4 Unforgettable Needle Drops From ‘The Sopranos’

It stands as one of the most praised shows in the history of television. The Sopranos brought television to another level during six amazing seasons. And the way that the show slipped in outstanding songs to complement the action is just one of its enduring legacies. We could have made this list much longer. But instead, we’re sticking with just four songs that made an indelible impression when used in the show.

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“The Beast In Me” by Nick Lowe

Nick Lowe made his bones as a pub rocker and New Wave icon. But as his career progressed and his chances for pop stardom dwindled, he settled into a groove writing and playing a more antiquated style of song. “The Beast In Me” sits right in the gentle, country-soul lane that many of his later songs effortlessly inhabit. Johnny Cash, Lowe’s former father-in-law, recorded it first on the 1994 album American Recordings. Later that year, Lowe did his own version. On it, he added touches of wry humor to the vocal on his flawless album The Impossible Bird. Dropping in at the end of the first episode of The Sopranos, it perfectly foreshadows the internal struggle with which Tony, played by James Gandolfini, will deal for the entirety of the show.

“State Trooper” by Bruce Springsteen

Since Steven Van Zandt was a member of the cast, you had to figure that, at some point, The Sopranos would get around to including a Bruce Springsteen song. They made a fantastic choice with “State Trooper”. The song, featured on Springsteen’s 1982 all-acoustic Nebraska album, simmers with tension that you know is going to erupt. It finally does in Springsteen’s screams at the end during the track’s final moments. That made it the perfect selection to play over the closing credits of the show’s Season 1 finale. After all, that season ended on a relatively harmonious note, with the Soprano family gathered for dinner. Considering the nature of the show, however, you knew that harmony would eventually explode.

“It Was A Very Good Year” by Frank Sinatra

Has there ever been a more anticipated season premiere in television history than the second season opener for The Sopranos? By the time the show came back for Season 2 on April 9, 2000, most people had discovered it either the first time around or via reruns on HBO. When they tuned in to see what was up with their favorite gangsters, they were treated to a montage set to the swirling strings of Sinatra’s melancholy lament for lost time. Written by Ervin Drake, who also wrote the similarly high-drama 60s hit “I Believe”, “It Was A Very Good Year” proved the ideal soundtrack for a sequence allowing viewers to catch up on what the characters had been doing since we’d last seen them.

“Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey

Not only is this one of the ultimate needle drops on The Sopranos, but it also serves as one of the most thrilling uses of music in any television show ever. Some have criticized the choice as too poppy and obvious. But, at the time it appeared in the final scene of the final episode of the show, “Don’t Stop Believin’” wasn’t quite as ubiquitous in the culture. (It was only a No. 9 hit when it debuted in 1981, outperformed by several other Journey songs.) And it’s precisely the type of song you would expect Tony Soprano, still clinging to a happy ending in his life, to choose at the tableside jukebox at that moment. Because of the ambivalent ending, we’re still not sure if it’s the last thing he ever heard.

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