‘Lanterns’ Soundtrack: Every Song in the DCU Show

Lanterns may deal in alien rings and intergalactic cops, but its musical identity remains firmly Earthbound. HBO’s eight-episode DCU series jumps from OutKast and Queen to Bon Iver, The Stooges, KC and the Sunshine Band, and Michael Kiwanuka, giving John Stewart and Hal Jordan a soundtrack as eclectic as their partnership.

Stephanie Economou composed the original score, including the brooding main theme, In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night. WaterTower Music released the 24-track score album on October 4 after the Season 1 finale. That score is separate from the licensed songs below. This guide focuses primarily on the show’s needle drops, while noting original score cues or commissioned music when they play a particularly important role. 

Episode 1, Pilot

The premiere casts the widest musical net, using disco, punk, soul, folk, and country-adjacent cuts while establishing the show’s dusty Americana.

• Boogie Shoes — KC and the Sunshine Band
• Get Down Tonight — KC and the Sunshine Band
• Sigue creyendo en mí — Sandhy & Mandhy
• No Fun — The Stooges
• Brand New Key — Melanie
• Coming Home — Leon Bridges
• Knievel — Scud Mountain Boys

Episode 2, Trust Fall

Episode 2 considerably eases off the jukebox, using only two prominent needle drops:

• Red Eyes — The War on Drugs
• Human Condition — Pretty Sick

Episode 3, OutKast

The title is not coy about this episode’s musical allegiance.

• ATLiens — OutKast
• Gasoline Dreams — OutKast feat. Khujo Goodie

Composer Economou told Reactor that Gasoline Dreams was planned from the beginning and the sequence was filmed to the song. Rather than imitate it musically, she deliberately allowed OutKast to represent a side of John that her score did not.

Episode 4, The Weenie

The fourth chapter mixes classic rock with a more contemporary closing punch.

• Walk Away — James Gang
• Arpeggione Sonata in A Minor, D. 821: III. Allegretto — Franz Schubert
• Midas — Wunderhorse

Separate from those licensed tracks, Economou’s score cue Open Your Eyes also appears in the episode and is included on the official score album. SeekerTune records the episode placements.

Episode 5, Lights Out

Things become markedly more melancholy as Rushville’s crisis explodes.

• I’m Going Home — David Elliott
• Sleepwalker — The Kinks
• THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS — Bon Iver
• Away from Home (Rushville’s Lament) — Ari Mason & Wayne Ingram

Episode 6, Bad Optics

Episode 6 digs into vintage soul and blues while returning John to Rushville.

• New Broom Sweep Good, Old Broom Gets the Dirt — Clarence Ashe
• Until I Fell in Love with You — Bob Jones
• There’s Nothing I Can Do About It — Mike and the Censations
• Dancing in Circles — Alivia Clark
• Love Is Coming Back — Kookie Freeman
• Waves of Nostalgia — Simon Webster
• Heartbroken, In Disrepair — Dan Auerbach

Economou’s score cues Trained to Be Sure and In the Dirt also appear, but they belong to the original score rather than the licensed-song playlist.

Episode 7, The Jordan Boys’ Legacy

Appropriately, the season’s father-and-son chapter has one of its most pointed song choices.

• Father to Son — Queen
• Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right — Melanie
• Behind the Clown — Lonnie Spiker
• Jesus Christ — The New Liberty Apostolic Faith Church Gospel Choir
• King Cotton — Baseball Hockey Sports Crew
• (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty — KC and the Sunshine Band
• SpottieOttieDopaliscious — OutKast
• On Wisconsin — Baseball Hockey Sports Crew

Episode 8, Dirt and Stars

The finale trims the playlist back to three songs:

• Right Back to It — Waxahatchee
• Cruel to Be Kind — Nick Lowe
• Hero — Michael Kiwanuka

Hero gets the coveted final word, playing as John embraces the Green Lantern mantle, recites his oath, and flies away into the end credits. That final needle drop neatly encapsulates Lanterns’ musical strategy. The show rarely uses songs simply to make superhero action sound cool; its best choices expose something about the people carrying the rings.

Which Lanterns needle drop worked best for you? Tell us your favorite in the comments and follow FandomWire for more soundtrack guides.