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The 20 Best Music Moments from “Transparent” So Far

The soundtrack to Transparent is perfect. It’s helped to capture for us a show’s heart and soul. We’ve witnessed the Pfeffermans’ experiences as they unravel, collide and grow, and with each circling story, we’re given this piercing, emotional force along for the ride. The music itself has become a character-the standout moments happening when the affecting song swells in the background, and the characters respond, and we do, too.

Music Supervisor Bruce Gilbert, who has supervised on shows like Weeds and Orange Is the New Black, brought us some of our favorite moments in Season 1. He’s flanked by the series’ Music Coordinator, Nicole Weisberg, who also served as coordinator on Californication.

The music that lives in this show sticks with us-here are the scenes and tunes we just can’t get out of our heads.

20. In “Bulnerable” (2.6), Ali (Gaby Hoffmann) and Leslie Mackinaw (Cherry Jones) get naked and take bong rips in Leslie’s hot tub. “Test” by Little Dragon is playing. It’s a fun moment because bongs haven’t looked so good on screen since Shane and Jenny passed the torch on The L Word. And there’s a sensual lingo happening with Ali and Leslie’s bodies under water. We can’t look away.

19. In the pilot episode, Ali and Josh (Jay Duplass) go through old records and start singing together to “Operator” by Jim Croce. They’re listening to each other’s poor life choices, offering sibling banter and complete insight into their characters. Maura (Jeffrey Tambor) hasn’t come out yet to her family-they know her as their dad Mort, and they’re convinced Maura’s big news is cancer. “Operator” is covered later on by Margaux (Clementine Creevy) and Alison Sudol under the name Glitterish.

18. Sarah (Amy Landecker) and Tammy (Melora Hardin) have taken their relationship public and are attending the Trans Got Talent event in “Symbolic Exemplar” (1.7). As they walk in, “I’m Every Woman” by Chaka Khan is heard, and Sarah appears enthused-no, overly stoked. Noticing this exit from her usual cynical, eye-rolling ways, a drug-sniffing Tammy begins to take stock. (Pssst! Sarah’s high off that Jedi Kush.) This is a classic Sarah moment, and she owns it.

17. In “Rollin” (1.3), you might remember a scene where Ali goes to her trainer’s apartment where she tries to strike up a threesome with him and his roommate. She ends up feeding all three of them MDMA in the process. “Merry Go Round” by The Coathangers plays on in the background. “We used to be kids!” She realizes while super high, helping the men to “see their pussies.” Then, to top it off, she gets a call from Maura, who wants to meet with her-to come out to Ali as Maura for the first time. Honorable mention is awarded to flashback teen Ali (Emily Robinson) who sings along to her Psychedelic Furs tape in the backseat of the station wagon.

16. At the end of “Moppa” (1.4), Ali and Josh are both feeling blue, and Ali puts on “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye” by Bettye Swann, forcing Josh to dance with her. Ali gets completely silly, breaking Josh from his funk, who joins in on the fun, too. It’s one of those moments we all pocketed away-because it’s two Pfeffermans having a good time with each other, no sarcasm, no pity, no guilt about it. Plus, any time any two characters let out a good dance to a record player in their living room, it warrants a spot on a list just like this. If Ali and Josh had to be described in this moment, it’s: cozy as fuck.

15. In the Season 2 opener, “Kina Hora,” Sarah hides out in the bathroom at her wedding with way more than cold feet. She has a panic attack, and she doesn’t want to marry Tammy anymore. The traditional Jewish wedding celebration song “Hava Nagila” is beginning to build in its intensity from the dance floor. Everyone gathers ’round to put Tammy and Sarah up on their chairs, but Tammy can’t find Sarah. We see a man leap into the center and begin dancing, and we are shot back into a flashback to Berlin during a boisterous party at the Institute for Sexual Research.

