#Good Omens Soundtrack

[captainfantasticalright]

Good Omens: all about its score

I know these have a lot of text, but I tried to put everything in a “chronological, this fits together” order. If you love music, you know how much the score of a certain series/ film adds to the feeling of it.

David Arnold is a genius. There is so much going on beneath the surface. All those little strings you might not pay attention to, they are ATTENTION worthy.

This is part 1. There is a part 2 here!

I also want to point out the one thing I did not add on the slides: there is a moment at the beginning of episode 6 of season 1 where Mark Kermode played the harmonica. (Just as a little cameo for you :) ) In the words of @neil-gaiman “ Ennio Morricone-style Western harmonica music”.

All of the information here was gathered from interviews with David Arnold. (Those include videos as well and the DVD commentaries). I will leave all my sources in part 2.

[purplexedhuman]

Good Omens 2 Soundtrack + Songs which make me emotional

(template credit)

[noneorother]

All the music you didn’t hear: The Good Omens soundtrack is lying to you. *Part2*

The Bonkers Meta Series 2: Electric Boogaloo. This week on the chopping block: The official Good Omens 2 soundtrack album!

Part 1  l  Part 2  

If you, like me, have absolutely no respect for your time (or your 2023 Spotify Wrapped) and are willing to sit with the show and the David Arnold score album running side by side to match up all the songs, then you too can find out what I did: exactly 6 songs in the album go off the rails in the show in a very specific way. And you know what they say about a song…

So let’s break these misbehaving songs down, shall we? 

A Bell Tolls for Thee

There are SO MANY DAMN BELLS in season 2. I think the sound department might have had a competition going. But I want to show you the bells that happen in the music of the show, but not in the album.

Specifically, there are tubular bells all over the score in David Arnold’s orchestration in season 2 (and some in season 1). It’s an instrument used throughout classical music to represent grandfather clocks or church bells, signalling time passing, like striking the hour. But, this season has done something devious: it sets up your expectation by putting tubular bells in all the regular places in the score, so that you notice less when they whack a big tubular bell ring in a place where it should not be, at a key moment in the story. 

Feel free to go back and listen to these time codes in the show, it’s going to become obvious real fast.  

S2E1 - 14:55 l Song : Into Soho Aziraphale answers the door to a naked Gabriel, and recognizes him for the first time. A bell rings once.

If you listen closely to the album version, David Arnold recorded a beautiful and uplifting ending to this track. Too bad we never get to hear it in the show, it splits off into a bell toll and then a reorchestration. We never hear the end!

S2E1 - 42:30 l Song : Tiny Miracle Aziraphale & Crowley perform a class-A miracle, and Crowley pokes the barrier with his finger. A bell rings twice.

Same thing for Tiny Miracle! The ending of the song in the album we never get to hear in the show, it gets interrupted by 2 tubular bell tolls and another reorchestration of other music. 

S2E3 - 33:59 l Song : Reprise - Something Terrible Aziraphale considers the statue of Gabriel in his present day trip to Edinburgh. A bell rings three times.

This one starts from silence with 3 bell tolls as a reprise of “Something terrible” starts just after it. The second and third bells are woven into the music on beats they never appear in those bars on the recording. 

S2E4 - 38:00 l Song : Zombie Dressing Room  Shax asks Beelzebub for permission to attack the bookshop. A bell rings four times.

This one is extra weird (see my first music post). Even though we stretch out Zombie Dressing Room way after the dressing room scene is over and into the Shax in hell scene, it still manages to work in 4 new tubular bell rings that aren’t there in the score, and we never hear the same ending as on the album. 

S2E5 - 00:05 - 10:14 l Song : Reprise - Something Terrible Shax requisitions troops and gathers her legion. A bell rings five times.

This one is tricky because Shax’s scene in hell is cut up 5 times, but you probably see where this is going: every time we cut back to Shax there’s a new bell rings once that wasn’t in the recording.  

S2E5 - 29:56 l Song : Shax Shax arrives from Hell in the elevbator to attack the bookshop. A bell rings six times.

This is the last time in the season when we hear extra tubular bells. In a pretty bizarre turn of events, the demons Shax has mustered have walked in from down the street, but Shax takes the elevator to arrive at the bookshop. What a way to treat your troops. In any case, we get a final song that doesn’t get the ending it deserves, and gets cut off in favour of a reprise.

