The Handmaid’s Tale’s Season 5 Soundtrack Is Full Of Bizarre Bops
Here for all your incongruous dystopian pop needs.
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale novel was initially written and published in the mid-1980s and set in an alternate 1990s timeline. But the adaptation on Hulu has deliberately set itself in the present day, referencing our current pop culture landscape. The soundtrack has been essential in doing that, with songs from the past 50 years, and sometimes highly recent, to show what does and doesn’t make it into Gilead. The Handmaid’s Tale’s Season 5 soundtrack continues that tradition, with an extra dose of dystopian juxtaposition as June’s mental health deteriorates.
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 finally moved June out of Gilead and into Canada, allowing the world to be wider than the edges of her bonnet. Even before the show progressed, older songs from traditional pop culture would find their way into the soundtrack. But as she continues to live in Canada and experiences ongoing PTSD, songs have gone from reminders of how this is the current world to ironic commentary on her mental state.
Season 5 begins after June’s murder of Fred Waterford. It covers her struggle to find their place in Canada in the aftermath, and Serena’s as well, before finally heading off in hopes of reaching what’s left of America. That makes this season’s soundtrack as much a ghoulish disconnect from reality as snarky commentary. As the season concludes, the upbeat songs highlight how bad things are getting in Canada.
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, Episode 1 “Morning”
- “All I Have To Do Is Dream” by The Every Brothers
- “Getting’ Happy” by Dolly Parton
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, Episode 2 “Ballet”
- “Always My Forever” by Mike Mains
- “Sleeping Beauty Op. 66” by Andre Previn & London Symphony
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The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, Episode 3 “Border”
- “Mirror Image” by Trey Wright
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, Episode 4 “Dear Offred”
- “The Chain” by Kerala Dust feat. Brooke Bentham
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, Episode 5 “Fairytale”
- “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green (performed by O-T Fagbenle)
- “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, Episode 6
- “Piano Sonata No. 8 In C Minor, Op. 13, “Pathetique”: II. Adagio Cantabile” by Ludwig van Beethoven
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, Episode 7
With so much time spent in Gilead and in hiding in Episode 7, there were no songs for this episode other than the show’s original score.
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, Episode 8
- “I’ll Be Your Mirror” by Clem Snide
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, Episode 9
- “Tender Romance” by Daryl Griffith
- “Americans” by Janelle Monáe
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, Episode 10
- “It’s a Hard Knock Life” by Charles Strouse & Martin Charnin (performed by Madeline Brewer and the cast of The Handmaid’s Tale)
- “Kokomo” by The Beach Boys
- “bury a friend” by Billie Eilish
All episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale Seasons 1 through 5 are streaming on Hulu. Season 6 is expected in 2023.
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