criminalxminds | The music of CM.

Current Mood: curious

The music of CM.

I've always thought the snippets of music played throughout the show were interesting choices. Sometimes they fit the unsub. Sometimes they fit the victim. And sometimes they fit the team, or some other part of the show. We've heard everything from Aretha Franklin to Nine Inch Nails, and Enya to the Rolling Stones.

What I'm wondering is:

Have you ever listened to a song and thought: "hey, that would be perfect for the show!"...?

If so, what song?

Why do you think it would fit the show?

And in what way would the song be used?

*Bonus:
Taking this one step further, if each member of the team had a theme song (including former members), what would their song be and why?

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I was listening to the radio a couple of days ago and this came on. It's Hotch/Haley all over, to me.

I think almost any song from The National's album "Boxer," especially "Fake Empire," would be a perfect fit for one of those melancholy episodes where everything goes wrong and the team's only consolation is that they caught the unsub and they are all safe and returning home.

Explosions in the Sky's "The Birth and Death of the Day" would make a great background to a scene where Rossi and Hotch are chasing someone through a building.

Heartless Bastards' "Searching for the Ghost" is what I imagine goes through Garcia's head when she is doing some hardcore hacking to find key information in a hurry.

Jeff Buckley's "Morning Theft" plays whenever Reid visits his mom.

"I Wish I Was the Moon" by Neko Case is totally Prentiss' song this season.

PJ Harvey's "Dear Darkness" would make for a great heavy dark Morgan-themed episode.

All I got off the top of my head. Most of them are sad songs, but I've only had one cup of coffee so far.

Holy shit, I have ALWAYS thought songs from Boxer would be perfect.

INORITE? Especially some episode that takes place in the dead of night and it's snowing and ten degrees outside and they're in some big city with aimless, hopeless people wandering around and...and... So perfectly melancholy. So glad you approve.

Oh man, "I Wish I Was The Moon" is gorgeous, although I admit my favourite Neko Case song is "Hold On, Hold On".

Can we change songs? My Side of the Story by Hodge plays at the end of Demonology and it makes me cringe every time, to the point that I mute it. I'm probably the only one who thinks this is a better replacement, but I would replace it with Master of None by Beach House. "You always want to be forgiven/ The devil does what you ask of him / On your knees/ You cannot/ You will not agree"

I've wanted to hear "Elephants" by Rachael Yamagata on the show ever since I saw a fanvid to it, although I'm not sure where it would fit.

Also, "Pet" by A Perfect Circle would make a good song for an unsub. I don't believe they've used it.

In fact, thinking on it now, I can think of dozens of songs that would be good for various unsubs (I actually have an entire playlist of songs I interpret as being about murder, sociopaths, or really creepy people), here are a few:

1. The Killers - Shadowplay (yes I know it's a cover of a Joy Division song, but I like this one more)
2. TV on the Radio - DLZ
3. She Wants Revenge - Tear You Apart
4. Andrew Bird - Fake Palindromes (loooovee to see this one!!)
5. Porcupine Tree - Trains (and this)
6. TV on the Radio - Ambulance (it would make for a beautiful ending scene with rain and an unsub that is the obsessive type, who thinks he's in a relationship with his victims)
7. She Wants Revenge - Disconnect (perfect for any scene where there's sort of an interlude, not just an unsub one)

I'd also like to hear "Who'll Stop The Rain?" by CCR for some reason, I just really love that song and I think it'd fit the show a lot. I don't think they've used it before, but I could be wrong.

Edited 2010-12-19 17:19 (UTC)

You absolutely right! That is a much better song for Prentiss (and my favorite from Fox Confessor). I knew I needed more coffee before I played this game. :)

I am totally crushing on you for picking TV on the Radio! "Family Tree" would also be great. I have melancholy tastes.

Oh, that song is great. I loved Dear Science so much, such a gorgeous album. I also love TV on the Radio :) Ambulance was the first song I heard by them and for some reason I always thought of it being about an obsessive killer.

And thinking now, "Wolf Like Me" would be great for an unsub-couple-team! In fact, I'm getting the idea of a fic to it focusing on two original character unsubs (there needs to be more unsub!fic.)

Edited 2010-12-19 17:35 (UTC)

I never saw Prentiss as a character I related to much (I relate to Reid a lot) - although I do love her as a character - but Hold On, Hold On reminds me a lot of myself (which is probably why it's my favourite), and now I can definitely see how it fits Prentiss... so maybe I have more in common with her than I thought.