Taco Bell: Live Confused So why put so much effort into signalling these 6 specific actions with bell tolls? The first three are clearly Aziraphale & Crowley related, while the second three are Shax related. (All the Shax actions accompanied by bells have flashing lights above Shax.) Could this be a way of signalling we are halfway to the second coming, 6 hours until midnight on the armageddon clock? Or something else entirely?

Every time we hear the added bells, the soundtrack in the show deviates from the planned endings written for the album. Are these mistakes in the timeline, that were never supposed to happen in the ineffable plan? I guess we'll all be listening together for tubular bells in season 3... -------------------------------- Thanks to @embracing-the-ineffable for the encouragement, and the Ineffable detective agency for all their hard work. Part 1 is here!

[tickety-bippity-boo]

Did anyone else notice that Computers Down (s1e6) is almost the exact same track as I Forgive You?!?

In season 1, it plays specifically when Death Opens Wings Of Night. Like, the exact same track as the one that plays during The Kiss.

Why is the music that plays during this:

The same as the music that plays during THIS???:

I don't know what to make of this, are there any metas out there that cover this?

[otsanda]

So @sayuri-of-the-valley and I were talking about the music in Good Omens 2 and particularly the similarities and differences in the music that happens 'Before the Beginning' (that's the song title) and at The Kiss (that's not the song title) and I have accidentally developed Theories and had Thoughts, so I’m gonna share them in case anyone else wants to weigh in.

First of all, the general musical structure is similar. They are both dramatic moments that start quietly, grow to a powerful crescendo at the Big Moment, and then resolve more quietly again, but with subtle changes that make them feel very different. Without actually going through and checking it, they sound to be at roughly the same tempo (around 140 BPM) and comparable time signatures.

Now, I'm treating these two dramatic moments and the surrounding music as two songs, although in the soundtrack the music surrounding The Kiss is actually divided into two songs itself: I Forgive You and Don't Bother, so that's. Fine. I'm normal about that. I'm sure dividing that in half doesn't Mean Anything at all. I'm NORMAL about it!!! Ah... anyways.

The instrumentation for both Before the Beginning and The Kiss is also very similar. Both songs start with orchestral winds and strings and add a powerful choral part (on the same pure round vowel sound, no less!) on the big crescendo. Both add orchestral chimes (bells) for that epic religious feel. Both the nebula creation and the kiss were a revelation. Something like a religious experience.

And then both songs resolve featuring wind and strings again, among other instruments. The "after" part of both songs also features more pitched percussion (harp, maybe a celesta, glockenspiel, possibly a dulcimer or some other fun, ethereal pitched percussion in Before the Beginning, but interestingly a piano in Don't Bother). Ouch. That hurts.

Now, to me: the piano is possibly representing the nightingale, Crowley and Aziraphale's love of Earth and humanity, whereas the glockenspiel and etc. may be more representative of heaven. Just a guess. I would have to do more careful listening for a more solid theory.

I don’t have perfect pitch so it’s hard to tell without getting out my instruments or transcribing the piece, but I’m willing to bet ‘I Forgive You’ is in the relative minor key to Before the Beginning’s mostly major key (I *think* ‘Before the Beginning’ might be mostly in the key of C major and ‘I Forgive You’ in A minor, but I could be wrong). Regardless, the former is major and the latter is more minor, but otherwise a lot of the chord structures, especially at the big moment, sound very similar.

More on instrumentation: ‘Before the Beginning’ uses more (ethereal?) flutes in the wind sections and The Kiss uses more reed-based, (earthy?) winds like clarinet, bassoon, oboe, etc. Different feel, but the same kind of structure. Both moments heavily feature a big string section for the nice full orchestral sound.

Before the Beginning has a lot going on musically before the crescendo and it intentionally feels kind of chaotic and unformed bc each instrument family is doing something a little different, building anticipation, etc. and then at the big crescendo, they all come together. Very powerful. Then after the crescendo, we get a subtle, playful reprise/variation of the Good Omens Main Theme. The strings and the winds are no longer entirely together at this point. They’re sort of playing off one another, leaving space. Having a conversation.

By comparison, in ‘I Forgive You’ the wind/strings start off playing together, in a sad version of unison before the crescendo (they both knew the conversation they were having wasn’t going to end well but they fundamentally *understand* one another now; they’ve been talking for millions of years). And AFTER the crescendo of The Kiss, the song ‘Don’t Bother’ DROPS the majority of the string section and gives the melody to a solo violin (alone!!!!). Even worse (better) the strings and the woodwinds and pitched percussion are no longer playing together. This time, they aren’t even having a conversation. They’re musically doing a separate lines. It feels extremely lonely (because it is). The violin is very exposed. The piano is very exposed. Even the chorus sounds exposed (smaller group of singers?). This ALSO includes a reprise/variation on the main GO theme, but instead of being playful it’s extremely sad (as though you didn't notice). The rest of the orchestra is still there, providing background, but it's not the same.

