In the four seasons of The Umbrella Academy, one scene stands alone. In the pilot episode, the dysfunctional Hargreeves siblings return home and immediately devolve into discord. Then Luther (Tom Hopper) puts on a record. 

The opening beats of Tiffany’s ’80s bop “I Think We’re Alone Now” resound through the mansion’s halls, then the sulking Hargreeves siblings engage in an epic dance-off. Four seasons later, creator Steve Blackman references that joyful, fan-favorite scene in the final chapter of the series. This time it was the original 1967 Tommy James and the Shondells version.  

“I wanted to come full circle with that song and just play it to remind the audience of how we began,” Blackman tells Tudum. “I think [the song] spoke in the pilot: ‘I think we’re alone now.’ They’re so not alone, they’re in the same house, but I thought it represented emotionally that they felt they weren’t a family.” 

While Blackman picked the music for the scene, he was mostly hands-off when it came to each family member’s funky dance moves, which Blackman says shows they’re actually “more similar than not.”

“When no one’s looking, they’re going to dance,” he says. “That was the first day of shooting for most of them. ‘Welcome to set, now you’re going to dance.’ I gave everyone one move. But the dancing they did is all them.”

It’s no surprise that great jams propel the The Umbrella Academy. After all, the original Umbrella Academy comic was written by My Chemical Romance front man Gerard Way. “I had been in [My Chemical Romance] for a few years, and I’d been playing and making music. But I really missed making comics,” said Way. “I had been having such large experiences on the road, feeling like I was part of a big new family with considerably more siblings. That experience came with its own victories, and challenges, and dynamics, and tension. The good stuff along with all the hard stuff. And eventually, I felt like I had a lot of things to say.”

Blackman curated most of the songs on the show, but Way was happy to help when asked. “I did contribute a couple of cover songs: ‘Happy Together’ and ‘Hazy Shade of Winter,’ along with an original song, ‘Here Comes the End.’ Those were totally collaborative. I was very happy where we ended up.” 

Blackman isn’t the only one to write to music. Way reveals the song he listened to when he was mapping out the comic’s storyline. “It was a B-side by Oasis called ‘The Masterplan.’ I remember thinking about Hargreeves and his master plan for everything. It’s a really powerful song.”  

Want to lose your mind to the series’ greatest hits? From “Baby Shark” to the Bloodhound Gang, here are all the songs from The Umbrella Academy.

Episode 101

The Kinks “Picture Book” 
Fitz and the Tantrums “The Walker” 
Tiffany “I Think We’re Alone Now”
They Might Be Giants “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” 

Emmy Lampman-Raver (who plays Allison) loves the addition of Tiffany’s classic to the mix. “Every time I hear it in a grocery store or the gym … these songs will forever immediately take me back to the show,” she said. Justin H. Min (who plays Ben) agreed: “It’s just become so emblematic of our show now.”

Episode 102

Woodkid “Run Boy Run”
Adam Ant “Goody Two Shoes”
Queen “Don’t Stop Me Now”
Paloma Faith “Never Tear Us Apart” 

Episode 103

The Yardbirds “Lost Woman” 
The Hollies “We’re Through” 
Nina Simone “Sinnerman” 

Episode 104

Morcheeba “Blood Like Lemonade” 
Tom Swoon “Shingaling” 
David Gray “This Year’s Love” 

Episode 105

Noel Gallagher’s High-Flying Birds “In the Heat of the Moment” 
Big Thief “Mary” 
Don McGinnis “Memory Bound” 
Gerard Way (feat. Ray Toro) “Happy Together” 

Episode 106

The Doors “Soul Kitchen” 
Toploader “Dancing in the Moonlight” 
Gin Wigmore “Kill of the Night”  

Episode 107

Three Dog Night “One” 
Radiohead “Exit Music (For a Film)” 

“Exit Music (For a Film)” by Radiohead was a favorite of Elliot Page (who plays Viktor). “[It was] another great moment for Viktor after his terrible boyfriend in Season 1 hires a bunch of guys to beat him up,” Page said. “I love Radiohead and I love that song in particular. The way that whole sequence was edited blew my mind.”

Episode 108

Lena Horne “Stormy Weather” 
Mary J. Blige “Stay with Me” 
Hooverphonic “Mad About You” 

 Iconic hip-hop and R&B star Mary J. Blige plays Cha-Cha in Season 1. 

