Welcome to Everyone Deserves Sunshine. I'm Diana.
And I'm Anusha. We're the girls in the crease.
You may have noticed that our intro song sounds
a little different today. And that's because
for our music episode, we have a very special
surprise guest. Very special. Yep. Harrison.
The legend. The legend who blessed us with the
sultry cover of all the things she says that
plays at the end of episode five. That's right.
Sultry, hypnotic, all of the things. And he was
generous enough to let us use a little snippet
of the song for this episode. So, Diana, should
we jump right into the interview we did with
Harrison? I think we need to give the people
what they want. Let's go. We have a very special
guest we want to welcome to The Crease. Welcome
to our podcast, Harrison. Hello. Thank you so
much for being here and bringing some sunshine
our way. Huge fans of the show and huge fans
of your absolutely stunning cover of all the
things she said. I know you said growing up.
You had like a broad swath of musical influences
like Phil Collins, Sting, Eminem. And then you
got into sort of the rave scene as a teen, right?
So tell me your story. Tell me your musical story.
I always liked dance music. But firstly, I was
probably more of like writing songs and more
guitar vibes, singer -songwriter stuff. The dance
music came when I was walking into a guitar shop
and there was a young guy together and i'm chatting
to him in the street so at the time i wanted
to chill and uh and and make music with anyone
and then he came back and he was kind of making
dance music and i was like maybe i shouldn't
be doing this maybe i should be making dance
music and that's kind of where that began that's
the true kind of like part of it i'd say from
that point on that i can pinpoint it down to
the exact moment i knew i wanted to be a dj do
you know i've never told the actual i'm gonna
give it to you i'm gonna give it to you 100 this
is the legit story of how it happened so guitar
shop happened after that i'm making a bunch of
um dance music and i'm writing records but nobody's
replying and i'm wondering why nobody's replying
and i'm just sat there like i'm sitting i mean
they're really rubbish right or like just the
industry doesn't care And then one day, a manager
from England said, I'm going to come over and
see your studio and we're going to talk about
music. I was like, studio? Like, I'm in a garage.
Like, there's some breeze block on the wall and
a couple of speakers. But like, you're going
to be so disappointed. Anyway, he comes around.
He listened for like five minutes and he just
disappeared. And then he comes back and he's
like, I manage DJ Chucky. I want you to come
to Amsterdam this weekend to come to the show
to meet him. And he made that. The song was called
Let the Bass Kick originally. And then obviously
LMFAO and the whole global reach of what he had
was pretty cool. And he sold out a venue in Holland,
which is really famous, called the Heineken Musical.
And it's pretty massive. And in Holland, you
rave till like 5 a .m. when you don't go home,
right? Like, it's not like, go to this venue.
Because of, you know, this big venue. Well, yeah,
no, it's massive. I go there. I remember it was
snowing. I remember it was my birthday. It was
February 22nd and I walk outside after the thing
and I saw lights. I saw like lasers. I saw thousands
of people coming together and I was just like,
you know what? This is what I want to do. So
I met a bunch of people that night who also were
in the music industry and I was just networking,
doing my thing. I go home and I write about my
experience of doing that, right? That's when
I wrote my song, Ain't a Party. You don't know
this yet, but this story is about to get good.
I send this to DJ Chucky, who's always been a
very, very lovely person to me. And there's like
the Miami Ultra Music Week, the biggest dance
festival of the world. Like that's... Yeah. That's
peak, right? He's playing main stage that weekend.
And I gave him the track that I made. He plays
it. Calvin Harris plays it. David Guetta plays
it. And then literally that weekend, David Guetta
was on the phone to the person that sent me to
Amsterdam saying, well, I want to release this
with Harrison. And that's how it happened. That's
incredible. And that's like my first experience
in the music business like ever. And I'm going
from like nothing to like, I mean, I think he
just released Akon, Sexy Chick, like, and then
it was me. And I was like, this is just surreal.
So to do it one time is one thing, but now I'm
doing it by myself and on a whole different level
because I'd say heat rivalry is way bigger. oh
my god you know it's so well deserved and and
it's global you get a series that goes number
one on hbo right and then you get a viral song
in canada and america at the same time and the
number one viral song for like a month and then
you throw in the olympics and and obviously the
grammy after parties i've seen the videos there
miley cyrus talking about it jennifer lopez posting
it you can't get to this point of just like wow
like what is going on and I sit there and I scratch
my head all the time thinking I stay awake awake
at night like why me like why now I just had
my daughter you know she's nine months old yeah
I know and oh my god so much excitement for you
yeah And I obviously was going to quit and then
I didn't. And then I did this and then like kind
of is in there. Now everybody's offering me like
an album deal. We're doing this music episode
and we did like a super deep dive into how the
music is work through the show. And the music
really is supporting character, like one of the
biggest supporting characters in the show, which
is why we decided to do the full episode. I don't
know whether that scene would have been the same
without that song. That's what I'm saying. A
lot of times the music says what the characters
can't say, right? So what do you think your song
in that moment says to you or to all of us? Firstly,
they're phenomenal actors. So I think anything
could have been there and you would have liked
the scene anyway. But the fact of what he did
as a director to flip that at that point, old
to new, one story to another. there's just so
many levels the second half of the scene like
where it goes into the credits and he's alone
and he's in the shower and like the actual part
like that to me was like the take my glasses
off throw it across the room moment do you know
what i mean the real fans know like they know
like where it goes to like that point where it's
like okay this is just absolutely mental and
then even it took me a second to like it's the
bombshell moment of the whole It is. That needle
drop. It's just such a raw and intense scene.
And did you know that was where your song was
going to go? You did. I knew it was in a club
scene. I didn't know the context. No one had
seen the series at that point. Only they knew.
When I watched it the first time, what I was
thinking was, my song's in this show. Why aren't
they playing my version? Why aren't they playing
the other one? Maybe they got it wrong. That's
what I was thinking. Oh, that's so funny. And
then when they flipped it, I was like, oh, there
it is. Yeah. Did you have a flip? Did you feel
that flip? Yeah, of course. But, like, the whole
time I was like, wait, I swear, like, a few months
ago they asked me if I was going to be in this
show. They're like, did you guys use the wrong
version? Did you just make me sign away a song
that I don't own? So you weren't exactly sure
how they were going to be stitched together?