The Biggest Decision (the song after Don't Bother) has a lot more of those ethereally coded instruments again. Harp, pitched percussion. Full string section. Angelic chorus. Aziraphale is making the hardest/worst decision to return to heaven.

And to round it out, once we get to "The End?" we are back to piano. Our duo is separated. Now in place of the solo violin we have solo cello and piano. Gutting. We get notes of the ethereal celesta (I think). The piano keeps us grounded, but cello is a big focus. We also get more of that haunting chorus and violin runs. And then we end with solo piano playing the same 5-note run three times. Alone. After every other instrument has dropped out. Very lonely.

Just for fun, (and to end on a slightly more positive note), I went back and listened to the ox rib music as well, which was surprisingly consistent with some of my theories from up above and also not on the soundtrack so although I'm sure it has a name, I certainly don't know it.

In the ox rib section, there are more instruments before the first big moment (when Aziraphale tries the food) that are going back and forth. Again it sounds to me like they’re having a conversation… tempting and being tempted. Winds and strings (strings are tremoloing like at the kiss for that sweet, sweet tension), but also brass instruments. We have some more ethereal sounding pitched percussion, especially *before* he tries the food but afterwards it... switches to piano! Like I said: Earth!!!

The choir is on a different vowel altogether for this part (more aggressive and ominous, a taller Ah instead of a round Oh/Aw like the first two musical moments). The choir is also much more rhythmic. Again, increasing tension. And, of course, after he tries the food the music supports the tension of the scene by gradually building, getting louder and bigger after the key moment has already passed. It's super interesting that Aziraphale trying the food is actually quite quiet, but the music grows quickly afterwards. Sort of the inverse of how the other two scenes play out musically! Fascinating!!

Anyways, let me know what you think I got wrong and what I missed and if I thought something was a celesta when it was actually a glockenspiel or something. I am thrilled and devastated by this incredible music.

[ineffableigh]

Thinking about the fact that it's the SECOND chorus of Nightingale that plays in Crowley's car at the end of S02E06

That certain night The night we met There was magic abroad in the air There were angels dining at the Ritz And a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square

I may be right I may be wrong But I'm perfectly willing to swear That when you turned and smiled at me A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square

The streets of town Were paved with stars It was such a romantic affair And as we kissed and said goodnight A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square

I know 'cause I was there That night in Berkeley Square

I compared the choruses in the full version of the song and THAT'S the only one that has any kind of piano/orchestral swell immediately afterward like it does in the show.

OW MY FEELS.

And it ALMOST lines up perfectly with when Aziraphale looks at the car, if you were to start from the beginning of the song, but not quite. Close enough for me. x'D

Also hm, Season One for the first bit, Season Two for the second, and Season Three for the third bit? Give my boys their streets paved with stars and kisses goodnight, Neil!

[aduckwithears]

I just need everyone to know that the music here:

Is the same as the music here:

[oldbookshop]

These being two titles on the official GO soundtrack is cruel and unusual

[oprahsfriendgayle]

[courtneysartblog]

The Missing Music of Good Omens

So, it seems a few of us have noticed that the Good Omens and Good Omens 2 OST do not contain all the instrumental music written and heard in the actual series. I’m sure there is a reason for cuts to soundtracks, either time/space on an album or else copyright by the composer. My biggest guess for the missing tracks in Good Omens 2’s case, is that they did not want to reuse tracks from the first season OST, even if they were featured in the show itself. If anyone has a more conclusive reason for these choices, I would love to know why. 

But for this meta, I am returning to the final moments of episode six of season two, to track all the music we hear leading up to and including the final fifteen. This is a moment I’ve always wanted to go back to and chart, not only because of its beautiful score, but because I realized after I wrote my original post, that there were a few tracks missing from the album that were present in the show. Arnold’s use of repeating motif’s is so interesting, and, when we just go by the OST, we miss a lot of the music that gives us a more conclusive picture of what not just is happening musically, but what is happening internally for the characters.

Let’s start with a track that is included in the OST

1.Gabriel and Beelzebub: 31.30—32.34

This is the scene where Gabriel and Beelzebub light up the electric candelabra’s and disappear. Nothing to note, this is included in scene and in the OST.