Also, as a side note, "Pet" would especially be good for an unsub with Dissociative Identity Disorder (multiple personalities). I can also imagine one of an unsub who is aware they have DID and doesn't want to kill, but one of their alternate personalities does, to "Woke From Dreaming" by the Delgados.

Oh yeah, "Little Death" by +44 would make a good song in general for the team, I can especially see it being a Reid!song for some reason.

edit: Although listening to it again, I could see it being a GREAT song for Hotch about Foyet and Haley.

Edited 2010-12-19 17:47 (UTC)

I'm getting the idea of a fic to it focusing on two original character unsubs (there needs to be more unsub!fic.)

I was actually thinking of "Wolf Like Me" when you mentioned DLZ. Your story idea sounds fantastic. Also, a good unsub!fic gives excellent outsider-view insight into the team. Good luck!

Well, finals are over, so I definitely have time to write it! So I think I will. :) Thanks!

I always think of Reid when I hear "Nature Boy".

I agree that Pet would definitely be awesome.

"Thomas" might also work from a victim or victim's family point of view, particularly the part that's like "show me the way to forgive you, allow me to let it go..."...

As for the rest, I'll have to think a bit on my own list to contribute :)

I love when they used Wolf Like Me in Doubt. That sort of was like an unsub-couple-team, if you think about it.

Oh wait, they DID use it?

I'm kind of obsessed with Florence and the Machine right now, and a lot of her songs would work well with show, as the lyrics often describe an obsessive, violent kind of love. "Girl with One Eye" in particular would be great for an unsub, or "Drumming Song" or "Howl."

Yes! At the beginning, after the theme song, when everyone is getting off the plane.

How the heck did I miss this *baffled*

"Where The Wild Roses Grow" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXA-9mWGCXk) by Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue could be an excellent basis for a whole episode; although the singers are an Englishman and an Australian, the setting for the video appears to be Southeastern U.S. bayou country, putting it within the BAU's jurisdiction. Their mission? Give the Jane Doe victim back her name and catch (and demythologize!) the SOB who bludgeoned her to death.

This song from H.R. Pufnstuf, performed by another plus-sized bohemian icon, is a suitable theme for Garcia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7rAaYFFeZk

(Too bad that the message is somewhat comprised by being put in the mouths of the show's villains.)

And Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science" could summarize Kevin Lynch's reaction to her.

Wolf Like Me has been played in an ep. I'm too exhausted to look up which one, but it was set on a college campus (I'm pretty sure it was a security guard killing people and they locked him up but then someone else was murdered and they thought they got the wrong guy). They played it when the gang first gets off the jet.

hahaha I totally didn't see this and made the same comment. Thank you for reminding me of the ep title, I couldn't remember it!

yes, someone already said this. i had forgotten.

There's a lot of songs for Reid:
Beautiful disaster-Kelly Clarkson (for someone who is in love with Reid)
The Scienst-Coldplay (if Reid loves someone)
I am a Rock-Simon y Garfukel.

Hotch:
Working class hero-John Lennon.

For a bad guy:
John Waybe Gacy, Jr.-Sufjan Steve

For a bad moment to the team or Morgan:
Hero-Regina Spektor

Ok, I suppose I should add my own list to this now lol

so...

Unsubs:
Alice in Chains - Would
Combichrist - Without Emotions
Combichrist - Today I Woke to the Rain of Blood
Ego Likeness - Inferno
Ego Likeness - The Devils in the Chemicals
Judas Priest - Breaking the Law
The Clash - I Fought the Law

Someone with a connection to the Unsub (family, lover, etc.):
David Bowie - Changes
Ego Likeness - Severine
Patsy Cline (or any of the other versions) - Crazy
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile
Nine Inch Nails - We're In This Together
Stabbing Westward - So Wrong

Victims (or friends/family etc. of victims):
A Perfect Circle - Thomas
Ego Likeness - 16 Miles
Ego Likeness - Raise Your Red Flags
Ego Likeness - Wolves
Hungry Lucy - We Won't Go
Stabbing Westward - Save Yourself
The Dreamside (feat. Rogue) - Open Your Eyes

I'll have to think about ones for the team, though... and I'm sure I could add a lot more to this list, but those are the first that came to mind..

I agree with this. If they could use Leonard Cohen to make a surprisingly eerie setting, they'd definitely get one if they used Where the Wild Roses Grow.

The Lady 529

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The music of CM.

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