No, no, no, no, no. I didn't know. Wow. It was
a surprise for you too. Yeah, it was a surprise
for me too. But then I was just as mesmerized
as everybody else. Right. That is such an interesting
thing. I love that you were watching it and we
were like, wait a second. When is it my turn?
Well, I was like, okay, fair enough. They got
it wrong and they must think that I'm tattooed.
But like, obviously, that's naive to think that.
I listened to all the things she said in the
Russian clubs. And I remember dancing to them
or to the song in Russian because, right, the
originals are Russian. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.
And dancing to that song and just feeling some
type of way. Not quite sure why. It made me so
emotional. And back then at like 18 -year -old
or 17 -year -old, I didn't quite like understand
why. And then hearing it again, and it's been
years since I've even thought of the song. Hearing
it again in that scene, the original. Right.
The English original. And then hearing your remake
of it. I know it's a cliche, but I swear it like
altered my brain chemistry. Not just the original,
but the way it transfers to your song and the
way the scene escalates as your music does every
second, like every second and the way the actors
follow it. Like I know you said like, yes, they're
insane actors. They're they're incredible. But
in that moment, I don't know if there could have
been any other song that would have done. The
same thing that not only the Tattoo song did,
but your version of it. It just escalated that
scene to such a level for me. I'm truly grateful
for your song. I really am. I think. Thank you.
Well, that's really kind. On a personal level,
it did something for me. And I just wanted to
say that to you. And I hope you enjoy it for
years to come. And, you know, it brings you that
type of happiness whenever you hear it. I listen
to it all the time. It's on the loop. You think
I'm kidding, but if you're around here, we're
coming. Like, that's it. I'm dragging Anusha
out. We're coming. We are going. Yeah, you should
definitely see it. I mean, the whole show means
so much to me. And that moment was such a pivotal
moment. It's almost like the pretense came off,
you know, the tattoo song, which was Russian
and was like clearly so important to pick that
song for Ilya. Then your song came on with this
sort of like hypnotic. I used to listen to it
before the show, obviously. And I used to like
be on my motorbike or something and I would.
sit there and and and whenever it came on I like
my I find my speedo going a little bit faster
and it like yeah there was always something to
this and uh and it gave me the same kind of feeling
Your song feels like it was one of the most associated
songs to this beautiful queer love story. And
I know that house music has a special place in
the queer community. So was that something that
was on your radar as you were thinking about
this? I've always covered and remixed, I guess
you could say queer songs too. For instance,
Tainted Love or Sweet Dreams. I find they're
to be the best club songs. And I love, love,
love all of my gay fans. Oh my God. Like, can
I just say, they are the biggest supporters of
like me I've ever had. I've been doing this for
like 13 years. And if I'm going to go and play
prides, lucky me, right? Because like that is
going to be like a party on a party on a steroids.
And I am so... Just I'm buzzed to be part of
this. This is so cool. Tockey is one thing, you
know, the sports is another thing. But the fact
that I have a whole, I'm part of something that's
like actual athletes coming out. Yeah. That's
so cool. Does that feel strange to you? It was
just you and you had this like control over your
own music and now it's so much bigger. Does it
feel different to you? The day that I woke up
on the 15th of December and the first wave hit
from Canada. Going, do you know what just happened?
I realized that this was, I thought, okay, this
will be done in a couple of weeks. Like, you
know, it's whatever. It's just a song. But every
week I see these, like this bump and it just
goes up and up and up. And now we're at like
a half a billion views on TikTok. It's defining.
It's like, is it the spike or is it like forever?
After people didn't even know that I sang the
song, which is beyond me. I just assumed that
you did, honestly. I just assumed it. Yeah, well,
some people are like, you sang it too? And I'm
like, yeah. Because where else did it come? Where
else did the vocals come? Well, I mean, not every
producer sings so, but I knew you did. Because
you're kind of like a hybrid because you have
that sort of vocalist background too. But a lot
of the comments, like I posted a video on TikTok
of me singing it, and like half of them are like,
you sang it too? And I'm like, what do you mean?
It's a guy voice and a girl voice. Like, can't
you tell the difference? Like, how do you not
know? I remade every single part of that song.
I remade the whole production. I remade the whole
everything. And that's obviously why it became
a whole new thing. And I'm just so glad that
so many people can, I don't know, discover something
that was so famous the first time. And they get
to find out about it. I never thought in a million
years I would have a number one viral record.
number one anything I always thought I was going
to be remembered for that Tomorrowland song to
actually have this now for me just feels like
a whole I've got a whole new excitement which
I never had about making music I lost it and
you're just thinking like it's all happening
I'm in the right place when's it going to be
your turn my turn or if maybe it's never going
to be my turn and maybe I'm just supposed to
be in this place But now I feel like, if anything,
it is my time and I'm going to just run with
it. So I will be here with an album probably
by the end of this year. And I'll be drip feeding
it over the summer. Everybody's going to remember
me for your rivalry now anyway. Possibly temporarily,
possibly. But I think your music is so good that
it's going to transcend this, honestly. Everyone
needs a kick or something that boosts them. A
lot of people have always said in the past, what's
the story? What's your story? And it's like,
well, you know, I'm this and I'm that or whatever.
But now this is a crazy story. This has actually
got some real stuff behind it. The fact that
this resonated with anyone, I'm very, very thankful
and I appreciate your time with me here. And
I'm glad that the music resonated with you and
made you happy. It was stunning and it was part
of the whole story. So thank you for making it.
Thank you for spending the time with us. The
world's in a weird place right now and we need...
We're like passengers just watching this rail
train run out of control. That's a really good
metaphor. Apologies from our end over here. Yeah,
we're contributing to that. We have little control.
No, I feel you. I think that's also why people
are clinging to this beautiful story with this
beautiful soundtrack. Yeah, it's an escape from
what's actually really happening. To feel hope.
Yeah, but also to... It gives you hope for love,
I think, in a lot of ways. And that's kind of
like the message of all of it. Anyway, lovely
to meet you all. You too, Harrison. Thank you
so much. Thank you so much. That was so amazing.