2. Directly after this, we get our first missing track.

This can be heared when Furfur and Shax discuss their plans to go back to Hell.

Furfur and Shax missing track: 32.35—33.09 

The memorable section I used to track down the melody goes: A G #A and then A/G/A/G/A/G, followed by A#/A/A#/A/A#/A (This may not be accurate as I’m going completely by ear just plunking it out on a digital keyboard, but this is my best approximation).

I combed through both OST. And while it sounds familiar, I wasn’t able to find it. There may be a string of pieces that have this melody that are not included in the soundtracks, but it may also be that I missed it. 

3. Crowley and Muriel: 36.16—37.34

The next piece we here is from the original soundtrack and can be heard when Crowley is trying to get Muriel to leave the bookshop. 

4. And this is again followed by a piece missing from the soundtrack. 

Crowley Fixes the Bookshop missing track: 37.46—38.19 Continues 39.53—40.50

This is of course the track that plays when Crowley is fixing the shop. This precise version is missing from both soundtracks. What plays is what I have dubbed The Lullaby Track, which I have discussed at length because of its usage in the score. Along with the opening theme, which includes the lullaby track, this is probably the most important musical motif in Good Omens. The only track to rival The Lullaby Track for significance in season two is The Fallen Angel track. Again, see my first master poster for my thoughts to the usage of this track. 

But it’s important to note, while the Lullaby Track can be heard throughout the album, there is not a full version orchestral version of the song. One of the most famous moments where this song is used (the 1941 Book Saving Scene) does not have a track in the soundtrack, and thus shows just how often this song is played and yet goes missing from the soundtrack itself. 

So, if you want to listen to the Lullaby Track in full with the violin score, you will unfortunately have to rewatch this scene, as it is not included on the soundtrack. The closest versions we currently have are from the original OST, featured in Lullaby and End of This Story.

5. The next music we hear is also a missing track, which can be heard when Crowley and Aziraphale begin to argue in the final fifteen, starting roughly when Crowley says, “And you told him just where he could stick it…”

Stick It/Good Luck missing track: ominous notes begin to play at 43.30—44.07 and then continues from 45.47—46.32

I have connected these two missing tracks together, although their motifs are from different moments in the score. 

To find the first half of Stick It, I boiled down the melody to this note pattern I was hearing: C/G4/F4/E4. While the entire song does not seem to be from a single track, this melody that I boiled the track down to can be heard on the original soundtrack in All Change.

The second half of Stick It/Good Luck I boiled down to the rising scale you hear at about 46.08. This melody roughly goes: G/A/A/B rest A/B/B/C

This melody I connected again to the original soundtrack in the track Life After Death beginning about 50 seconds into the song, although this new version is significantly more subdued. To me, this suggests that Arnold and the music department recorded new versions of every track for Good Omens 2, but for whatever reason did not include these updated versions in the soundtrack. 

6. From there the music on the OST aligns with what we hear in the show:

I Forgive You 46.41—47.14

Don’t Bother 47.21—49.05

The Biggest Decision 49.15—50.15

The End? 50.30—End

There are so many repeating motifs in the Good Omens soundtrack. Many of the themes change and become motifs for different characters across both seasons. While so many of these small melodies sound familiar, it was hard to pin down these missing songs with anything specific. So many of these missing tracks seem to combine different motifs and tunes along with the main melody. What’s interesting to note is that with all the missing tracks, while they may be based off of motifs from season one, they were all remastered and remade for season 2 with new tempos, styles, and instruments. So why are they not on the soundtrack? I have no idea really. Perhaps this exclusion is due to space, and they decided to favor new tracks. Perhaps, especially for the Lullaby Track, they had hoped to include a full version in the season three soundtrack. But it is cool to find that the music of Good Omens remains extremely rich and vibrant with an abundance of overlapping and shared motifs. 

thanks to @samuraiko for sending me down the rabbit hole once again. It seems we are to be plagued by incomplete soundtracks

[captainfantasticalright]

Good Omens: all about its score Part 2!

Part 1 can be read here.

Almost all of these are references only to season 1; that’s because so far no official interviews for season 2 (for the score) have been published. (That I could find).