Episode 109

Lesley Gore “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows”
Smith Westerns “All Die Young” 

Episode 110

Heart “Barracuda” 
Bay City Rollers “Saturday Night” 
Gerard Way (feat. Ray Toro) “Hazy Shade of Winter” 

Page said “Barracuda” by Heart was a jaw-dropper. “It’s the moment when Viktor comes out of the basement in Season 1 with his suit and violin,” he said. “When I first heard it, I went, ‘Excuse me, WHAT?!’ ”

Episode 201

Bobby Darin “Beyond the Sea”
Maxine Nightingale “Right Back Where We Started From” 
Frank Sinatra “My Way” 
Fran Powers “Trying” 
Glenn Snow “I Wonder What the Future Holds for Me”
DJ Shadow feat. De La Soul  “Rocket Fuel” 
Fern Jones “Be Thankful You’re You”
Daniela Andrade “Crazy”
Mel Tormé “Comin’ Home Baby”
Jim Boyd “You Only Want Me When You’re Lonely”  

Episode 202

Perry Como “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song)” 
The Genies “Who’s That Knocking”
The Spencer Davis Group “I’m a Man (Single Version)” 

Episode 203 

Boney M. “Sunny”  
Mack & Gwen with The Country Playboys “I Don’t Care What They Say About You” Joe Tex “I’ll Never Do You Wrong”
The Stranglers “Golden Brown” 

Robert Sheehan (who plays Klaus) has a fondness for “Sunny” by Boney M. “It’s the song when I’m doing all my little scams on the rich Texans. [It] holds a fondness in my heart,” he said. 

Episode 204 

Marty Robbins “Love Is Blue” 
Styx “Renegade” 
Helen Wilson “Have You Ever Been Hurt” 
Chilo Escobedo “Mirage”
Mariachi La Estrella “La Costilla”
Marva Whitney “Unwind Yourself”
Kiss “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” 

Episode 205

Peter Schilling “Major Tom”
Joe Hunter and Four Holidays “He Can’t Love You”
Sam Cooke “Twistin’ the Night Away”
The Interrupters “Bad Guy” (Billie Eilish cover) 
My Kullsvik “Hello” (Swedish Adele cover) 

The most challenging request for music supervisor Jen Malone was securing Swedish singer My Kullsvik’s cover of Adele’s “Hello” in Season 2. At first, Adele said no, but Blackman wrote a personal appeal to the pop star. “I wrote a letter [that] basically said, ‘Look, there’s this young woman in Sweden who’s trying to become a singer. She has the best cover of the song in Swedish. And she said yes,” Blackman says. Kullsvik’s career took off after appearing on the show. “When you can bring this kind of special song to a worldwide audience, it’s very moving,” Malone said.  

Episode 206

Aretha Franklin “Won’t Be Long”
Jack Huddle “An Old Fashioned Christmas”
Sam & Dave “Hold On, I’m Comin’ ”
Bob Cox “I Live Alone”
Public Image Ltd  “The Order of Death” (2011 Remaster) 
The Dead South “In Hell I’ll Be in Good Company” 

Episode 207 

Tony Joe White “Polk Salad Annie”
Baio “Sister of Pearl” 
The Backstreet Boys “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” (Extended Version) 

“Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” by The Backstreet Boys was one of Page’s favorite needle drops. “I wasn’t in this scene, but I love this whole badass fight sequence with Emmy,” he said. 

Episode 208

Butthole Surfers “Pepper”  

Episode 209

Billy Idol and Generation X “Dancing with Myself” 
Gerard Way “Here Comes the End” 

Episode 210

Parra for Cuva feat. Anna Naklab “Wicked Games” (cover) 

Episode 301

Gerry Cinnamon “Sometimes” 
Kenny Loggins “Footloose” 
The Stranglers “No More Heroes”  
The McSharry Sisters “Let’s Go on a Hayride”  

Episode 302

Iggy Pop “The Passenger”
Brenton Wood “Oogum Boogum Song”
Lilly Winwood and Steve Winwood “Higher Love” 
Engelbert Humperdinck “Quando Quando Quando”  

Episode 303

The Lovin’ Spoonful “Do You Believe In Magic”
Chris de Burgh “Lady in Red” 

Episode 304

The Animals “House of the Rising Sun”
Jeremy Renner “House of the Rising Sun”  

Episode 305

The xx “Crystalised”
First Aid Kit “My Silver Lining” 