I can't believe that actually happened. It feels
extremely surreal. If you want to see the full
interview with Harrison, head over to our socials,
including, courtesy of our social media maven,
Diana, YouTube. Now I know we have YouTube now
so yeah over there we hope you loved that interview
as much as we did. Now let's dive into the music
analysis of Heated Rivalry. We're switching things
up a little bit from our previous episodes so
today we're going to go episode by episode breaking
down how the score and the soundtrack elevate
each scene. Think of it as a sonic deep dive
with Shane, Ilya, Scott, Kip and The music, which
is also its own character on the show, I think.
For sure. Yeah. So let's get started. I rewatched
every single episode specifically to hear how
each song plays in each scene. Took about like
five pages of notes for each episode. I felt
like I was back in college. So yeah, but for
research purposes, I rewatched the entire season
for research, you know, for research. For research.
You know, we're very, very good researchers if
we're not anything else. I did something very
similar to maybe about five pages of notes, like
maybe mental notes. But, you know, kind of it
was a rediscovery of the show. Because I thought
I understood what was going on with Shane and
Ilya. But when you rewatch specifically for the
music, it's telling an adjacent and sometimes
entirely different story than what is being actually
said on the screen. Right. I mean it in the best
way. It's extremely intentional. It's the same
story, but you're watching it from a different
perspective. So I know a lot of people like watch
the show over and over again and they'll watch
it from like. Ilya's perspective and then Shane's
perspective, you know, and all these different,
and like watching it from the music perspective
is like a really interesting way to rewatch it.
Right. So that's really cool. Yeah. I like it.
Music perspective. And it was also the first
time I actually watched it with headphones because
I usually have, you know, I watched it the cover
of night, like a vampire reading the subtitles,
but I wanted the full experience. I want the
full immersion. So that's what I did differently
this time too. Before we get into like the very
specific moments that total. destroyed us over
and over again. I want to talk about the needle
drop. Some people might not know what that means.
Yes. Please, please explain this. All right.
Cool. The needle drop in shows or movies, they're
used at like very specific intentional moments
to create an emotional or cultural hit. They
trigger some sort of like memory or feeling instantly.
And then they often mark a turning point in the
whole narrative, right? Like, so the narrative
can work faster because a song can explain something
in 30 seconds versus, you know, dialogue that
might take like 30 minutes to explain. That's
a really good explanation. It's the part that
really triggers memory and feeling instantly
with the audience. Right. Yeah, exactly. Yeah,
because like it's usually a popular song that
you have heard before in your life. And Tierney
said that the music in the show didn't just come
from like some master plan. It came from his
gut, which like I feel that, right? Like you
feel a lot of the gut in this. And all the needle
drops were throwbacks to his own taste, the music
he was listening to back then. And that's why
the soundtrack feels lived in instead of curated.
Music wasn't just some sort of decoration for
him. It was part of the writing. For example,
he said in one of the interviews that he wanted
I'll Believe in Anything by The Wolf Parade in
episode five, which we're going to talk about
later. But he had cleared that before the show
was even written. Wow. I know, right? So that
tells you how central the music is to his storytelling
and the storytelling in the show. needle drops
for him are just about like triggering that subconscious
reaction and making you feel something before
you could even name it so there's that i actually
love the phrasing of it i maybe did read an article
about it but the way you explain it is so is
so great these moments these like showstoppers
they're working together with peter peter's original
score Which is sort of the emotional basis of
the show, right? It's the groundwork. It's the
foundation upon which these moments of tension
ebb and flow. So I was reading about, speaking
of research, I was reading about Peter Peters'
approach to the score. And he said, Something
in one of his interviews or one of these things
I was reading that really struck me. He said
he's trying to create music that gives voice
to these characters in our lives. That Shane
and Ilya are so guarded with their own emotions
that the score does things that the words can't.
That it evokes those emotions and it lets the
audience know what the true emotion underlying
a moment is. Yeah. It's kind of tells you something
the characters aren't able to say or, you know,
unable to cope with at that moment. So it's for
those private moments, the intimacy, the anxiety.
It's the internal dialogue. Right. Right. Yeah.
But then the needle drops are like for public
facing the clubs, the montages, the monologues,
like whereas the score you're telling me is for
like their private moments. And that's so well
done. Yeah. Beautiful juxtaposition. And they
know how to use this music to evoke. emotion.
But they also know when not to score and when
to let dialogue and silence speak for itself.
And I think we're going to highlight a couple
of those moments. I wonder if it struck our listeners
too, when these moments were happening, because
sometimes silence, from a score and music perspective,
just as much work. as those needle drop moments,
as the beautiful underlying score. And so I thought
that was such a fascinating take about the approach.
Right, exactly. So should we get into it episode
by episode? I think we should. We haven't done
an episode by episode before, but I guess it's
time. It's time. It's the best place to do it.
Let's dive into episode one, Rookies, and talk
about how we're introduced to the score right
from the beginning. A lot of the music here is
about their public life, right? Because we don't
really have their private life yet. So it's the
external competitive world. Yeah. And it's like
so pulsing, right? Like pulse driven. Yes, exactly.
So one of the key pieces, good call on the pulsing.
One of the key pieces is called rivalry. It's
the one, the first one on the score. And that's
when we first see them on the ice. It's like
competitive pulse, like you say, like the sound
of the outside world watching them and like almost
like crashing into them. Yeah, very. Apropos
of hockey, it felt very showy, like a showcase
almost. Yeah, that's true. But then later in
the episode, we get Melt. By the way, I love
the names of the score. Oh, yes. But we get Melt,
which is apparently one of Peter Peter's favorite
pieces. And that's the shower scene when Illya
is attempting to entice Shane. I love how it's
called Melt, like you're melting into each other.
Whatever. Melting in the shower. Melting in the
shower. Well, I mean, Shane is melting. Shane
is melting. It's actually happening. And that
piece also has this like pulsing quality, but
now it feels more intimate, like high stakes.
It's almost like showing us Shane's uncertainty
about what's going on. And the music is now saying
something that the characters cannot say, right?
It's starting. It's starting. It's starting its
journey. I love that you can see that sequencing
because rivalry, again, is so external, but the
score transitions into something more private.
