The Americans’ use of music matches the action, but it also sets the mood of that period, imbuing the moment with that 80s feeling I remember so well. For me, that decade of memory is visceral, easily evoked by the hits of the day. I had the synth pop on my pastel pink Sharp boom box. I had the Record Bar where I could buy albums and then cassettes. I had Sonny Crocket in espadrilles on my wall. And I had an older brother introducing me to the world of hip hop (Dana Dane, LL Cool J, Eric B and Rakim), mainly to piss off our mother.
For me, The Americans has become an act of nostalgia, but not in a treacly way. The mid 80s for me were awkward and lonely, everything made worse by a bad Ogilvie home perm. The moody Americans feels just right.
So far this season, we have heard the musical stylings of:
- Crowded House
- Peter Gabriel
- Fleetwood Mac
- Tchaikovsky
- Taking Heads
All great choices, especially their employing Talking Heads’ “Slippery People” during a courier drop inside a bus station bathroom.
Could I do better than music supervisor, PJ Bloom? Hell no. He had Season 5 with Elizabeth looking longingly at her GE dishwasher to the tune of “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road,” and it gutted me. Still, here is my wish list for mid-80s tunes I would love to hear in the remaining episodes.
1. Terrence Trent D’Arby – Wishing Well
Elizabeth uses sex as a tool for her spy games, something she is trying to hide from her daughter, Paige. I don’t think this secret is going to stay a secret for long.
Hugging like a monkey see monkey do
Right beside a riverboat gambler
Erotic images float through my head
I want to be your midnight rambler
Quickly
Quickly
The blood races through my veins
Quickly
Loudly
I want to hear those sugar bells ring
2. The Pointer Sisters – Automatic
Ruth Pointer’s deep alto is #vocalgoals. Does this song fit into the theme of the show? Who cares! This is THE GREATEST Song of the 80s.
3. Rockwell -Somebody’s Watching Me
Too obvious? Phillip has left the business, but the business never really leaves you.
I’m just an average man, with an average life.
I work from nine to five; hey hell, I pay the price.
All I want is to be left alone in my average home;
But why do I always feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone.
4. Madonna – Live to Tell
Elizabeth has had a few close calls already this season. Sneaking into the State Department and then wrestling with an Air Force general who ends up killing himself, his brains ending up all over Elizabeth’s wig and Foster Grants. As the Cold War ends, will Elizabeth make it out alive?
I have a tale to tell
Sometimes it gets so hard to hide it well
I was not ready for the fall
Too blind to see the writing on the wallA man can tell a thousand lies
I’ve learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell
The secret I have learned, ’till then
It will burn inside of me
5. Kool Moe Dee – Wild Wild West
A lot of people got shot in the 1840s Wild West. Kool Moe Dee compares that time to living in 70s- and 80s-era Harlem. This song is fitting because a lot of people seem to die in Washington DC parks, thanks to the KGB. Phil and Liz have a very high body count.
6. The Bangles – If She Knew What She Wants
Elizabeth’s scenes with Erica Haskard, the dying artist and wife of a State Department official, have been the most revealing this season. “Home healthcare nurse” Elizabeth might bristle at her patient’s paintings and charcoal drawings, but I don’t think it’s because she thinks artistic expression is a waste. I think Elizabeth hates how it makes her feel, forcing her to confront her unhappiness.
I’d say her values are corrupted
But she’s open to change
Then one day she’s satisfied
And the next I’ll find her crying
And it’s nothing she can explain
7. Howard Jones – No One Is to Blame
This could be Elizabeth and Phillip’s theme song. So much angst! This was the song Alanis was trying write when she wrote Ironic.
You can feel the punishment but you can’t commit the sin. Ooof. That is a good lyric.
And you want her, and she wants you
We want everyone
And you want her and she wants you
No one, no one, no one ever is to blame
8. Alphaville – Forever Young
The state of Elizabeth’s face has been a cautionary tale of what stress, no sleep, and Camel Lights can do to one’s face. This girl needs some under-eye concealer stat. She used to trade on her looks but this season, she has rocked the frump aesthetic.
Also, this song is about dropping the bomb, perfect for going into the Washington Summit of 1987.
Let’s dance in style, let’s dance for a while
Heaven can wait we’re only watching the skies
Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst
Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?
11. EPMD – It’s My Thing
Paige is a college student. She might be learning the family business, but surely this girl goes to parties to mingle, network, and listen to music her white parents would hate?
The more you bite your body gets hot
Don’t get too cold because you might get shot
Knowin’ that my rhyme’s like a poisonous rat
Don’t play dumb boy, you’re smarter than that
12. The Smiths – Girlfriend in a Coma
Morrissey makes everything better.
There were times when I could
Have murdered her
But you know, I would hate
Anything to happen to her
13. Amy Grant – Everywhere I Go
So far, Pastor Tim is still alive, and that needs to change. Paige is going to kill him while listening to contemporary Christian music. The USSR spy network might be more ubiquitous than God.
Everywhere I go
I see your face through the crowd
Everywhere I go
I hear your voice clear and loud
Everywhere I go
You are the light that I seek
Everywhere I go
You have found me
