Along with its air of coming-of-age nostalgia and idyllic beach setting, fans often know “The Summer I Turned Pretty” for its music.
The show, now airing its third season, features a soundtrack that highlights a variety of hit songs from artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan, Fleetwood Mac and Taylor Swift.
Jenny Han, showrunner and author of the original “Summer I Turned Pretty” books, says when she picks songs, she aims to match the scene’s emotions and overall “vibe.”
“There’s lots of songs that I would like to use somewhere, but it has to be the right moment, and I think it has to further the story along,” Han says.
Sometimes fans question her selections.
“I think because they’re thinking of it more like an edit,” she says, referring to the social media phenomenon of splicing scenes together to fit a song’s theme.
“(They’re) great songs that are really lyric heavy that could sort of take away from the scene, because you wouldn’t be able to hear the dialogue of the people speaking,” Han adds. “And then I think sometimes, you don’t want to lead your characters too far in terms of the emotions. You want to let them show you.”
In keeping with an overall theme of the show, Han says she aims to invoke nostalgia.
“I love picking music that people will maybe (be introduced) to for the first time, and then I also love the nostalgia of songs from the past that make you feel something and you remember a moment,” she says.
But what song Han picks for a scene is sometimes a close call. Lola Tung, who stars as Belly, tells TODAY.com sometimes she’s asked for her opinion on a song. Because the process is collaborative, Han reveals that a pivotal moment from the show’s second season was almost set to another tune.
Fans might remember the integral prom scene in Season 2 of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” that leads Belly and Conrad (Christopher Briney) to break up. “Mayonaise” by the Smashing Pumpkins is the song Han ultimately chose to feature in the background.
“I love it because it’s so romantic,” Han says. “It’s yearning. It’s really intense.”
Leading up to the scene, Conrad spends several weeks distancing himself from Belly as he struggles to handle his mom’s worsening health. The couple eventually reaches a breaking point at prom when Conrad forgets Belly’s corsage and tells her he isn’t going to spend the night after the dance. Belly perceives his emotional distance as disinterest.
Tension escalates and the intro of “Mayonaise” slowly begins playing. Belly and Conrad dance at prom as the song’s electric guitar starts to wail.
But Conrad can’t move past the fact that he feels like a disappointment to Belly. They leave the dance floor to escape the song’s booming drums and talk outside. The two decide to end their relationship as the brooding song can still be heard playing from the dance floor.
But “Mayonaise” almost didn’t set the wistful tone for this intense moment, Han reveals. Instead, she says one person advocated for featuring Mazzy Star’s classic “Fade Into You.”
“Which I love, it’s a beautiful song,” Han says. “But I think it had been used on something else recently. You want to be mindful of that because you want the moment to have its own time.”
“If it’s a good song, a lot of people are going to want to use it,” she adds.
The first two episodes of Season 3 of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” premiered on July 16 on Prime Video. The new season already includes many twists and turns, set to songs such as “Dreams” by The Cranberries, Roan’s “Hot To Go,” Swift’s “You’re Losing Me” and more.
Over on Amazon Music, fans can receive further insight on the show’s soundtrack. In a new playlist, Han provides commentary on the songs in Season 3. The track-by-track album will be updated through the finale, which is set to drop Sept. 17.
“The show’s music has evolved as the characters have evolved,” Han said in a statement about the playlist. “It’s always been a character of the show in its own right.”
“The Summer I Turned Pretty” is back for its final season and has fans divided over Team Jeremiah or Team Conrad. Access Hollywood chatted with Lola Tung, Christopher Briney, Gavin Casalegno, Rain Spencer, Sean Kaufman and Jenny Han at the Season 3 premiere in New York, and they dished on the epic love triangle.
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