And then we get subsequently after that, something
even more significant, that final scene in Vegas,
you know, the one where Shane finds Ilya sulking
on the terrace and the music. My gosh, the music
there. That part of the score is called Two Souls.
I mean, my God. Right. The title is just so beautiful
because it. captures completely the internal
aspect of where they are now. In just one episode,
you clearly see it's not just about sex, and
we get it right away. We're establishing it early
in episode one. We've talked about this a lot.
We know that people have different feelings about
when things got serious for Shane, when they
got serious for Ilya. But when you hear... the
music, the scoring, you can hear it with them
right then in episode one in Two Souls that is
bigger than just physical attraction, you know?
Right. Yeah, exactly. Not to mention the look
that he gives Shane when he leaves, like obviously
bigger than physical attraction, but it like
reflects like what you said about the evolution
from private to public and public to private.
And that song, that Two Souls song becomes like
their song because it starts with, it starts
as Two Souls, but later it's switches to one
soul. Same melody, different meaning. The show
is literally tracking their emotional progression
with the score. Right. I was getting goosebumps
reading the names of these pieces. You know,
this is the romance genre, right? We know it
is. And you know that these two souls are going
to become one. The music is telling you that
from the beginning. You know, it's all the strings
are coming together right away. The second you
hear no strings, you're like, that's a lie. Liar
told you that. You know strings are coming. The
score is telling you something that the characters
are not ready to admit. Okay, episode two. All
right, moving on to episode two, the Olympians.
We start with a texting montage. And so much
of Shane and Ilya's relationship has to live
in text, right? Like it can't be public. They're
usually apart. So like texting is the only way.
And I love that the texting is on screen and
not like we don't have to look inside their phones,
you know? By the way, I love the transition of
the phones too. Like the old phones and then
the flip phones. phones and then like so much
in there right i know i took no no don't be don't
be sorry it's fine because there's so much to
say you know but it's a music episode but we
got to talk about other things you know but tyranny
and speaking of music tyranny uses music and
score to like turn these text exchanges into
something like charged and sexy rather than flat
you know yeah absolutely and um you know specifically
there's a song during the sexting scene Where
did you learn that word, sexting? Yeah, yeah.
There's a song during that scene that's a little
different from the rest of the texting montage.
It's called Marge 2 by Wet Leg. Nice attempt.
I'm probably butchering that. And I think that
was chosen because it seems more serious, more
intimate. And then when they're actually together
for the first time having penetrative sex, the
music completely shifts, right? It's like...
Two years after the Vegas scene. I know. Two
years. The passage of time. Peter Peters said
that song, It's You, that's playing during their
first penetrative sex. And the reason we say
that is because they have sex before. Like, all
the other stuff they've done is sex, right? Right.
It's still sex, right? But yeah, so like Peter,
Peter said that like that song was meant to represent
their deepening connection. The music turns all
of these exchanges and all of that sexting and
yearning over the last two years into this one
final moment where they're falling in love, man.
They're clearly caught feelings and it's you.
It's you. It's the buildup. So you're going from
two souls to it's you in this moment, you know?
Exactly. It's you, which we will also come back
to a little bit. bit later okay should we also
then talk about the vegas bathroom screen i would
love i would love to talk about it yeah let's
make a deal let's make a deal which is also the
title deal yeah so in that moment you know ilia's
trying to play it cool he's doing his usual little
bantering but the music is so emotional because
shane is genuinely so upset the music is cluing
ilia in to how shane is actually feeling it gives
the words to shane's hurt and it brings Ilya
back to the intensity of the moment, even though
he's trying desperately to escape the intensity
of the moment. Ilya comes in all cocky. And Shane
is like, what the fuck do you want? Like, what
do you actually want, Rosanoff? Like, you've
been ignoring me for six months. Like, what the
fuck do you actually want? You can actually anticipate
Ilya's entrance. Even before his footsteps ring
in that bathroom, you know, you could feel like,
oh, he's going to bust in here. And the choice.
of music in that moment you could just feel it
hurting like the music is hurting just like shane
is hurting you know with those eyes with the
tears like it's definitely it's definitely a
supporting character you see like all the longing
all the yearning the eye contact like how close
they are like wow genetic right like like all
of that you like feel it feel it right and speaking
of supporting characters i feel like this is
The perfect moment to transition to Chair. Chair.
Yes, Chair. Chair. Chair. The unsung hero of
this entire series. No, Chair is unsung, honestly,
because we get emails about Chair. Yeah, fair
enough. Fair enough. Chair is well sung. Chair
is a hero. Chair is doing a lot of heavy lifting
in that scene. Chair is. And I always capitalize
chair with a C when we text each other about
this. We do. It is a character. You're right.
So tell me what happens with the chair. So after
the bathroom, they go back to the hotel with
chair. And the track that they have sex to in
that moment is called Inferno, which is. literally
the best name you could possibly put on that
track best the best and i was like where is this
song where is this oh my god i remember i was
going completely crazy i couldn't find it i would
remember trying to find it for you i was trying
to find it for like everyone i'm like where is
the song and like finally the internet's like
it hasn't come out yet you know but then it comes
out an inferno are you fucking kidding me a fire
that is dangerously out of control which like
their desire is out of control for one another,
right? Like their need, they're playing this
like cat and mouse game, like this dynamic, right?
And Shane is being a little submissive in that
moment, which is like insanely hot. And Ilya
is, you know, the soft dom, which is also insanely
hot. And that track is insanely hot and it's
so energetic and it's so intense. And it has
this like deep bass. You can feel the energy
sort of swooping. in the pit of your stomach
that's what it felt like it was like a swoop
um so yes chaotic trying to be controlled it
just captured that moment completely dangerous
it's dangerous like the inferno isn't just a
fire right like i said like it's a fire you can't
contain so props to chair for doing a lot of
work in that scene but also props to inferno
Stunning. Perfect. Chef's kiss. So the first
two episodes we've now talked about are really,
I feel like, music heavy. And you get to episode
three and you just don't see as much of score.
So if we kind of go with this idea that the score
communicates when the characters cannot, I think
Scott and Kip's communication style is much more
open than Ilya and Shane. Yes, they have these
deeply sad moments, these tragic moments, but
they're communicating. They're acknowledging
that their relationship means more than just
at the surface level. Right. So I think their
story, they're able to use words to move things
along much more so than relying on the score.
