Steve Blackman, creator of The Umbrella Academy TV series, wanted to include Miley Cyrus’ cover of Jolene in one of season 2's episodes but couldn’t afford it. Music is the heart and soul of The Umbrella Academy. It plays a major part in setting the scenes as well as serving as a plot device in the episodes. With an original score by Jeff Russo and songs from famous bands and fantastic solo artists, The Umbrella Academy soundtrack is a compilation of memorable songs that both the audience and the show’s characters can dance to.
The Umbrella Academy soundtrack includes songs like Lindsey Stirling’s "Phantom of the Opera Medley", Prince’s "1999", Tiffany’s "I Think We’re Alone Now," and many more unforgettable pieces of music. Steve Blackman and other show creators write episodes with these songs specifically written into the script, in order to tell the story. The cost of music to be used in movies and TV shows varies greatly depending on the age of the song, how popular it is, how much of the song will be featured, and by who wrote and performed it. Certain songs by bands like The Beatles can cost as high as $100,000, whereas songs by lesser-known bands can be as low as $1,000. This large price gap has caused Blackman and his team to turn down some songs in exchange for others.
During the CTAM 2020 Press Tour covered by Alex Zalben on Twitter, Blackman, revealed that he wanted to include the Cyrus cover of Dolly Parton’s Jolene in an episode. Blackman explained that they couldn’t afford the song along with a few others that they wanted but, “They mostly got what they wanted.” He elaborated that they write the music into the scripts versus choosing the songs after. This process can prove to be problematic though when a piece of music that the writers wanted to use is just too expensive to be included in the budget. When this happens, the writers have to rewrite the scene with a different tone and pace based on the new song that has been chosen.
Fans of the show will recall Number Five Hargreeves’ fight scene set to the song Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants in season one. The choreography of this scene is set to the rhythm and pace of the song and would not have had the same tongue-in-cheek feel if it was set to a different piece of music. Blackman’s ability to write this way is what makes The Umbrella Academy such a unique show. The soundtrack for The Umbrella Academy seasons 1 and 2 is currently on Spotify, and specific songs can be found on most other music streaming services. With the knowledge that each episode is written to a specific piece of music, fans can only speculate how Jolene would have fit into season 2 of the series.
The song Jolene describes a beautiful woman set out to steal the singer’s lover. The singer begs Jolene to leave them and their lover be, stating that they cannot compete with Jolene. The cover performed by Miley Cyrus is fast-paced and could easily be set to a fight scene within The Umbrella Academy series. Could it have been used for a fight between Vanya and Allison? Or a chase between the Hargreeves siblings and the assassins Cha Cha and Hazel? Could it have set a violent scene between Number Five and The Handler? Unfortunately, fans of The Umbrella Academy may never know and will forever wonder what Steve Blackman’s plans for the song were. In any case, it is clear that the episodes written as they are now would never be the same set to other songs.
Source: Steve Blackman (via Alex Zalben)