TV TUESDAY S02E04: SUPERNATURAL's Top 40 Musical Moments (40-31)

In the eight years since Supernatural debuted in 2005, there have been 172 episodes featuring more than 350 songs appearing within the show thanks to the efforts of the show's music supervisor (and long-time HERC fave), Alexandra Patsavas (below).

Show creator Eric Kripke (above) spent a solid decade developing the show before it was picked up by the WB and this is his vision of the role of music in the show:

That was something that was really important to me, coming into the Pilot. I’m from a small town in Ohio and this is the music I listen to. I was a huge Zeppelin fan. So when it came time to write and produce the Pilot, it was so important to me, with all due respect to my beloved network, not to have music that is usually on that network. I was so rabid about it that in the original draft of the pilot, I even wrote in the script, “Cue music. And you can take your anemic alternative pop and shove it up your ass.” And the reason I wrote the scene in the Pilot, where they’re talking about tapes – AC/DC, Motorhead, Metallica – if we shoot that and it gets in the pilot, then we have to use my music because it’s already in the show. We had a great time in post-production, figuring out these songs and calling in one morning, “Billy Squier, what about Billy Squier?” I think it is a real signature to the show and it is Midwestern, two guys from Kansas and a muscle car and this is the music they listen to. I love it. The other night there was Joe Walsh and I was laughing, “Yay, Rocky Mountain Way on WB.”

– Eric Kripke, at the Paley Panel 2006

In celebration of both tonight's premiere of the ninth season of Supernatural and the Halloween season that is lurking right over there in the shadows behind those bushes, HERC will be counting down his Top 40 Musical Moments as featured on the show. This week, the countdown starts off with 40-31 and then for each of the next three Tuesdays, he will will feature ten more songs until we get to #1.

Songs were selected based on two criteria: 1) how hard they rock, whether it be fast or slow and 2) the mood and the vibe the music and lyrics combine to create rather than any on-screen imagery they may have accompanied on the show though the episode info for each song is provided for reference.  Basically, this is just a subjective list of HERC's favorite classic rock songs that happened to be licensed for use on Supernatural.  Choices had to be made and thus 300 songs remain out in the cold, including the original score on the album pictured above.  Apologies to Celine Dion as well. (You take that back. - ed.)

#40 
"Supermassive Black Hole" - Muse

   season 2, episode 10  Hunted
Muse are a modern day power trio with a knack for writing hooky songs and simply sounding massive.  This might have been Ms. Patsavas's favorite song at the time as she also included it on Twilight Soundtrack.

#39
"Fell On Black Days" - Soundgarden

   season 2, episode 5  Simon Said
   season 8, episode 6  Southern Comfort
Chris Cornell and Co. bring the forks and spoons, setting the table for a song so nice it was used twice in the series.

#38
"Walk Away" - The James Gang
   season 1, episode 13  Route 666
   season 2, episode 15  Tall Tales

Another double-dipper from yet another power trio.  This song lacks that certain darkness that is a hallmark of most songs that turn up on Supernatural but Walsh's vocals give it an air of unpredictability bordering on insanity.

#37
"Hocus Pocus" - Focus

   season 3, episode 13  Ghostfacers
One of the most yodel rockin', nonsensical songs of all time featured in one of the show's best episodes ever.  Gets bonus points for rhyming song title with band name.

#36
"Lonely Is The Night" - Billy Squier

   season 4, episode 2  Are You There, God?  It's Me, Dean Winchester
Not Billy's best work by far but it does have that dark night desperation note.  You just know Dean doesn't like "Rock Me Tonite" after seeing the video.

#35
"Ramblin' Man" - The Allman Brothers Band

   season 1, episode 1  Pilot
   season 4, episode 3  In The Beginning
The show isn't all dark and although the Winchesters hail from Kansas, smack dab in the middle of America, southern rock and blues tunes seem to suit them fine.  They are the embodiment of ramblin' men.

#34
"Round And Round" - Ratt
   season 1, episode 3  Dead In The Water
Surprisingly, Eighties Hair Metal also makes the cut in the Impala.  Surprised Mötley Crüe has never been heard on the show; "In The Beginning/Shout At The Devil" or "Looks That Kill" would have fit in all too well.

#33
"Turn Into Earth" - The Yardbirds

   season 7, episode 17  The Born-Again Identity
This one sent HERC scurrying to the interwebs for song identification before he had a smartphone or his trusty SoundHound app.  Sounded familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it. Some spooky psychedelia from 1966 featuring the Jeff Beck incarnation of the band.

#32
"Back In The Saddle" - Aerosmith

   season 6, episode 12  Like A Virgin
In interviews shortly before season six, Kripke was bemoaning the fact that Zeppelin songs, his favorite of all time, cost "a billion dollars" to license and Aerosmith was also surprisingly expensive.  Then in season six, the first Aerosmith song appears.  This song is just dangerous and menacing enough to fit into the show's soundtrack.

#31
"Metal Health (Bang Your Head)" - Quiet Riot
   season 1, episode 7  Hook Man

Another song whose music, vocals and lyrics come together to create just the right shade of darkness and impending doom.  It was also a Top 40 song on the pop charts thirty years ago.