As promised here are all my sources; plus of course David Arnold’s own messages on Twitter (X?).

https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/good-omens-david-arnolds-soundtrack/

https://deadline.com/2019/08/good-omens-composer-david-arnold-emmys-amazon-interview- 1202660896/

https://behindthelensonline.net/site/interviews/ interview-exclusives/david-arnold-rocks-the-world- of-good-omens-with-music-exclusive-interview/

https://www.goldderby.com/video/david-arnold-interview-good-omens-composer/

https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2019/06/david-arnold-good-omens-soundtrack-interview/

https://musiquefantastique.com/the-nice-accUrate-adventures-of-crowley-aziraphale/

[thesherrinfordfacility]

soundtracksoundtracksoundtracksoundtr

okay let's not pretend i didn't go straight to this one: 0:33 onwards of the biggest decision - instant tears, brings me to my knees, yanking at my hair, howling at the moon

ok yes i have major feelings at the motif arrangement in not kind, its literally like hearing crowley's inner monologue to me it's so soft and vulnerable and i want to give him a squidge

i don't want to talk about fallen angel it hurts but fuck it im gonna, im such a whore for string swells and 1:17 onwards just does me in, the lilting and the rides and falls is just superb fuuuuuck

4:51 of catch the bullet!!! the little snare trill!!! gOD and then the stRINGS? then that brass ok no i can't talk about it

oh crowley and muriel is so gorgeous and serene i love it sm

love how hard he's smoking goes at like 0:33, it's nails, and then slam at 0:53? CHRIST it's so 'theme that got left in the car' i love it and it's perfect powerful crowley score yesyesyesyesye

monsieur azirophale [sic?] is so silly im giggling kicking my feet twirling my hair

okay but if there is anything that sums up like the ✨magic✨ of GO for me is the 0:00 - 0:16 of the candelabra it's so preeeeeetty

okay now i won't lie. this is the one i truly, truly wanted. my favourite scene in the whole mf show is the lift arrives/Going Up sequence, and the MUSIC hit me like a freight train when i was watching it, i was practically thrown back in my seat, like if i was feeling at all sleepy at 5am on premiere day the music in this scene woke me tf Up, the music in this bit would resurrect me from my grave it is That GOOD (the circle, just listen to all of it it's perfect) (ok actually i will say that the electricity noises in the show did add to the✨ambiance✨ but that's minor)

10/10 soundtrack god bless us all

[amuseoffyre]

ohhhhhh

the piece of music when Aziraphale is standing outside the lift, after the Metatron has told him about the Second Coming is called "The Biggest Decision"

He knows 'the big one' is coming. Crowley told him as much after Armageddon 1.0. He knows Heaven has an Ineffable Plan. They've always known that. Crowley has told him "when heaven destroys life on earth, it'll be just as dead as if hell did it." And this is the angel who holds all the prophetic texts including the Revelations of St. John of Patmos. He knows exactly what the Second Coming is.

And this music - the biggest decision - is the moment when he has to choose whether to go or stay. To go and try and save the world and everyone in it - including Crowley - or to stay.

The biggest decision, indeed. And he looks back at Crowley before he makes the decision and then he pulls on his game face and gets into the lift to go back to the place he never wanted to return to.

[humbledragon669]

S1E4 – Saturday Morning Funtime Write Up P2 - Saturday (The last day of the World) from The Fields of Megiddo to "You're better off without him."

Given the rather abrupt interruption I made to the previous part of the write up for this episode, let’s just get stuck straight in and pick up where I left off. Other than the lovely implication that selfies are the work of the devil, there’s only one thing I want to talk about in relation to this scene, and it’s the music. It’s been a while since I waxed lyrical over David Arnold’s soundtrack, so I’m sure it’s about time I brought it up again. We can hear a piece of incidental music playing throughout the conversation between Hastur and Eric (or Junior Demon if you’re looking at the original script), the character of which perfectly underscores the tone of the conversation. There are three sections to it – one for each iteration of the disposable demon, each growing less playful than the last (represented by the harpsichord in the orchestration). What I especially love about this little piece of music is that if you listen really, really carefully, you can pick out some instances of the motif from the theme music (played by a glockenspiel). It’s a lovely reminder of how much music enriches our experience of film and television without us even realising it.

Without giving a blow-by-blow description of what’s going on in the episode (which I’m sure you’d agree would be tedious both to write and read), I don’t have much to say about the next scene either, other than pointing out Anathema’s pathological desire to feed the kids whenever they appear. It makes me wonder if she’s like that with everyone (in which case Aziraphale would probably adore her) or it’s just children (in which case, creepy). It is interesting to see that Adam’s nature is starting to be corrupted by his powers – where the consequences were previously of a childlike innocent nature, they are now starting to manifest in his attempts to dominate others. We also have confirmation that the change in his nature is now being noticed by others in his vicinity.

