Media and Music: How the “BoJack Horseman” Soundtrack Explores Debauchery, Depression, and L.A. Existentialism
The music of “BoJack Horseman” captures its titular character’s struggles with mental health and fame as he navigates the superficial world of “Hollywoo.”
In Media and Music, our writers take a deep dive into how movies use scores and songs to engage viewers, give new meaning and tone to some of our favorite scenes, and establish themes. It almost goes without saying, but there are spoilers abound.
Written by C.S. Harper
Images courtesy of Netflix
In 2014, Netflix introduced the world to everyone’s favorite cynical, washed-up animated celebrity: BoJack Horseman. The anthropomorphic horse’s eponymous series follows him and his friends as they traverse the showbiz world and manage the ups-and-downs of fame. In season one, BoJack is introduced as a former ‘90s sitcom star who spends his days drinking alone and griping about life in his L.A. mansion. But when his quick-witted agent Princess Carolyn arranges for ghostwriter Diane Nguyen to pen his autobiography, he returns to the spotlight. This renewed fame precipitates a self-destructive cycle of alcoholism, hookups, and damaged relationships that plague his life over the next five seasons. Despite leading a glamorized lifestyle of parties, fame, and wealth, he experiences chronic mental health issues and substance abuse. This dichotomy between BoJack’s celebrity persona and inner self play a central role in his development throughout the show.
The series’ soundtrack provides the perfect backdrop for the horse actor’s character arc. It pairs the show’s wide-ranging themes with diverse genres and tones, from melancholic jazz to angsty experimental hip-hop. In doing so, the soundtrack captures all the ups and downs of BoJack’s life.
Composed by The Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney, “BoJack’s Theme” complements the show’s themes of excess and glamour through its groovy jazz sound. The production kicks off with a wobbly synth, which explodes into a chaotic glitter bomb of saxophones and guitars. Though the song emulates the extravagance of “Hollywoo” life through its blend of sonic textures, it also carries an ominous tone throughout. Near the end, a saxophone solo abruptly cuts the lush instrumentation, creating a jarring transition that brings to mind the contrast between BoJack’s inner and outer lives. Closing each episode after “BoJack’s Theme,” Grouplove’s “Back in the ‘90s (BoJack’s Theme)” describes the protagonist’s struggles more directly. The track alludes to his overblown ego and inability to move past his glory days: “Back in the ‘90s, I was in a very famous TV show / I’m BoJack the Horse / BoJack the Horse / Don’t act like you don’t know.”
Though these tracks were tailor-made for “BoJack Horseman,” the series also uses licensed songs that suit its themes just as well. Season five features St. Vincent’s “Los Ageless,” which parallels the dangerous superficiality of “Hollywoo” culture. Its synthetic production and lyrical wordplay reflect the artificial nature of L.A. and how the emptiness of celebrity life feeds into its residents’ obsession with staying young. Like the people that St. Vincent criticizes, BoJack is consumed by the vapidness of L.A. culture: he lives in a mansion, regularly gets drunk, and holds parties to fill the emotional hole inside of him. In season five, his negligence of his emotional needs causes his work and personal lives to merge and fall apart. To represent how these aspects of his life fuse together, the song accompanies two party scenes — one in BoJack’s house and the other in an uncannily similar TV set. With lines like “How can anybody have you and lose you / And not lose their minds too?,” the track also foreshadows the actor’s increasing toxicity in his relationships.
As the closing track for season three, Nina Simone’s rendition of “Stars” reflects on how the pursuit of glory takes over stars’ lives, forcing them to replace their authenticity with a glamorized version of themselves. “But you’ll never know the pain of using a name you never owned / The years of forgetting what you know too well,” she muses. Like the bright-eyed stars that Simone describes, BoJack began his journey as a naive standup comedian looking to make it big in television. But after his sitcom stint in the ‘90s, his fame dissipated quickly, and his sense of purpose in life disappeared. Trapped in a cycle of depression and alcoholism, BoJack yearns for an escape. As “Stars” plays, he drives at a reckless speed with his eyes closed and later watches a group of running horses, longing for their freedom.
Other songs explore the darkness that comes with fame by focusing on BoJack’s substance abuse. In season one, BoJack, his former TV daughter Sarah Lynn, and roommate Todd experience an intense drug trip. A series of surreal imagery follows, including a Diane hallucination that deforms à la “The Fly” and parodies “Peanuts’” Lucy and her psychiatrist booth. As BoJack’s mental state takes a turn for the worse, Death Grips’ “No Love” plays to preface these wacky scenes. The track epitomizes the feeling of a drug trip gone horribly wrong, with rapper MC Ride screaming “How the trip never stops / On and on, it’s beyond insane” as if he were burning in the depths of hell. Its angsty sound and booming drums spark a feeling of dread in the viewer, providing a perfect introduction to a montage filled with dream-like interpretations of BoJack’s internal struggles.
While most of the soundtrack explores how fame affects BoJack, the original “I Will Always Think of You” from season four details his family trauma. The death of his maternal uncle, Crackerjack, deeply affected his mother, Beatrice, and his grandmother, Honey Sugarman. Through lines like “I will always think of you / I see your face when each day’s through,” the song conveys how the memory of Crackerjack inflicted lasting pain on his family. It emotionally hardened Beatrice, whose tumultuous relationship with BoJack led to his low self-esteem and alcoholism — issues he would spread to others in adulthood. As Sarah Lynn’s father figure, BoJack led her down the same path of substance abuse: during a month-long bender together, she overdoses on heroin. Her death further fuels his sadness, widening the gap between his lavish lifestyle and internal misery over the next few seasons.
Despite the gravity of his mental health issues, BoJack pushes them aside to focus on his career. The centerpiece track of seasons five and six, “Don’t Stop Dancing ‘Til the Curtains Fall,” portrays this dangerous behavior through the contrast between its upbeat Broadway sound and grim lyrics. Alluding to BoJack’s advice to Sarah Lynn that she “don’t stop dancing” to satisfy her audience in spite of her suffering, the song analyzes how approaching life with a “show must go on” mentality deteriorates actors’ mental health. First performed by his costar, Gina Cazador, the lyrics contemplate how celebrities sacrifice themselves for money: “Why not sell your sadness as a brand? / Paint your face and brush your mane and find somewhere to cut your pain.” In season five, BoJack depends on painkillers to numb his depression and focus on filming a show. This only worsens his mental health and sets him back in his career, as his destructive behavior ruins his public image.
In season six, the song takes on a new meaning that ties all of the show’s themes together. When BoJack has a near-death experience, he dreams that he reunites with all of the characters that died in the show. In his dream, Sarah Lynn performs a modified version of “Don’t Stop Dancing ‘Til the Curtains Fall,” which adds a new dimension to its tortured artist narrative. She reflects on how stars have to continue working in spite of adversity, even until they die: “Shows are a never-ending life, of course / A silhouette that stays when you are gone.” Despite his lost friendships and compromised mental health, BoJack overworks himself until almost facing death. When his karma comes back to him and he has to serve prison time, he learns to let go of his hunger for fame and appreciate the people in his life.
The “BoJack Horseman” soundtrack creates a grim storyline, one that is often the reality for those in the entertainment world. By mirroring BoJack’s story through song, the soundtrack adds a tone of self-awareness to the show. Each season uses diverse tracks from different genres to comment on a variety of themes, including substance abuse and the meaninglessness of celebrity life. Though these topics are dark, they explore the less glamorous facets of the Hollywood experience that many people overlook. By delving into these themes, the “BoJack Horseman” soundtrack paints a realistic portrait of show business, humanizing movie stars in the process.