Right. Okay. That's true. But they have their
own needle drops, though. They do. They do. Yeah.
Like, you know, Wolf Parade's I'll Believe in
Anything, which is kind of like Scott's and Kip's
theme song. Kind of Scott's, but yeah. becomes
both of theirs. Yes, yes. And that episode starts
with the Wolf Parade song and we hear it again,
you know, later on in a very important moment.
When I watched it, maybe even the first two times,
I didn't realize that that episode began with
that song. For some reason, I didn't even like
clock that. And then later I'm like, oh my God.
So you're right. There's still a couple needle
drops in addition to I'll Believe in Anything.
And one of them is the song Lumiere during Scott
and Kip's montage. And it's... showing the progression
of their relationship. and Lips by Baxter Dury
when they break up. It's a beautiful song and
it plays during such a heartbreaking moment that
it's, yeah, when every time I hear it now on
the soundtrack, I just like know why it's there
and it hurts my heart all over again. And even
though they're communicating really tough things
and even though they're, you know, talking about
the end of their relationship, they're talking
about something, right? And so these needle drop
moments highlight it without the scaffolding
of the score. And then we go on to... Episode
four, it opens with one of my absolute favorite
songs in the whole series. That montage that
is set to My Moon, My Man by Feist. That's my
earworm. My Moon, My Man completely transports
me back to the world of heated rivalry. So it
moves you through the sort of middle years of
their relationship. They've had all this build
up. And now they're in this kind of weird status
quo where they're recognized sort of at least
subconsciously that they're deeply in love. to
each other they've established a pattern of how
they're gonna hook up and meet etc it meets their
needs in some ways and so this is the middle
of their story it's the essence of their relationship
so for me that's why it's like for me the montage
and Hudson actually said that's his favorite
song from the show so that's kind of cool yeah
so I clearly have good taste yeah and it's a
song about Right. It's because it's a song about
longing. The lyrics kind of loop over and over
because Shane and Ilya, frankly, they can't quit
each other. They can't let each other go. They
want to be not together, but they can't. But
the strings remain. The strings are attached.
They're pulling them together. Jacob Tierney
is a genius when it comes to montage. I mean,
everything, but the montages are. epic in this
show right after the my moon my man we get instrumental
tracks through episode four that separate the
um private longing from the public performance
and during the tuna melt episode i'm sorry during
the tuna melt scene i feel like we Hurts my heart.
There's a track called Heartbeat 3. The Heartbeat
series. Right, right, right. The Heartbeat series.
Tell us more. Tell us more. So I went so deep
into the score and figuring out like how the
motifs of certain tracks position themselves
through the show. And I mean, it wasn't too difficult
because it's called Heartbeat 1. Because Heartbeat
2 is named. Like it was still interesting to
know how they progressed through the show. Right,
right. Like where they happened. Heartbeat 1
happens during their very first hookup. All right.
They're like underlying feelings. that they can't
express because they're not communicating, but
it's communicated through this music, right?
So heartbeat one. Then you have heartbeat two
that's playing during that sexting scene that
you were talking about earlier in episode two.
Then you have heartbeat three, which is when
they call each other by their first names after
the freaking tuna melt. Shane freaks out. Shane
freaks out. Little fucker. I'm sorry. I'm so
mad. This poor... boy Ilya is on the couch with
the outstretched hand like like Hollander like
right like I just opened my heart to you and
what like you're leaving me yeah but you know
shade is equally heartbroken it just he doesn't
know how to deal with it he just runs away you
know um I was thinking about why these three
particular moments are scored that way you know
like why these moments are why are these the
heartbeats um and I think it to me represents
different eras in their relationship. The first
heartbeat is it's the newness. It's exciting.
It's fresh. And then the second heartbeat is
sort of them falling in love. Yeah. In the sexing
scene, you can see them both smiling in the same
way. And then the third heartbeat is they've
fallen in love. They're heading towards the heartbreak.
This is the heartbreak. This is the heartbreak.
Yeah. The music's telling them it's your heartbeat.
Babe, it's your heartbeat. It's your heartbeat.
So then right after the heartbeat Siri, we get
Shane and Rose's media montage. And that song,
I'm not even going to attempt to pronounce it
in French. But in English, it's translated to
It's You, which is also the name of the track
from the first penetrative sex scene, right?
That beautiful, beautiful. Yeah, exactly. So
the parallel does not feel accidental to me,
Anusha. 100%. Nothing in the show is accidental,
right? Like it's accidental. the same phrase,
a mimic of the same sentiment in different languages,
in different contexts. In the first, it's you.
The score is so deep, right? And this, it's you.
It's very poppy and light and effervescent like
champagne, but it's not the same. It does not
have that depth that you see with the score.
And the most significant thing, I think, is you're
looking at it with Ilya's eyes because he's the
one looking at the phone, you know, as this montage
is going forward. He's dying inside. Jealous.
You know, I love Rose, but Rose is not Shane's
person. She's not. compatible she's not compatible
with him so to me that effervescence even though
it's beautiful and even though Rose of course
has this huge impact on Shane she's not it for
him and the fact that the song and the score
are titled so similarly it's just beautiful because
at the end of it I feel like it's about Ilya
watching this relationship He's never out of
the relationship with Shane and Rose. Never.
No. How can he be? It's like all on social media.
He watches them all the time. And in that episode,
like you can count the heartbreaks. You know,
that's one. And then the next one, like. And
then the next one, Anusha changes our brain chemistry.
Yeah. The club scene. The club scene. The club
scene that wrecked our. brains all right okay
we're gonna talk about it we're gonna talk about
it we're probably gonna spend the rest of the
time no i'm just kidding but we could we could
rest of our lives it's talking about this all
right so the scene as you all know uses two different
versions of the same song all the things she
said and tyranny said that he was actually looking
for a specific russian club song and he knew
that this one was so important to the queer community
right and like to him as well and the fact that
it's like the original is actually in Russian,
it's called Yasash Lasoma, creates an additional
layer for Ilya's character, right? Because it's
like his culture, his language, his own queerness.
