The Winchesters debuted on The CW on Oct. 11, and Supernatural fans are likely baking pies and blasting classic rock in celebration. The classic rock is key. After all, it is one of the most memorable motifs from the show. Dean Winchester gets his taste for rock from his father, John Winchester, who happens to star in the new prequel by Jensen Ackles and his wife Daneel.
Fans most commonly associate Supernatural with "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas. The song appears multiple times in the show from the first season to the series finale, often at moving moments, self-aware scenes, or season recaps. However, some die-hard fans may be surprised to learn that "Carry On My Wayward Son" is not the most popular song from the show. In fact, when it comes to every song that has ever played in the series, 1970s rock gems make up the majority, but Spotify streams reveal some surprising front-runners.
"Paranoid" By Black Sabbath
636,810,077 streams
"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath appears in the fourth episode of the series, "Phantom Traveler." Sam and Dean track down a demon that is causing planes to crash. To inspect the wreckage of an ill-fated flight, Dean remarks that they need to dress the part, leading to the brothers' first-ever black suit look in the series.
As the two come out of the store in attire that Dean says makes him feel like they're the Blues Brothers, Black Sabbath's 1970 metal song plays. The song continues as they show drive off and shot their fake IDs, creating the perfect musical moment for what would become a leitmotif for the Winchesters and hunters like them.
"The House Of The Rising Sun" By The Animals
694,854,544 streams
"The House Of The Rising Sun" is a 1964 blues rock song by The Animals. The song appears in several movies and TV shows about New Orleans since it is about Crescent City, notorious home to vampires, spirits, and other creatures that would fit right in on Supernatural. Surprisingly, this episode of the show does not take place in New Orleans. The song appears in a much more creative context.
At the very beginning of "Roadkill" in season two, the couple crashes their car while the blues tune plays on the radio. It comes on again while Dean drives the surviving woman away from the scene, and then from a jukebox in her house. The recurring song has an eery feel to it, which makes sense when they deduce that the woman is actually dead and unable to come to terms with her spirit form. The episode concludes with her going into the light, marked by the full-circle metaphor of her walking into the beautiful rising sun.
"Stayin' Alive" By The Bee Gees
711,120,627 streams
The sixth episode of season 14 gives the audience a little dose of disco. "Stayin' Alive" was recorded by the Bee Gees for the 1977 disco-centric film Saturday Night Fever, one of John Travolta's best movies. It appears in this episode of Supernatural accompanied by some equally sweet dance moves, sans Travolta.
At the start of "Optimism," a man walks down the block in a fantastic mood, showing off his dance moves while the Bee Gees songs plays. Nothing can get in the way of his one-man performance to "Stayin' Alive," except for the supernatural creature that ironically makes him not-alive. In the middle of the number, a hand pulls him into the trees, and that is the last the audience sees of him before the hunters are on the case.
"You Shook Me All Night Long" By AC/DC
743,849,344 streams
Long-time fans of Supernatural are no stranger to AC/DC songs, with "You Shook Me All Night Long" being among the most recognizable. It plays in Dean's car a few times as well as over some series recaps at the start of different seasons, including the first episode of season four.
"You Shook Me All Night Long" is one of AC/DC's most popular songs with over 743,849,344 streams on Spotify. The upbeat 1980 rock song is perfect to ring in "Lazarus Rising," an episode that would introduce everyone's favorite angel, Castiel.
"Nothing Else Matters" By Metallica
825,016,041 streams
"You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Carry On My Wayward Son" are two go-tos for the recaps at the start and end of seasons. Sometimes they switch it up, but the show rarely strays from the rock and metal genres, and the fans would not have it any other way.
The first episode of season 13 uses a Metallica song to tell the story. "Nothing Else Matters" plays over twelve seasons worth of intense plot points and significant dialogue. The 1991 metal song is about being on the road, which is a fitting theme for a classic Supernatural "Road so Far" recap.
"Shake It Off" By Taylor Swift
851,194,035 streams
Some fans may be surprised that Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" is on the Supernatural soundtrack at all, given the show's reputation for '60s, '70s, and '80s rock melodies. They would not be alone–Sam and Dean themselves are thrown off by the song in season ten, episode twelve, "About A Boy."
In the episode, Dean is his normal adult self, but in the body of his 14-year-old self. One of his primary concerns about being a teen again is that he hears a Taylor Swift song, and he actually likes it. At the end of the episode, back in his normal 30-something-year-old body, Taylor Swift comes on the radio. After a bit of man vs. self conflict, he leaves it on as he drives away.
"Eye Of The Tiger" By Survivor
907,156,735 streams
Fans will recognize Survivor's classic hit "Eye Of The Tiger" from one of the funniest-ever episodes of Supernatural, "Yellow Fever." The episode follows the brothers as they attempt to cure Dean of an illness that makes him increasingly more afraid of the world around him. The fear threatens to stop his heart in 72 hours.
"Eye Of The Tiger," a song that many people ironically use to hype themselves up and be less afraid, plays while Dean lays in the back seat of his car rather than the motel room, which is too high off the ground for his novel sensibilities. More notably, the end of the episode features an epic dance number by Jensen Ackles in a blooper for the same scene. He climbs on top of the impala, lip-syncing to the tune while using his leg as an air guitar in a performance too good for just the gag reel.
"Thunderstruck" By AC/DC
1,009,668,596 streams
"The Road So Far" recap at the beginning of season five is set to "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC, a fitting entry for the best season of Supernatural. It plays over Sam and Dean's best kills in the first four seasons, the breaking of the 66 seals, and the introduction of heaven's most fearsome warriors: the angels.
According to Spotify streams, "Thunderstruck" is AC/DC's third most popular song. The unique guitar in the introduction fits right in with the rest of the rousing rock in the series, especially since so much of the soundtrack already includes AC/DC.
"Highway To Hell" By AC/DC
1,056,537,187 streams
"Highway To Hell" is one of the first songs that Supernatural viewers hear on the show, further solidifying AC/DC as the patron band of the series. It plays in the first episode of the series, in which Sam and Dean hunt down the Lady in White while hot on their missing father's trail.
The 1979 song from the studio album of the same name plays while Dean rescues Sam from the lost spirit. It may shock some fans to hear that this is the only instance the song plays during the series, especially given how relevant the subject matter is. Perhaps its use in one of the first action-packed battles between the brothers and the supernatural is what leads fans to associate the song with the series.
"Back In Black" By AC/DC
1,099,064,939 streams
The pilot of Supernatural features one of the most iconic lines in the show's history. After Sam criticizes Dean's cassette tape collection, a selection that fittingly includes Metallica and Motorhead, Dean pops in a cassette tape and delivers the famed quote, "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cake hole."
The song that follows is "Back In Black" by, of course, AC/DC. It is the fans' first lick of Dean's music taste, a motif that would permeate the essence of Supernatural for the next 15 years. Surely, this song or others like it will appear in The Winchesters, because the story of the Winchester family is nothing without the music that accompanies them.