HBOMax’s dystopian sci-fi drama Westworld returns for season 4 on Sunday, June 26th 2022. Westworld is well-known for its eclectic instrumental covers of popular tracks, often by the show’s composer, Ramin Djawadi. Djawadi’s multiple instrumental covers have reached the top of Tunefind’s popular music chart, along with some other fan favorite music moments. As we look forward to the music of season 4, Tunefind is taking a look back at some of the most popular songs from the series so far. 

The most popular songs from Westworld composer, Ramin Djawadi include covers of songs by The Rolling Stones, Kanye West, and David Bowie, featured in seasons 1, 2, and 3 respectively.

During the series premiere, an orchestral arrangement of ‘Paint It, Black’ by Ramin Djawadi plays prominently over an action packed shoot-out scene. The song was originally recorded by The Rolling Stones  and released on their album Aftermath, in May 1966. ‘Paint It, Black’ is arguably the first cover by Djawadi that drew the attention of the Westworld audience to the instrumental music. 

Season two featured a piano arrangement of Kanye West‘s song ‘Runaway’, early on in the season. ‘Runaway’ was first released as a single in October 2010 on West’s album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Djawadi’s cover version is a haunting placement with a parallel between the lyrics and the character flashbacks on screen. 

Last season on Westworld, an orchestral arrangement of the song ‘Space Oddity’ by David Bowie is heard during a montage sequence. The original track was initially released as a single in 1989 before appearing on Bowie’s album of the same name later that year. The song is easily recognizable and the orchestral version plays on the songs eerie rhythms.

Bonus Round. Early on, the Westworld theme song gained a lot of attention. Accompanying the opening credits of each season, the original score theme by Ramin Djawadi has steadily remained as one of the most popular songs in the series. Another popular score cover by Djawadi is the composer’s version of the ‘Main Title from The Shining’ in season 3, which is also the featured song from when Ramin Djawadi was Tunefind’s No. 3 Top Musician of 2020.

Westworld series composer, Ramin Djawadi covered the infamous ‘Main Title’ track from the 1980 psychological horror film, The Shining. The film is directed by Stanley Kubrick and based off the 1977 novel of the same name by Stephen King. Kubrick once said, “There’s something inherently wrong with the human personality. There’s an evil side to it.” Which draws a very interesting parallel to the concepts that are explored in Westworld.

Many licensed song have also been placed in Westworld throughout the series so far, some of which have climbed to the top of Tunefind’s charts. Westworld has featured songs by Johnny Cash, Radiohead, and Fischerspooner, along with many others to come.

Strong music moments began with the series premiere. During the end credits of the series premiere, ‘Ain’t No Grave’ by Johhny Cash is heard. This placement effectively provides foreshadowing for the season’s plot. ‘Ain’t No Grave’ is of Gospel roots that date back to the 1920s. The song was covered by Johnny Cash before his death in September 2003 and released posthumously in 2010. Cash’s cover is one of the most recognizable versions of the song.

The season two finale featured the moody piano ballad, ‘Codex’ by Radiohead through the end scene and credits and certainly left fans wanting more. The track was originally released on Radiohead’s eighth studio album, The King of Limbs, in February 2011. 

Halfway through the third season, the electro-clash song, ‘Emerge’ by Fischerspooner is heard during the end credit sequence. ‘Emerge’ was the first single from Fischerspooner’s debut album #1. This track was featured as Tunefind’s top TV song on April 21, 2020 following a triple back-to-back-to-back of top song features on Tunefind. During season 3, Ramin Djawadi’s cover of ‘Wicked Games’ was Tunefind’s top TV song on April 16, 2020 and before that ‘Doomed’ by Moses Sumney as the most popular song on Tunefind the week of April 8, 2020. ‘Emerge’ by Fischerspooner was also the No. 2 Top TV Song of 2020 thanks to the placement in Westworld season 3.

Check out Tunefind for all the songs from Westworld season 4, after it returns to HBOMax on Sunday, June 26th, at 9pm EST. 

Fan Favorite Songs So Far

More

〉Full list of songs featured in the Westworld soundtrack

〉More music by Ramin Djawadi

〉Top Musicians of 2020: Sync Artists & Composers

〉Top TV Songs of 2020