The Obligatory “How Will The <em>Sopranos</em> Sound Off”? Post

A few hours ago, a music publicist sent out an email with a subject line containing both the terms “Nick Lowe” and “The Sopranos“; terrified that some sort of series-finale plot-twist would be revealed within, we sent it out to the labs for analysis, only to find that it was actually a reference to a very speculative Wall Street Journal article that guessed which song would wind up as the show’s closing theme (the Journal guesses that Lowe’s “The Beast In Me” will finish things off, as a nod to the first season’s capper).

It would be a fool’s game to try to guess anything that David Chase does at this point, especially when it comes to the show’s music, which has always been unpredictable: There was the Henry Mancini/Police mash-up a few years back; the unearthing of great lost songs from the likes of Nils Lofgren and the Pretenders; and, of course, the theme song, an electronic-blues track by a country-gospel band from Brixton. The tunes have been so unexpected that we were taken aback when–while re-watching the infamous “Pine Barrens” episode–we realized that “Gloria” underscored a scene featuring the Gloria Trillo character. It’s one of the few times the show went for the obvious.

Many of this season’s tracks have been dark n’ limey, including songs from Tindersticks, Roger Waters and, most notably, John Cooper Clarke. So Lowe makes sense. But knowing Chase’s love of the unexpected, not to mention his disain for closure, we’re going to bet on the closing credits being accompanied by “Monster Mash.” And then, for the last time in 8 years, we will laugh at the fact that there’s a guy on the show named John Oates.