Yeah, it's Ilya's internal world. It's his queer
anthem, potentially. Right, exactly. And Tierney
said he wanted two different versions of the
song, same baseline, different emotional realities,
one for Ilya, one for Shane. And so he then found
Harrison's 2022 version, which is brilliant because
these songs carry so much nostalgia, right? And
so they're already like imprinted on us from
young adulthood. Like obviously I said earlier
in Harrison's interview, like I used to dance
to this song in Russian nightclubs in the Russian
version, right? So they're already imprinted
on us. And then when it shows up in this context,
like they hold time and place and feelings all
at once. Perfectly imprinted. I love that word.
It got to like all of us, right? Like, I mean,
that song is just the perfect pinnacle of heated.
I'm over here. And can we go? Talk about all
of the micro acting that occurs around this song.
You know, the exact moment Ilya clock smiles.
We absolutely have to talk about that. We must,
yeah. And Ilya's face changes. You can see him
then turn around in this tiger shirt, which was
hilarious too. That is like so Russian fuckboy
shirt. Like absolutely. Like I've seen millions
of Russian men wearing shirts just like that.
The tiger, yeah. Yep. Yeah, it's not subtle.
So you see him scan the room. The music is thumping.
He's ordered this drink and now he's like tapping
the bar to get it faster. All of this is wordless.
And then he takes that gulp of the beer or his
drink and you see his throat kind of bob. And
then you see him make up his mind about what
he's going to do next. And it's like I said,
it's all wordless. And the music and the acting
are just like perfectly in sync. Perfect. Be
unbeat, right? Like, be unbeat. He sees Miles.
You could see it in his face. Like, it registers.
Shane is here. I know Shane is here. And, you
know, then the shift happens. And that's what
I love. You go from sort of Ilya's interior world
that's scored by the Russian version, as you
said, and now we're going into Shane's interior
world, which is scored by Harrison, where everything
slows down. It feels like... we're underwater
along with Shane. Like time suspends, you know?
Yeah. The thing that I really love is sort of
the juxtaposition of the female voice, which
is what Shane hears, but he cannot follow this.
And then you have the male voice, which is what
he ultimately follows, you know, Harrison's voice.
And you can see that in the way he is when he's
dancing with Rose. There's something missing
from this tableau. You know, Rose is kind of
dancing up on him and he kind of bops half -heartedly
along. and then the Harrison version comes on
and then you see what's missing. Yep, yep. He
sees Ilya. The Harrison version comes on. It
just floods him. You know, they find each other
across the club. He's like, I gotta go to the
bathroom. He's not going to the bathroom. Not
going to the bathroom. He like literally stands
there like still. Two steps away. Right. Like
they find each other across the club. Lights
flashing. Desires like suspended. None of this
is subtle. None of this. As subtle as the tiger
shirt. Right. If anybody was paying attention,
they'd be like, something's going on with these
two. Right. But it's not supposed to be subtle.
Like, that's the whole point. Yeah. And then
I feel like when that episode ended, I felt completely
stripped down. I felt stripped down, but they
were also completely stripped down. They were
finally alone in their honest minds, facing their
feelings for each other head on. That scene is
not just good TV. It's a cinematic masterpiece.
I will, on record, say while the show has a million
perfect scenes, that one is mine. That scene
is 100 % my favorite. I could rewatch it a million
times. I will never skip an edit with that scene.
It's beloved by you and probably everyone else.
I'm not alone. You're not alone in this. And
kudos to that rendition, though, of Harrison's.
And thank you so much for his. I want to thank
him so much for his time, too. I know. And his
background on how this all happened. That scene
accomplished everything was set out to do. It
was just stunning. Stunning. Really. Yeah. OK.
All right. I mean, we could talk about this forever,
but let's move on to episode five, right? Episode
five begins with that pivotal scene with Rose
and Shane. And Shane comes out to her, comes
out to himself, actually. Two for one, right?
Just like such a beautiful key moment. But right
after that, we go to All -Star Weekend. So I'm
going to start there because the score there
is called Trembling. And I think it's... It's
just really appropriately named because it feels
trembling. And what I mean by that is it feels
uneasy, but there's something of an element of
hope to it. Like you're on the edge of something
like the precipice. The edge of the unknown.
You're trembling with anticipation. That's the
bar scene, right? When Ilya like spots Shane.
He's like, he's looking for him, obviously. He's
looking for him. And then he spots him across
the room, right? And then later we get this almost
carefree sequence, the Hollanoff montage, right?
At this point, Ilya knows Rose and Shane aren't
compatible. Not compatible. Not compatible. And
so this score for this moment almost feels like
like cheeky and joyful. It's perfect for Ilya
in the pool with the kids, with the shark. So
sweet. So sweet. And then they're playing hockey
in this like really joyful way. Cause they're
on the same team, you know, in all the ways.
Yeah. On the helmet. Yeah, adorable, right? And
so the score is actually a portmanteau, which
is like Rosanoff and Hollander, you know, together,
Hollanoff. So it just feels like every way, very
cheeky and wholesome. And then, and then it comes
to a screeching halt and they're on the sand.
Yeah. That's when Ilya tells Shane, I looked
up the word compatible. You and Rose are not
compatible. Right. And like he like understands
it. And then, you know, now Shane has more confidence
because he's finally admitted to himself that
he is, in fact, gay. Yes. And so he, you know,
came out to himself. And for the first time in
the series, he asks Ilya, what is your room number?
You know, I actually did not. even put that together
that he's the one overtly asking the balls in
his court oh my gosh Diana that is like such
a little moment there like you could see it in
his eyes too he like gulps you know he's like
I'm gonna do this I'm gonna I'm definitely gonna
do this like he totally like psyched himself
up for it you know after running away from the
tuna melt it was definitely on him and that my
friends is when we get the final heartbeat for
track the final heartbeat yeah the final heartbeat
when Shane I don't want to say like confronts
Ilya, but he definitely makes him talk about
his feelings. And they say, you know, they say
each other's first names again. Right. Like this
time. Very intentionally. Yeah. Like very intentionally.
Like goodbye, Shane. And then like Shane smiles
because he like gets it. And he's like, goodbye,
Ilya. You know, that's the scene where their
feelings are solidified. Shane is like, I can't
pretend I don't like you anymore. Like I like
you a little too much. A little too much. And
that's when we hear that final music motif. Right.