14. Josh is preparing for a very special pool party at the former Pfefferman-Cashman residence in “Flicky-Flicky Thump-Thump” (2.2). He’s also in the business of cementing a music deal for his girls Margaux, Bianca (Kiersey Clemons) and Agnyss (Petra Collins). Glitterish is no more-now there’s Fussy Puss. Shelly and Maura won’t be getting in the pool because they’re still drying off from their bathtub party. Tammy shows up drunk and mad at Sarah for leaving her at the chuppah and cuts off the amp as Fussy Puss is playing “Hologram (Smoke and Mirrors).” Everyone is mortified. Rock ‘n roll, Tams.

13. Everything is unique about “Best New Girl” (1.8), because the whole episode takes place in 1994 flashback mode, and it’s the only episode to do so in the series to-date. Composer and pianist Dustin O’Halloran wrote the original score and opening music for Transparent. Here, he transforms the 1976 Bob Dylan song, “Oh, Sister” into one haunting piano ensemble as stand-in for his original opening theme. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music in 2015. Check out this interview O’Halloran gave with Wired in which he discusses how he came up with the theme soundtrack for Transparent.

12. It’s also in “Best New Girl” (1.8) when Maura lies to Shelly, Ali’s Bat Mitzvah is canceled, and Maura sneaks off to her secret cross-dressing camp in the woods. It’s at the camp where she meets Connie (Michaela Watkins) who later portrays Yetta, Rose’s mother, in Berlin flashbacks. It’s kismet, or cosmic, or just bashert (Yiddish for fate.) Connie and Maura dance and drink and eventually kiss. “Tube Sock Tango” by Mucca Pazza is playing, and the scene cuts back and forth between their sexy tango and teen Ali’s encounter with a man on the beach. In an interview with Amazon, Season 1 Music Supervisor Bruce Gilbert said that this was one of his favorite music moments from the season.

11. In the Season 1 finale, “Why Do We Cover the Mirrors?” (1.10), a theme washes in throughout the episode, Heart‘s 1976 hit “Dreamboat Annie” as sung by Margaux and Tammy’s kid, Bianca. It’s played before the funeral for Shelly’s husband Ed. “See ya, Ed!” says Shelly, after they’re transported to the cemetery in a white ’80s limo. The song is reprised at the end credits. “Sad faces painted over with those magazine smiles/ Heading out to somewhere/ Won’t be back for a while.”

10. Season 2 was off to a glass-breaking good time at the Pfefferman-Cashman wedding in “Kina Hora” (2.1), surely an affair to remember. As Sarah and Tammy cut the cake, Tammy is unaware of Sarah’s fast-decaying state of sanity and impending zombie status. It’s the first time we’ll hear “Waiting” by Alice Boman, which re-emerges in other episodes throughout the season. The song plays during that streaming shot from each hotel room window to the next. Josh tells Raquel (Kathryn Hahn) that they’re “lovable,” Sarah is breaking up with Tammy for good, Shelly tells Maura, “You’re beautiful,” and Ali is seen standing alone on her hotel patio with Hari Nef sitting in the background.

9. “New World Coming” (2.3) is also the namesake for the original song sung by Mama Cass Elliot in 1970, but for all intents and purposes, Fussy Puss beautifully covers it at the start of the episode. Ali and Syd have all this reunited-and-it-feels-so-good tension, so they go to Lezbowl and Ali slow motions through the queer crowd while reciting a poem from Eileen Myles‘ book I Must Be Living Twice. It’s dubbing tonight as a Leslie Mackinaw original. Ali just had the pleasure of meeting Leslie through her Moppa and she’s completely spellbound. Ali and Syd take their flirtations up a notch-kissing and then taking it back to Syd’s for a sexy sleepover. “New World Coming” is reprised in its 1971 format by Nina Simone.

8. One of the most striking moments of the season might be when Josh and Raquel invite Colton’s adoptive family into their home and they end up taking him back with them in their RV. “Mee-Maw” (2.5) packed a harsh punch-hard lessons learned, secrets uncovered about Josh’s parents knowing Rita was pregnant years ago. Colton’s siblings, played by Roland Kilumbu and Emma Howard sing the praise song “Humble Thyself” as their RV backs down the dark driveway. The song echoes over and over again. It’s an uncomfortable moment that continues to tug at the inclusion of religion and ritual in this series. It’s the scene that stays with you long after you watch this episode.

