After five years and six seasons, Lena Dunham’s not-exactly-a-commercial-hit-but-Golden-Globe-winning HBO series Girls (which you can stream on HBO Now) is coming to an end this Spring. Despite Dunham’s sometimes controversial public persona, her work on Girls feels real and forces millennial viewers to critically evaluate the digital cultural reality in which they participate on a daily basis. It’s a supremely self-aware representation of millennial life, to the point where viewers have an “I know someone exactly like that” moment in almost every single one of its sixty episodes. As HBO’s CEO noted in a recent oral history with The Hollywood Reporter, “I’m sure there are people who watched this show who didn’t see a reflection of them or their lifestyle, but there were millions and millions of people who did.”
Over its thirty hours of narrative, music plays a large part in the show. Scenes throughout the show’s early years are perfectly soundtracked by indie artists, and in later seasons, Allison Williams’ Marnie Michaels becomes a somewhat successful touring musician. The show was even conceived in a musical setting, as Dunham revealed in The Hollywood Reporter interview: “I remember writing it, sitting on the floor listening to Tegan and Sara in my underwear, being like, ‘I’m a genius.'” Sounds about right.
As the show comes to an end, it’s time to revisit its best musical moments, from Marnie’s awkward karaoke, to a stellar one-line cameo from Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig.
LCD Soundsystem playing at an art exhibition (Season 1, Episode 3)
After being a skeptical viewer of the first few episodes of the series, watching Marnie walk along a hallway in an art gallery while “I Can Change” played over the gallery’s speakers completely sold me on the show. It’s a perfect combination of visual and sound, and the music just works with the scene.
Ezra Koenig appearing as a clueless friend at a party (Season 2, Episode 6)
If you blink, you could miss Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig’s appearance at a party thrown by Marnie’s one-time boyfriend, avant garde artist Booth Jonathan (played by The Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone). After Booth’s story about how he went to an art show and found himself crying, which he never does, Koenig pipes up to let the crowd know, “I’ve seen you cry like six or seven times.”
Marnie singing Kanye West’s “Stronger” (Season 2, Episode 9)
Perhaps the most cringeworthy scene of the entire show, after being told that she should follow her childhood dream of being a singer, Marnie decides to pick up the mic at her ex-boyfriend Charlie’s company’s celebration and sing a piano ballad version of “Stronger.” She has a beautiful voice, but the faces of all her friends and the party’s attendants at the party make you want to sink all the way into the fabric of your chair.
Hannah and Shoshanna singing along to Maroon 5 (Season 3, Episode 2)
Adam Driver’s face as Hannah (Lena Dunham) and Shoshannah (Zosia Mamet) sing along to Maroon 5’s “One More Night” their way to pick up their friend Jessa from rehab, makes this scene almost entirely unforgettable. His rage is palpable as Hannah continues to lean in his direction to throw some quick commentary in between lines, before he ultimately explodes and punches the car stereo until the sound disappears.
Dancing to Harry Nilson at the beach house (Season 3, Episode 7)
After running into her old friend/ex-boyfriend Elijah (Andrew Rannels) and his counterparts, Hannah invites them back to Marnie’s beach house to spend the day. Most of this episode is spent with the four protagonist anti-heroes of Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, and Shoshannah trying to reconcile their dilapidated friendship, but when Elijah is dragged into the picture, they put their goal to the wayside to just have some fun, learning and performing a dance to Harry Nilson’s “You’re Breaking My Heart,” choreographed by one of Elijah’s friends. The lyrical content of the song makes it perfect to soundtrack this dance scene, with Nilson addressing his lover to say that they are breaking his heart, but right now, he just wants to have fun.
Spike Jonze appearing as Marnie and Desi’s label manager (Season 4, Episode 10)
After Desi and Marnie sign to a label for the folk duo project, and Desi bails on Marnie right before their first set as signed artists, Marco (Spike Jonze) naturally isn’t very happy. While Jonze is no stranger to musical cinema, having directed several incredible music videos for the likes of the Beastie Boys and LCD Soundsystem, this is one of the rare occasions where he appears in front of the camera instead of behind it.
Ray signs on as a roadie for Marnie and Desi’s tour (Season 5, Episode 10)
After Marnie and Desi’s musical career takes off, their relationship deteriorates, and Ray is almost exclusively to blame. However, upon Marnie’s request, Ray agrees to tag along on the tour, where he will be “carrying guitar cases, fetching snacks, and so on.” Throughout most of the series, we’ve seen the worst of Ray’s cynicism and pessimism, which we learn is somewhat influenced from his internal desire to be with Marnie. However, in one of the last scenes of Season 5, the two finally solidify their relationship, and we see Ray happy and beaming like we have never seen him before. That will probably change after a few weeks on the road, as most music industry professionals know, being on tour is grueling. Still, it was a nice was to tie another element of music back into the show.
Girls returns for its sixth and final season on February 12th on HBO.