Episode 306  

Gabin “Into My Soul”
Baby Strange “Hot Damn”
The Slugs “We’ll Get Through”
Sonny Boy Jeff Williamson “I Gotta Cry” 

Episode 307 

Geier Sturzflug “Bruttosozialprodukt”
Lucern Raze “Let’s Be Badder”
Nelly “Ride Wit Me”
Ugly Kid Joe “Cats in the Cradle”
Queen “Another One Bites the Dust”
The Ninth Wave “What Makes You A Man” 

Aidan Gallagher (who plays Five) loved the addition of “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen. “The energy of Freddie Mercury’s vocals in that song perfectly matched how I saw Hazel and Cha-Cha going after Five,” he said. “It was just a beautiful pairing.”

Episode 308 

Bonnie Tyler “Total Eclipse of the Heart” (karaoke)  
Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes “(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life”
The Rescues “Teenage Dream”
Jerry Dyke “Come In Mr. Lonely”  

Episode 309

The Cure “Friday I’m in Love” 
Billy Idol “Bitter Taste” 

Episode 310

The Heavy “Short Change Hero” 

Episode 401

Ernie Rowell “Facing You”
Bloodhound Gang “The Bad Touch”
Eartha Kitt “Santa Baby”
The Murder City Devils “Boom Swagger Boom” 

“Boom Swagger Boom” by The Murder City Devils plays as Luther beats up (unsuccessfully) on the piñata at Grace’s (Jordan Claire Robbins) birthday party. Blackman chose the song after many pitches, allowing Malone to pay tribute to a band she’s loved since she was a rock publicist working in Boston in the ’90s.

Episode 402 

Cobra Man “Powered Up” 
Pinkfong “Baby Shark” 
Bobby Helms “Jingle Bell Rock” 
Lost Cat “Winter Wonderland” 
Bel Canto Choir “Carol of the Bells” 

“Baby Shark” found its way into The Umbrella Academy’s final season thanks to Blackman’s firsthand experience with it as a parent. Recalled Malone, “ ‘Baby Shark’ became our heroes’ theme song, in a way.” 

Episode 403

Barrett Strong “Money (That’s What I Want)” 
Harry Nilsson “Jump into the Fire” 
Cher “Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves” 

Cher’s song “Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves” during Season 4’s mini-hoedown was another big win for Blackman, who often wrote to her music. “Cher is very particular [about] certain songs,” he says. “I like to think that the reason she gave into it is because she knows that we’re very a trans-supporting show, and she has a child who’s transitioned. I don’t know [why] for sure, but she was very nice to give it to us.”

Episode 404 

Ralph Carmichael “End of the Line” 

Episode 405

The Tragically Hip “Ahead by a Century”
Guantanamo Baywatch “Witch Stomp”
Johnny Rivers “Secret Agent Man (Live at Whiskey A Go Go, 1966 version)” 

For this episode’s brawl at the CIA, Blackman and Malone played around with some 30 songs before landing on Johnny Rivers’ “Secret Agent Man.” “This one just had the rhythm that matched the action in the scene, people know it, and also, it’s very unexpected to use that song,” said Malone.

Blackman, who is Canadian and grew up with the listening to The Tragically Hip in his college years, wanted to use the song in the series since day one. Ritu Arya (who plays Lila) also dug the jam. “I really loved it,” she said. “It’s a song that plays during a montage this season between Lila and another character.”

Episode 406

Muse “Maps of the Problematique”
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds “Dead to the World”
Fats Domino “Ain’t That a Shame” 
Tommy James and the Shondells “I Think We’re Alone Now”
Talking Heads “This Must be the Place” 

In the diner scene with Five, “Ain’t That a Shame” by Fats Domino plays in the background. Malone chose the song “because Five is an old man in a younger person’s body, having a song that your grandpa would listen to felt perfect.”

For the series’ last moments, Blackman says he always planned to have Talking Heads’ “This Must Be the Place.”

“I always planned to end a credits sequence with that song,” Blackman says. “Initially that song was going to be a dance that I was choreographing myself with the cast. I worked it out with a choreographer, [but] no one had it in them to do it. The actors were too tired, we couldn’t find the time.” So Blackman decided to use cast and crew photos paired to the song. “The crew doesn’t know it’s in, they’re going to lose their minds,” he said.  

Watch all four seasons of The Umbrella Academy now, only on Netflix.

Additional reporting by Tara Bitran.

Watch The Umbrella Academy Season 4 Trailer