After airing for almost 15 years, the episodes of Supernatural have explored a wide range of complex plots and intriguing characters. The show is also known for having an amazing soundtrack, which has also had 15 years to make a name for itself.
While the hard rock genre characteristic of the soundtrack may not be known for highlighting their lyrics first and foremost, the show has made use of some tracks that realistically capture what is seen on screen. The on-point accuracy is sometimes enough to leave fans wondering if the music was chosen to support the plot or if the song inspired the episode. Here are more than a few occasions when Supernatural was cleverly literal in choosing its music.
Dream A Little Dream Of Me
Featured in a season 3 episode of the same name, "Dream a Little Dream of Me" plays over the boys' efforts to pull Bobby out of a dreamscape-induced coma. Specifically, it provides the backdrop to Dean's dream of an afternoon picnic with Lisa.
One of the most easily recognized The Mamas & The Papas songs, it's a slow ballad that stands out against most of the others on the Supernatural soundtrack, showing how specifically it was chosen for the scene, both for the dreaming theme and to reveal Dean's true feelings for Lisa.
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
The boys do a little more than just knock on Heaven's door in the season 5 episode "Dark Side of the Moon," which features the show's second use of the song.
On the brink of the apocalypse, the Winchester brothers are shot and killed by two fellow hunters and are sent to Heaven. The song plays over the first scene in Dean's Heaven, a memory from his childhood and Sam's, where the two are in the woods setting off fireworks for the Fourth of July. It's a sweet, heartfelt moment that plays into the emotionally heavy song.
Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon
The season 11 premiere gives way to Amara, the manifestation of the Darkness, freed from her cage when Dean was freed from the Mark of Cain. She is introduced as a baby who was born the day the Darkness was released and, by the 6th episode of the season, "Our Little World," taking place only weeks later, has reached the maturity of a teenager.
The song rings as Amara, escaped from Crowley's captivity, walks down the street. True to its lyrics, Amara would soon grow into an adult woman, her permanent form portrayed by Emily Swallow.
Man In The Wilderness
Only the second Styx song to play on Supernatural's soundtrack, the first having been played on two occasions in earlier seasons, "Man in the Wilderness" is featured in the season 8 premiere, while Dean is trekking through Maine's 100-mile Wilderness after escaping Purgatory.
He has all the markings of a "lonely soldier off to war" and a "lonely sailor lost at sea," looking stranded and about as lost as most fans are, considering his trials with Benny and the portal out of Purgatory hadn't yet been revealed.
Werewolves Of London
This Warren Zevon song had been begging to be played in a Supernatural episode since werewolves were introduced to the universe in season 2. After the species had been encountered several times in the show, the song finally finds a home in season 10's "Paper Moon."
The episode sees the return of Kate, the girl who had had a tragic transformation into a werewolf two years prior. After learning her sister, Tasha, was in a car accident, Kate saves her by turning her into a werewolf, too, only for Tasha to become unable to control her instincts the way Kate had learned to.
Black Water
After Castiel, unable to contain all the beings of Purgatory, releases the Leviathans into the world in season 7. The creatures use a municipal water reservoir to inhabit the earth, their essence turning the water black. This occurs at the beginning of "Hello, Cruel World," and the song both illustrates the events and offers an eerie tone to the situation, as the water is consumed by people, including a little girl and a mechanic, who are then taken over by the Leviathan. It spreads through the population, creating an army out of the season's main villain.
Back In Time
In the iconic season 3 episode, "Mystery Spot," Sam wakes up to the same Tuesday over and over again, approximately 100 times at the hands of the Trickster. Each day ends with Dean's death, and each morning, Dean wakes him by blasting Asia's "Heat of the Moment" on the radio.
After months of searching, Sam finally manages to hunt down the Trickster and force him to free him of the cycle. He wakes in the same bed, in the same motel room, the clock reading Wednesday. Huey Lewis' "Back in Time", which was a feature song of the time travel classic Back to the Future, plays on the radio, which Sam deems the "most beautiful song you've ever heard."
God Was Never On Your Side
In the epic conclusion of season 14, Chuck, who revealed himself to be God three years prior, returns to reintroduce himself as the final season's villain. After helping the Winchester brothers, first as a prophet during the apocalypse, then as God to battle the Darkness, he reveals that he wasn't "helping" them at all, but rather he was prolonging their lives and their story for his own entertainment.
The song plays during the scene that closes out the season, after Chuck has opened the Gates of Hell, the raised spirits now closing in on the boys.
(Don't Fear) The Reaper
There is probably no more literal an addition to a show's soundtrack than one whose title villain is also the monster of the week. Of course, the Blue Öyster Cult song refers to "the" reaper in a more traditional sense, as being the sole personification of death. In the Supernatural universe, however, there exists several creatures called reapers, who serve the same purpose, collecting the souls of those on the brink of death, at the command of its own personification of Death, the Horseman.
"Don't Fear The Reaper" plays during the boys' first encounter with an unnamed reaper in the show's first season, but some notable reapers who would make themselves known later include Tessa and Billie.
Highway To Hell
Although "Carry on Wayward Son" may be the show's unofficial theme, the Supernatural soundtrack would be incomplete without this AC/DC hit. The song closes out the end of the case of the show's pilot episode, putting an end to the Woman in White.
Taking place before the Winchester brothers could even fathom the existence of demons or the afterlife, the song was ultimately a precursor to all the events that would follow. Little did fans know, they had started on the road into Hell, Heaven, and everything in between.