7. In the Season 2 finale, “Grey Green Brown and Copper” (2.10), we watch Ali slink through her new college campus in a bright polka dot dress-headed for Leslie’s office for some student/teacher chatter. She’s back from Idyllwild, their rendezvous in the tent, and the only cure for this hangover is more Leslie. The entire time, a frisky cover of “All I Want” by Joni Mitchell follows Ali on her walk. It’s one of the sexiest scenes in the series, ever, and Gaby Hoffmann is just walking.

6. In “Oscillate” (2.8), Our Lady J (Transparent’s first trans writer) delivers a rendition of “Someone to Watch Over Me” in a soaring flashback to Berlin 1930s. The flashback lasts for eight minutes. It also echoes the flashback episode styling in Season 1, Episode 8 with “Oh, Sister” by Bob Dylan (how ironic)-it’s fair to say we’ve made full circle. We learn that the “Holocaust ring” belonged to Gittel, who gave it to Rose to keep safe. The song carries into the intro credits. “There’s a saying old, says that love is blind/ Still we’re often told, Seek and ye shall find.”

5. At the end of “Oscillate,” in present day, Ali, Sarah and Maura are shown high-tailing it to Idyllwild Womyn’s Music Festival singing along to “Closer to Fine” by The Indigo Girls. They don’t know yet that Maura won’t be completely welcome at the festival because of the womyn born womyn “festival policy.” Ali waves her flag, sitting in the front seat with a red tasseled jacket covering her shoulders as she belts this song out. If home is where the heart is, we are all in that car singing along with them-because we all have.

4. When Maura’s up for her portion of the Trans Got Talent show, she’s hoping her family will be watching proudly from their seats. The thing is, two out of three of them are stoned and the other one isn’t exactly hip yet to Moppa. So, instead, Maura looks out to an empty row while singing “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye. She’s decked to the nines, wearing a coiffed white wig Dolly Parton would envy. Feeling rejected, thinking her kids don’t take her seriously, Maura shows up at Shelly’s for a much-needed hug.

3. “Lesbians In the Forest” should probably get a 10er from Pitchfork. It’s the opener, featuring Carole Pope and Peaches when Ali, Sarah and Maura make it to Idyllwild. “Man on the Land” (2.9) is one Transparent episode for the television record books. Pretty much every musical moment from this episode is necessary to group into one loving hut, where divine silver-haired crones anoint us-or Jiz Lee gets on our ass. The Indigo Girls perform their song, “Hammer and a Nail” to a throng of excited women cheering, dancing, drinking their beer, shaking about and sing in unison. Alice Boman’s “Waiting” resurfaces again. Sia wanders the forest singing, “Suffering.” But what we remember the most about this episode is that drum beat-the tension escalating between Maura and the feminist lesbians sitting around the fire.

2. At the end of the Season 2 finale (2.10), “Learning” by Perfume Genius plays while Maura, her sister, and Ali stand beside Rose on the beach looking out at the horizon. It’s as if the song and this scene were made for each other. “No one will answer your prayers until you take off that dress/ No one will hear all your crying until you take your last breath/ But you will learn to mind me/ And you will learn to survive me.” The moment speaks for itself, the sky is pink, the Pfeffermans stand together silently, two sisters who are so disconnected they haven’t known each other in decades, a daughter wearing Rose’s sister’s ring around her neck-two sisters eternally bonded. The past and the present bleed together. And ain’t it gorgeous to be standing there in front of the ocean.

1. It’s the music moment that wraps the entire series into itself. When Season 2 began, we were aimed and ready for deeply touching scenes. But the tears didn’t break, and the season didn’t really begin and take off running until this very moment. Maura goes out with her girls Davina (Alexandra Billings) and Shea (Trace Lysette) at the end of “Flicky-Flicky Thump Thump” (2.2) Maura is seen dancing with herself-palms against the mirrored walls of the dance club. “Chandelier” by Sia is playing. We see Maura face herself, feel herself.

Want to check out all of the music from Transparent? You can download and purchase most of the music from Amazon-unlimited streaming if you have Amazon Prime! What are some of your other favorite music moments that didn’t make our list?

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