Author: Ella Rustin
During the past few months, the whole Breaking Bad universe has taken over my life. From the start of the first episode, I became obsessed with the action-packed show about Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher newly diagnosed with lung cancer. With the help of his partner and former student, Jesse Pinkman, they begin to cook and distribute crystal meth. Throughout the course of the series, Walter and Jesse build their meth empire throughout the Southwest, facing the threat of death, the DEA, and some pretty erratic side characters. Though the plot is practically flawless, there’s another factor that makes this show all the better: its music selection.
The original Breaking Bad score, composed by Dave Porter, includes signature tracks like the main theme, “Negro y Azul,” and dozens of other songs that defined the course of the show. Dave Porter has been a highly valued member of the Breaking Bad universe, winning two ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards in 2011 and 2014 for his work on the series. Porter went to Sarah Lawrence College where he studied classical and electronic music composition. Porter has also created scores for other projects including Better Call Saul (Breaking Bad’s Prequel), El Camino, The Disaster Artist, and The Blacklist.
Porter’s composition in the show not only complements the show perfectly but also gives key information to the audience about the current state of the show. For example, in Season 2, the track “Negro y Azul”, also being the title of the episode, tells the story of the relationship between White and the Mexican Cartel at the time. As Walter, known as “Heisenberg” continues to take over the drug market, the song expresses frustrations on the cartel’s side about White’s growing empire. A key verse from the song states “From the fury of the cartel, No one has ever escaped. This homie’s already dead, He just hasn’t been told so”, showing the new threat Heisenberg is facing, as he doesn’t even know it yet. Porter’s score provides the audience with the full picture, while still leaving the characters in the show blindsided as to what is about to happen.
Porter’s influence on the music in Breaking Bad does not stop with his own compositions. Along with his award-winning score, Breaking Bad’s director Vince Gilligan also curated tracks from dozens of contemporary projects, with the help of Thomas Golubić. Golubić and Gilligan decided that along with the score, they wanted to include different modern-day songs to add to certain cinematic moments in the show. The music selection in this series is some of the best I’ve seen, and it is no surprise that Golubić also won two ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards for his selections, along with Porter (2011, 2014). In an interview with Wired, Golubić discussed how curating music for Breaking Bad was different than previous projects, as every song has a specific meaning to the scene it is played in. Golubić draws ties between two projects he has worked on, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. Golubić explained that, unlike The Walking Dead, the songs curated for Breaking Bad had literal meaning to the scenes they were included in. Choosing music for each was an extremely different process, as Golubić stated “Unlike in Breaking Bad where a song like The Limeliters’ ‘Take My True Love By The Hand’ can play as a Greek chorus of sorts as Walter White rolls a barrel through the desert.”
The music selection throughout the series has become a largely cherished part of the show throughout its growing fanbase. Fans can find a list of each song by episode on the Breaking Bad Fan Wiki, as well as other deep-dives into certain elements of the show (Be careful, some parts of the website have spoilers!!). Gilligan and Golubić also collaborated with Spotify to create the ultimate Breaking Bad playlist, which includes sound bites of some of the best quotes throughout the show.
Ella Rustin | “Yeah Mr. White! Yeah, Science!” -Jesse Pinkman | KXSU Music Reporter