Hastur’s next scene, other than providing some lovely moments of perfectly delivered black comedy, forms a mainly narrative purpose, serving nicely to remind us why Aziraphale was so incredulous at the Antichrist being left with an American diplomat’s family in the first place – they’re abhorrent. The Dowlings I mean, not all Americans. Or even all American diplomats. Not that I know any American diplomats to say any different. Anyway. We also see how quick Hastur is to come to the (correct) conclusion that Crowley is to blame for this monumental cock up. Given that Hastur shows his dislike of our demon just prior to the baby switcheroo 11 years earlier (and who knows how long he’s actually felt that way), it’s almost surprising that it’s taken him this long to find something concrete against Crowley.

Alright, Easter egg time! The scene of Crowley in the cinema has a couple. Let’s start with the one glaring at us from the movie theatre screen.

That’s our episode title, right there in front of our eyes! I don’t know whether these creepy little rabbits were always intended to be holding the banners and this is where the episode title came from, whether the episode title came first, or whether it’s somewhere between the two but I love the meta-reference nonetheless. Whilst we’re on the topic of those weird little fuckers, has anybody stopped to wonder why, in the name of all that is and isn’t holy, has Crowley would pick this film to watch? I know we get that deliciously dark sequence of a bunny massacring another bunny as a result, but it’s an odd choice for the demon you have to admit.

Second Easter egg:

The only other audience member in the movie theatre, in case you didn’t already know, is played by a certain Neil Gaiman. Who also happens to provide the voice for the cutesy-wutesy bunny rabbits on the screen. It’s tempting to ask the same question about why on earth an adult man would choose this child’s cartoon to watch, alone, on a Saturday morning but really I’m just chuffed to bits that they found a cameo for Neil.

As a quick side note, I also want to point out that the attention to detail has not been neglected in the cartoon – the frog (toad?) on Hastur’s head can be seen gesticulating in line with his speech. Not to mention you can sporadically hear a “ribbit” in the background. Bloody genius.

Back with Anathema (who, for once, does not offer her guest any food) and Newton, there’s an interesting return to the idea that the same word can be used to convey different meanings dependent on its recipient. Remember back when Adam showed up on her Anathema’s doorstep and she renamed herself to accommodate his preconceived ideas? Well she switches right back to calling herself a witch here, for the exact same reason, but with Newton instead. In fairness, he’s playing the same game in calling himself a computer engineer. And whilst I appreciate the need to remove matches from this particular individual, I wasn’t actually aware that he had any, though we do know he has firelighters.

Side note: there is a note written on a newspaper article pinned on the board in this scene:

It might be nothing at all, but if anybody has any suggestions as to whether there’s an Easter egg to be found here, I’m all ears.

Moving on into Adam’s rapidly increasing decline into his true nature, the only thing I have to say about the scene with The Them being dragged through the woods is that the speech delivered by the aspiring Antichrist here is incredibly relevant to current day.

Everything’s being killed or used up and no one takes it seriously. Everyone thinks somehow it’ll all get better again.

Makes it rather difficult to argue with him, doesn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe global extinction is the way to go about fixing things, but his point is valid. And from a child’s perspective, it might actually seem logical that the way to solve the problem is to just start everything from new.

OK, I need to take a moment here to do a little bit of an outline, because for some reason, my brain really struggles to comprehend the timeline of the Crowley and Aziraphale scenes for the rest of this episode. Which isn’t so unusual, given that we don’t see them all in chronological order, but there’s just something about these scenes that I find hard to make them piece together into a whole story. So, here’s the sequence as I understand it:

Crowley visits the movie theatre, where he discovers that Hell knows he has something to do with the Antichrist mix up.

Crowley goes to Soho to try and convince Aziraphale to run away together.

Aziraphale is confronted on the street by a group of archangels, telling him he has to choose a side (complete with a threatening wall slam).

Aziraphale attempts to talk to God, where he discovers that Heaven intends to have their war, regardless of any external circumstances.

Hastur and Ligur arrive at Crowley’s apartment (probably concurrent with Aziraphale talking to Metatron) to “collect” him.

Aziraphale calls Crowley to tell him he knows where the Antichrist is (and presumably to suggest they do something about it together), approximately 28 minutes after his attack.

Shadwell enters the book shop, triggering the Aziraphale’s discorporation and causing the fire to start.