Oh, my gosh. Light motif. Right. There are no
more. big milestones, I guess, outside of saying
I love you, that are left to mark. So the Heartbeat
series is finished. Yeah, they're moving to a
different era. You know, it's this milestone
and this is completing this era. It's the heartbeat
of honesty. We should make t -shirts, Anusha.
Yeah, the heartbeat of honesty. Yes, they have
arrived. They have arrived. Anusha. I feel like
we're speeding through this, but we're going
to have to slow down. We are. Because the next
thing we're going to talk about is the monologue.
Yes. And that slows everybody down. That slows
everyone down. Set to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata,
which, by the way, diabolical. Okay. Diabolical
to put Moonlight Sonata over that monologue.
Oh, my God. Beautiful, diabolical, whatever.
Everything. Everything. Everything. So I read
that Beethoven. composed this when he was dealing
with the death of his close friend and his own
deafness and this like unrequited love right
it's actually like perfect everyone knows this
piece which makes it actually a needle drop it's
not part of the score absolutely everyone knows
this piece and it's meant to devastate you like
it's meant to devastate you thank you Jacob Tierney
for your work thank you Beethoven thank you Jacob
it's such a powerful moment in a powerful way
for Ilya to say I love you to Shane because Shane
doesn't even know that's what's being said to
him so it is we've said unrequited love and you
know we know the love is requited at this point
but it is one -sided at that moment you know
it's it's it's Ilya finally saying it to Shane
in Russian and Shane he's listening so intently
um he closes his eyes we've talked about that
um he doesn't understand the words he understands
the feeling And the music becomes what Shane
can't hear or understand. The confession, the
heartbreak, the love that Ilya is screaming in
a language that Shane doesn't speak. Right. I
know. Another reason why it's such a good choice
is because Beethoven is deeply loved in Russian
classical culture, right? So it like roots Ilya
not only in his feelings for Shane and feelings
for everything that's going on, but like also
in his identity. I was reading that Peter, Peter
and Tierney talked about like wanting to honor
both characters' cultural backgrounds. So this
moment does that pretty perfectly. Ilya is speaking
in his, you know, mother tongue. both literally
and in Russian and like also like musically through
like a cultural language through Beethoven. And
Shane understands the emotion, like you said,
even though like obviously he doesn't understand
the words. Just love that these two pivotal moments
and the needle drop music that is associated
with them has such a deep. Russian connection
yeah it just feels like a truly like Jacob and
Peter Peter they just they're they're looking
at this with such gentle hands and giving Ilya
a space to explore his roots in a way and and
the audience to explore the roots with him right
it's just it's so beautiful and Moonlight Sonata
is just a perfect description of that monologue
it's like literally exactly what it is It's an
ode to love, but also tragedy and heartbreak.
It's like the entire spectrum of human existence
and emotion. that ilia is feeling i'm gonna say
this like i didn't even like think about the
fact that like both of those songs the all the
things she said is originally in russian and
beethoven is is very much loved in russian classical
culture until you just said it for something
it didn't like click that like those songs were
given to ilia by them right like they were literally
given to him for the show because he can't communicate
freely in english oh i love that isn't that beautiful
I know. I just thought of it. You did. And guess
what? I want to talk about since we're on this
topic of moonlight. Yeah. I want to talk about
having like revelations as these existential
moments, you know. So like I want to talk about
this theory that I read and I love and I wish
I knew where it came from or who wrote it. So
if you're if you're the person like, hey, like
we want to credit you. We want to credit you.
We really do. Because there's this theory of
sunshine and moonlight. And I love it. Yes. I
remember you shared it with me and I was like,
oh, my God, it's like such a thematic, like perfect
exclamation point. Right. And, you know, I'm
a little sad we didn't think of it ourselves.
I know. But it's OK. Like that's what the little
Internet's for. Little jealous, little sad. Okay,
so Wolf Parade, I'll Believe in Anything, gave
Scott and Kip sunlight. The public -facing, bright,
visible aspect of love that they earned and deserve.
This was hard -earned, and it shouldn't have
been. But you hear it all in the songs in reference
to their relationship and sunlight. Wolf Parade,
Lumiere, all of it. There's a thematic connection
there. Which is different, you know, than, than,
and then. Right. Cause Scott and Kip get sunlight
or right. Sunlight. Their love happens where
people can see it now. Right. And Shane and Ilya
get moonlight. Yeah. I mean, it's beautiful,
but it's not it's very much, you know, out of
the public eye. Right. Exactly. Like quieter,
softer. And not because like what they have is
less real. Right. And what Scott and Kip have.
But because it's like much more protected, you
know, moonlight only exists when sun goes away.
So the moon doesn't like generate its own light.
It reflects what's already there. that's how
their relationship works right like shane shane
regulates in the dark he needs quiet he needs
predictive predictability he's constantly trying
to turn off the lights wherever you know whenever
they're together even at the end he's trying
to pull the curtains down that's so funny i yeah
he is i'm putting it together yeah yeah because
like the world in the daylight is like too loud
too exposed for him right and he's so he carries
so much shame with what's going on right yeah
but at night behind closed doors when the lights
are off, like he can finally settle into himself
and Ilya becomes his moon. My moon, my man. Exactly.
He learns to reflect instead of overwhelm. He
slows him down. He grounds Shane. He doesn't
force brightness, right? Because it might hurt
and he understands that. You know, their love
is just like in these hotel rooms. It's in texts.
It's in midnight calls. And it's where they can
finally sort of exhale. And they actually learn
to be themselves. I mean, they didn't learn.
They weren't like that from the beginning. This
is a process of learning, you know. Yeah, exactly.
So I know I said my moon, my band in quoting
the title of the fight song, you know, combine
that with that music in the earlier montage.
