Serial Songs

The world is literally counting down to the new and final season of “Stranger Things”. A series that became historic even before it ended, perhaps more influential than it is good. One that, to borrow a phrase from Simon Reynolds, set off the rampant retromania now sweeping through the audiovisual universe. 

Among the various weapons the Duffer brothers use to catapult us into a mood inspired by the fictional coming-of-age stories of the Eighties, there's certainly their sharp use of a non-original soundtrack, in which the songs chosen to trigger the pathos of key moments become protagonists on a par with the characters themselves — to the point of living a second life outside the screen, going viral on TikTok, topping the global charts of various streaming platforms, or even cropping up in the sales charts of certain countries. 

Since “Stranger Things”, this use of classic or cult tracks has only increased across the world of TV series. This really just reminds us how inextricably linked the world of TV series is to that of pop music — far more so than cinema. And not just for the last decade, but for at least half a century. 

This new OndaRock column is born as a journey, a rather disorganized one at that, through the history of songs most closely tied to the world of TV series. We'll feature five in each installment, and in the meantime we'll be adding them to a themed playlist.

Running Up That Hill – Stranger Things 4*3

After the introduction you've just read, it would be sacrilege not to start with this track by Kate Bush. 

Max is trapped in the mental world of Vecna, fully under the control of “Stranger Things”'s super-villain, with no apparent way out. To reconnect her to reality, her friends play her, strictly on a walkman and cassette, the song that has always saved her in difficult times. As the orchestral flourishes of the opening track of “Hounds Of Love” and Bush's trilling vocals make their way through, Vecna's terrifying world begins to tear open, offering Max a way out. In what quickly became one of the defining scenes of TV's 2.0 era, the Duffer brothers celebrate the redemptive power of music with a choice that brought the Kent-born chanteuse's song back into headphones across half the world. 

In The Air Tonight – Miami Vice 1*1

Giving credit to Phil Collins's hit for the success of what is in all likelihood the quintessential cop show might be a bit much, but if Michael Mann's creation hypnotized audiences from the pilot onward, it's also thanks to the marriage between its nighttime imagery and the synthetic velvet of “In The Air Tonight”. Crockett and Tubbs are aboard the legendary Ferrari Daytona Spyder, the night reflected on the car's black bodywork, the camera lingering on tires and suspension, cradled by the synths and the song's soft beats. It seems to float over the asphalt, as the two cops load their guns on their way to the final reckoning with Calderone. 

It might seem like an exaggeration, but this early scene already contained the whole of Mann. The silences, the neon lights slicing through the dark, the biting realist minimalism of his eye and, of course, his great skill at blending images with pop music — the latter a leitmotif running through his entire career. 

Comfortably Numb – The Sopranos 6*18

We're still in a car, in the scene that once and for all strips away the humanity of one of the most controversial characters in the history of TV series, Tony Soprano. The New Jersey boss kills his godson Christopher Moltisanti, suffocating him by pinching his nose shut after a car crash. Right up until the moment of impact, the two are locked in one of the tensest, most dramatic dialogues of the HBO masterpiece. 

Providing the backdrop to their words, heavy with bad omens, is “Comfortably Numb”, in the version by Roger Waters with Van Morrison and The Band, performed at “The Wall – Live In Berlin”, almost underscoring the mobster's callousness even in the presence of someone who, to him, should have been something like a son. 

Breath Me – Six Feet Under 5*12

The finale of “The Sopranos” is considered by many to be the greatest series ending of all time. Most of those who disagree will probably lean toward giving the title to “Six Feet Under”.

The stroke of genius Alan Ball had for closing out what remains the best series to bear his name was to show, once the storylines had wrapped up, the future deaths of each of the main characters – no solution could have been more in tune with the spirit of the show. The cathartic montage begins cradled by the halting piano of Sia's “Breath Me”, and as the song builds toward its iconic orchestral finale, the images grow ever more intense and heart-wrenching. Few managed to watch it dry-eyed.

Devoted as she was to tearful ballads and trip-hop backing tracks, up to that point the Australian singer-songwriter was known only to a few. It's no stretch to say that the flood of fame, hits and collaborations that followed is something Sia owes directly to Alan Ball and “Six Feet Under”.

Liberi liberi – Romanzo criminale – La serie 2*10

Staying on the theme of finales, we come to what is without a doubt the finest closing chapter any Italian series has ever produced: “Romanzo Criminale – La serie” by Stefano Sollima. The sax notes that open Vasco Rossi's “Liberi liberi” begin to fill the air as Commissioner Scialoia is initiated into the world of the secret services, effectively closing the story of the Magliana gang and the show's other protagonists.

When Blasco starts singing, we're instead in present-day Magliana, where Er Bufalo – the last member of the gang still alive or free – waits for the police to arrive at the bar he used to frequent with his crew, picturing them as they once were: still alive, free and young.

Rossi's song, aching and drawn-out as ever, lends a poetic, earthy touch to the images, its lyrics underscoring the inescapable fate awaiting the young men portrayed by De Cataldo.

Ride the wave of great music

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08/05/2026