Crowley leaves his apartment to go and get Aziraphale having heard the voicemail he left. This may or may not be after Aziraphale has already been discorporated.

I think that’s it. Even now I feel confused about it all, and I have no idea why. I probably didn’t need to spell it all out quite so explicitly for anyone other than myself but hey, this is my write up, so my rules.

OK, let’s move on to another horribly painful exchange between Crowley and Aziraphale, shall we? Before we get there though, it would be remiss of me not to talk about the Bentley’s registration plate. I *think* this is the first time we see it properly, as it’s obscured by the front bumper in most of the shots in episode 2.

It’s a pretty poor picture, but the registration is “NIAT RUC”. As in “curtain” backwards. As I understand it, this is a reference to some writing on the wall of a mausoleum in “Monty Python’s Meaning of Life”, paying homage to Terry Gilliam (one of the Monty Python members) who was involved in the first attempt to bring Good Omens to the screen.

Alright, first question about the upcoming scene. Why doesn’t Crowley just park the Bentley in his usual parking spot and go looking for Aziraphale? We can be pretty sure that the only reason he would be driving through that particular street in Soho is going to be something to do with Aziraphale. The space across the book shop is empty when he drives past it, yet he barely slows down to take the corner. Why not just park?

Next question about the exchange that takes place between our hero pair. What exactly is Crowley apologising for? By my reckoning it was Aziraphale that delivered the deciding blow during the breakup in the previous episode, even if his reasons were honourable.

My money on the answer to this question is that Crowley is in full panic mode at this point. He knows that apologising is likely the only way he’s going to be able to spark any sort of conversation with Aziraphale, hopefully taking him so off guard that he simply does as instructed. And it nearly works – you can see the angel’s relief when his shoulders relax.

He’s desperate – why else would he offer such a carte blanche apology for “whatever he said”? The fact that Hell have finally twigged to his involvement has sent him into full flight mode and the only thing he’s stopped to collect on his way out of dodge is the only thing that really matters to him – Aziraphale. He doesn’t believe he has time to talk about it – it has to be now and he’s asking Aziraphale to trust him. As a human resident on Earth, I feel obliged to side with Aziraphale on this one, seeing as he’s still trying to find a way to stop the obliteration of the human race. But that doesn’t make the rejection any less heartbreaking, even though he does seem to give it a micro-second of consideration before he digs his heels in.

And can we just take a pause on Crowley’s choice of words for his plea? “Run away together”, that’s what he says. This is such a clear indication of the true nature of their relationship to me – running away together is generally not the sort of thing people entertain in a platonic way, is it? Noticeably, Aziraphale doesn’t reject the idea of being “together”, which further serves to the idea that they are already familiar with exactly what the connotations of the word, and that it’s something he’s comfortable with. His rejection is actually grounded in the fact that he thinks he can still persuade the powers that be to just call the whole thing off by simply talking some sense into them, so he brushes Crowley’s panic off as “ridiculous” (side note: the music kicking in at this point should tell us that this discussion is on a road to nowhere – we’ve got slushy strings in a minor key again). What he fails to realise is that even if he can by some miracle (no pun intended) actually pull that off, Hell will still be looking to wreak some sort of personal revenge on Crowley for his involvement in the Antichrist mix-up. Crowley hasn’t forgotten that though, you can see the panic written all over his face as the realisation that Aziraphale isn’t on the same page as him.

What Crowley has failed to realise is that he’s not the only one panicking. Aziraphale is on that train too, but he’s taking a very healthy dose of denial with him. He simply cannot contemplate the possibility that the whole situation can’t be fixed. Crowley’s pleading might be painful to hear but I find it harder to watch Aziraphale’s version of the same emotion – you can almost hear him screaming at Crowley, trying to explain how terrified he is and how much he needs him on side.

Let’s not forget that Aziraphale desperately wants to be a company man. He wants to believe that his side is the inherently good side. That everything they do can be justified by sound moral decisions. Asking him to stop believing that would undo everything he is and ever has been. Even if it is completely ridiculous. We shouldn’t forget that because Crowley, in his panic, does.

You’re so clever. How can somebody as clever as you be so stupid?

That one little line, emotionally vomited as it is, conveys so much about Crowley’s feelings. I’m trying to think of another instance where he reveals an opinion he holds about Aziraphale, particularly one that is complimentary, and I am coming up blank. Admittedly I don’t know the entire script by memory (probably not far off) so I wouldn’t swear by it, but I think those three words about Aziraphale’s intelligence are exceptional as far as Crowley’s talking of the angel is concerned. And then he has to go and spoil it by calling Aziraphale “stupid”. There is little doubt at how affronted he is at that particular term.