And you could see how completely interconnected
it all is, because this is why we have episode
three. Right. You know, this is why we're had
we had Scott and Kip's story here. The sunshine
is here because Scott's coming out is integral
to Ilya and Shane's story. You know. Shane and
Ilya's love exists in... moonlight but at the
end it's allowed to be reflected outwards because
of Scott's courage and Kip's courage too they're
seeing what's possible because he went first
right because and think about it like he's doing
this in the arena full of light and they're watching
it at home in pretty much darkness as well you
know like I see that juxtaposition is pretty
awesome too kudos again to the fan who brought
us this theory because once you see it you can't
unsee it and of course we like took it and with
it and we're like let's talk about it more and
analyze it even more because like once i saw
it i started connecting all the pieces like this
is true fandom man like it also and it's also
literary analysis and this is our thesis yes
this is the grad school of heated rivalry welcome
welcome okay so so we have to finish this episode
so at the end we get wolf parade again i'll believe
in anything the ultimate needle drop Yep, yep.
It's like the club scene at the episode four
where you have all the feelings and all the emotions,
right? Right. Scott and Kip's story comes back.
We hear the song that started at the beginning
of episode three. And now we're seeing it in
episode five, the pinnacle of the needle drop,
seeing the coming out, seeing Shane and Aaliyah's
faces. You know, that song has sunshine. being
sated over and over again so many times you know
it's like the most key word in that whole song
it's like pouring it over our heads but in the
best way because at this moment we've all deserve
you know the audience scott kip they deserve
this sunshine so that like life motif is completely
cemented you know you got hints throughout and
here we are This earned moment of sunshine. Deep
breath, Anusha. We're almost there. Okay. We
are. Episode six starts with obviously Scott's
speech. But then when we see Ilya and Shane again
for the first time, you know, in that episode,
we hear trembling again. Same score as we heard
at the beginning of the all -star game. Because
now we're in a new kind of unknown, a completely
uncharted territory, right? Like they're going
to get to the cottage and they've never been.
alone for two weeks but immediately it subdues
as soon as ilia gets in the car it starts like
making jokes because that's what he does then
the drive to the cottage another french song
it's about like happy days and like letting go
of all your worries and finding joys and simple
moments which is so sweet right because that's
kind of what they're gonna it's the perfect moment
for that song because they're finally relaxing
together they're finally relaxing together yep
then there's no music for 20 minutes in a show
that has used music to communicate everything
You get 20 minutes of just them. Talking, hugging,
being affectionate, no music, no score of any
kind. That's right. We alluded to this before
that Peter said not knowing when to score is
as important as knowing when to score. And I
feel like the cottage moments are unscored because
this is a protected space where they can actually
say what they mean, right? The music can finally
step back and it steps back in a big way. And
the characters do the work without that emotional.
guide. And you know, the audience gets to hear
that too. Well, we've earned that silence. Okay.
It's the payoff for, for being here the whole
time. Exactly, exactly. It starts when Shane
says, for the next two weeks, can we just try
to be honest about our feelings and what we're
thinking? Then Ilya's like, I will fucking do
anything if you let me touch your dick. Like,
I will do anything. Which was honest. It was
incredibly honest to say. So honest, so honest.
And then after all that silence, we get the I
love you. First in Russian. And then in English.
And guess what song? And guess what song starts
playing? One soul. Remember two souls? At the
end of episode one on the rooftop, now we get
one soul. The two souls are now connected. We
knew the string. The string is finally completely
in place. I love the string. The string has pulled
all the way through. One soul starts playing
during the sunset. We come full circle from the
terrace in episode one. We get them in this moment
when they're making love. Shane says, did we
let this happen? Ilya responds with, we were
both stupid and irresponsible. And then, you
know, Shane is like, but this is real, right?
And Ilya nods, one soul, one soul. One soul.
I feel like this is a marathon episode, right?
So the credit scenes, bad things by Kaelin Russo
feels really romantic and some high energy. Totally.
And it feels like it's an open door into season
two. Tyranny said he wanted there to be joy at
the end of the show. But also, really grounded
in the fact that although it's romantic, it's
still a risky moment for the two of them, right?
And it felt like that song, Bad Things, really,
really stayed true to the essence of the story.
You know, the romance, the riskiness, it's a
little horny, you know, at baseline, the show.
And it feels like an open book, like you're ready
to head out into the next chapter from two souls
to one soul to question mark. The reason the
soundtrack works well is because Tierney pulled
from his own memories, his own 20s. The authenticity
comes through right away, right? I am not a music
critic, but something this score does is create
nuance, that word nuance again. It just resonates
so well because it works with the story and you
can see all the thought that went through crafting
it. Crafting this score, crafting the needle
drops from the first track. And so now when you
hear it, the music, the soundtrack from first
track to the end, you can hear the story. Like
now I can actually picture it with the music.
Right. I listen to it all the time. I drive to
it. I cook to it. I do laundry to it. Soundtrack
wasn't assembled. It was remembered. It's personal
and it's intentional. So and it trusts like the
music to carry the meaning when words fail. Yep.
That's the whole point. It's the whole point
of that soundtrack. And I love doing this episode.
Honestly, I really enjoyed researching this one
because it brought me back to like my college
days. You did a great job. I did. I majored in
film and TV. So I had to do a lot of music and
score analysis, you know, back then. This was
a long time ago. Back then. But it was feel it
felt good to like use my brain in that way again,
you know, so I really enjoyed that. Yeah. And
that's what heated rivalry does for us, you know,
and probably for all a lot of listeners out there
and a lot of people watching the show. It gives
us joy. So here we are. Here we are. Yeah. OK,
we've arrived at our moment of sunshine. And
clearly this interview with Harrison obviously
is the moment of sunshine for this week. For
me, too. For me, too. I will do a quick plug,
though. I did ask our listeners on threads to
tell me the songs that aren't on the soundtrack,
but reminded them of heated rivalry. A ton of
people responded. So I put all of those songs
into one playlist on Spotify called the loon
collective. You'll see it. Thanks. It has like
our cover page. Everyone Deserves Sunshine. And
thank you to all our listeners because I think
we have like over 200 songs on there. You helped
us create this. Go ahead and find it on Spotify.
Download it. Take it. It's yours. Enjoy it. Have
fun. Thank you, listeners. And you're doing exactly
what the show is meant to do. Connect all of
us. Yeah. Next week on Everyone Deserves Sunshine,
we're talking about anti -dystopia. Anti -dystopia.
Well, that's a perfect conversation to have at
this moment. of this hellscape but but to be
honest it's the anti -dystopia so we will be
looking at it from the lens of joy it will be
fine all right subscribe wherever you get your
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drop on mondays see you then