great song comes in as Walt walks away from his house, a little degraded and holding up his pants, and continues into the short closing scene: the police investigating Gale's apartment. We end focused on his Lab Notes sitting on the coffee table with no idea that this little book, and this murder, will be Walt's ultimate downfall.

If I Had A Heart (403 - Open House)

First of all, this is pretty much my new favorite song. It's perfect for Jesse's dead-inside phase during the first bit of season 4. This song starts during Jesse's iconic "sad go-karting" scene and continues as he returns to find his home trashed and crowded -- and realizes that he doesn't care. He'll do anything to avoid being alone.

1977 (405 - Shotgun):

This is a great, fun song that works perfectly with the Jesse/Mike montage. We see Jesse come back to life in this episode and get to know Mike a little bit better -- and it's really the beginning of their relationship that grows to be one of mutual respect. But right now Jesse thinks Mike is gonna kill him and Mike is annoyed that he has to spend any time with him at all. But every great father-son relationship starts somewhere, right?

Goodbye (413 - Face Off):

This is an amazing song to begin with, and was used beautifully in the show. The instrumental version plays as Gus walks into the retirement home to his death. (Saying that he's just walking into a retirement home, although true, sounds kinda weird if you haven't seen the show.) Once we know that Gus wasn't actually at fault for the poisoning of Brock it's kind of a sad scene to see him go.

On A Clear Day (503 - Hazard Pay)

You can watch the actual scene via the link! It's a really good cook montage and the song works well with that and with the feeling of "everything's sort of okay right now." Which is a rare feeling on the show, so let's just roll with it.

Crystal Blue Persuasion (508 - Gliding Over All)

This is the title song of the most famous montage sequence from this show (i.e. the Crystal Blue Persuasion montage). It's actually a pretty bad song, but how could they pass up using a song literally called Crystal Blue Persuasion in a show about making blue crystal meth. Like, c'mon.

Take My True Love By The Hand (514 - Ozymandias)

This song choice, to me, proves what a great show this is. To follow up the music/score-free and high-intensity first act, they cool the drama just a little with a song that's perfect for Walt rolling his barrel, all he has left in the world ("money's getting scarce"), through the desert. It's the kind of song that makes you laugh a little, which is exactly what we need as a respite in the middle of the most emotionally wrenching episode of anything, ever.

Baby Blue (516 - Felina)

The first few chords of this song honestly choke me up because of how it was used in the show. That is, the last song used, the last audio used, as Walt dies in the finale. And it's a pretty happy song. The lyrics are perfect, I mean - "I guess I got what I deserved"? Yeah.

A lot of these songs are used in montage sequences, and while some heighten the mood, most actually cut the tension or add a little bit of tongue-in-cheek fun to parts that would be overly serious with a different soundtrack choice. And this show knows when to not use any music at all, which is important -- but the times when music is used, it's tasteful and adds a lot to the scene.