We all know what’s coming next. Aziraphale’s very own stick-the-knife in phrase to counter Crowley’s use of the “s” word.

It’s not the first time we have seen Aziraphale express a desire for Crowley to be forgiven, but it is the first time we see him actually offering forgiveness. When I watched this scene through for the first time, I found myself wondering what Aziraphale thinks he’s forgiving Crowley for, but having seen the fleeting looks of panic on his face we’ve seen throughout this conversation, I think it’s for not understanding he needs him to stay, for not hearing the subtext he has been trying to convey. I also happen to think that Aziraphale actually uses this 3-word phrase as a coded way of telling Crowley that the conversation is over, nothing more to discuss, not unless the demon makes a compromise. I will be talking about that a fair bit when I get to its use in the Final 15, but for now let’s just say it has its desired effect – Crowley’s response is one of frustration and the discussion is indeed over.

What I find interesting is that Aziraphale appears to be confused by the reaction he gets, before the pain of watching Crowley walk away again sets in. It’s almost as if he realises he might have misjudged the situation, failed to understand how frightened Crowley is, and I think we can see real self-doubt there for a second before the demon delivers the final blow as he characteristically runs away from the difficult situation.

I think there is likely a bit more than a literal meaning to Crowley’s statement that he’s going to be “off in the stars”, particularly given what we saw of Lesley demise earlier in the episode. As briefly mentioned, the concept of entities residing within starlight at the end of their mortal lives is something that Neil uses in other works too (and not just in his work – this idea can be found in varying guises across multiple faith systems). Perhaps this is part of the reason Aziraphale is so reluctant to go with him? Either way, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that Crowley is clearly bluffing with his departing line, and knows he is.

WON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT YOU GIF

The whole dismissal feels full of holes really, after all, why on earth why would you need to go and get anything at all if you were planning on leaving the planet? Why didn’t he just take the things he wanted when he left his apartment on his way to Soho in the first place? Honestly, I don’t think he thought he’d entertained the idea that the conversation with Aziraphale would have resulted in anything other than them joining forces again, one way or the other, but the fact that he announces to Aziraphale that he’s going home says to me that he has no intention of doing anything other than that. He knows he has to reassess his options now that he doesn’t have what he came for. And how much do we all love that passer-by? He sees their relationship for what it really is, just from a single line of heated argument.

I’ve been there. You’re better off without him.

Importantly, Aziraphale doesn’t try to correct him in his assumption that they are a couple. And the passer-by is wrong of course, we all know that Crowley and Aziraphale are much stronger when they’re together. Better together you might say. Even Aziraphale knows it.

Right, that’s the lot for this part! As usual, comments, questions, discussion, always welcome. See you next time 😊

[majortomyourcurcuitsdead]

Nanny Ashtoreth's lullaby / Music during Crowley's bookshop cleaning scene: the same music!!

I noticed this several weeks ago but only now actually sat down to check both scenes side by side.

Give a careful listen to the scene where Nanny Ashtoreth sings a diplomat's child their lullaby (S1E1 starting at 36:19), and THEN play a short sequence of Crowley tidying up Aziarphale's bookshop after all the hullabaloo (S2E6 starting at 37:46). It's the same theme !!!

Also notice how at the very beginning of the Nanny scene a wind-up music box (??) or something like that with a small skeleton starts playing.

And then Nannie sings,

Go to sleep And dream of pain Doom and drakness Blood and brains Sleep so sweet My darling boy You will rule When Earth's destroyed

The melody of Nanny's words become the cello melody in the cleaning up scene. (Or it may be some other big string instrument, but you get the point).

For the bookshop sequence, notice how the melody lasts specifically during Crowley's tidying up.. And it stops once the talk with Nina and Maggie begins.

I am not sure what to do with this information yet tbh. It should be significant that this is specifically an Antichrist-themed bit of the melody.. Is there a link to the second coming in this? Why does it play specifically during the tidying up?

[demon-in-the-details]

David Arnold: When Crowley is cleaning up the bookshop for Aziraphale let’s play that same lullaby you hear after he rescues the books for Aziraphale in 1941. That way we can cause a little hairline fracture in the hearts of the audience that we can drive a wedge into soon after and use to completely shatter their hearts to pieces in the last 5 minutes with that final song.