Top TV Song Last Week: Wicked Games by Ramin Djawadi

April 16, 2020 Adrienne Gardner artist-ramin-djawadi

HBO’s Westworld takes top song again last week with a cover song by series composer Ramin Djawadi.

Wicked Games

from Westworld Soundtrack · Season 3 · Episode 4 · The Mother of Exiles

The auction; Dolores and Stubb fight.

‘Wicked Games’ is heard when Dolores and Caleb attend the masquerade ball auction. The orchestral string quartet gives an entirely different sound to this song originally released by The Weeknd. The composition by Djawadi lends to the current mood of this season.

This original song by The Weeknd was released in 2011 and this cover version was released as a Westworld season 3 single, along with a cover of ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ by Guns n’ Roses from the season 3 official trailer and a cover of the previous top TV song ‘Doomed’ by Moses Sumney. Ramin Djawadi has previously released other cover songs from the series, altering the selections based on the environments of each individual season.

From the very first episode, the Westworld player piano set the tone musically. It’s a hallmark of how Westworld would compose their music for the series. The most popular covers from season 1 of Westworld include ‘Paint It Black’ by The Rolling Stones and ‘Back to Black’ by Amy Winehouse.

The most popular covers from season 2 of Westworld include ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ by Nirvana and ‘Seven Nation Army’ by The White Stripes. Most noted have been the numerous Radiohead covers, including ‘Fake Plastic Trees.’

“They’re just an incredible band,” Djawadi shared with Pitchfork. “I myself am a huge Radiohead fan. I’m happy [series creator Jonathan Nolan is] picking those songs.”

Ramin Djawadi has been Emmy nominated for his compositions on Westworld as well as a two-time Emmy winner for his work on Game of Thrones. He’s known for his familiar theme compositions and reimagining modern tracks for piano or orchestra.

Djawadi is a German score composer and graduate of Berklee College of Music. He has composed and produced over 100 film and television soundtracks and scores. His well-known projects include the series Prison Break, Person of Interest and Jack Ryan, as well as films Pacific Rim, Iron Man, and the latest Disney+ nature film Elephant.