Urban Beats Carry Well Over The Wire
Why Read This
What Makes This Article Worth Your Time
Summary
What This Article Is About
Music critic Jon Wilde examines the overlooked soundtrack of HBO’s The Wire, contrasting it with typical television music that either fills dead air or manipulates viewers by literally interpreting on-screen events. Most TV soundtracks operate as easy listening, bullying audiences into predetermined emotional responses. The Wire rejects this approach entirely. Creator David Simon explains their philosophy: music functions as ambient background existing within scenes’ reality—fleeting snatches spilling from rowhouses or car windows, often achieving only subliminal effects. Songs are chosen to glance off themes rather than hit them directly, enriching the naturalistic depiction of Baltimore as a city suffocated by helplessness.
Wilde argues this restraint serves The Wire’s commitment to keeping it real, never pandering or offering easy resolutions. Notably absent is the obvious choice of a well-known song about Baltimore, which features a narrator who escaped—contradicting The Wire’s harsh reality where characters remain locked in a brutal drug war zone with no happy endings. The released soundtracks, And All the Pieces Matter and Beyond Hamsterdam, feature carefully selected tracks including work from The Pogues, Masta Ace, and Paul Weller alongside Baltimore club and hip-hop. These create what Wilde calls riveting listening that prompts memories of specific poignant scenes. The music ultimately serves the show’s unprecedented achievement: establishing television as the pre-eminent storytelling medium, surpassing contemporary movies and novels.
Key Points
Main Takeaways
Rejecting Typical TV Music
Most television soundtracks manipulate viewers through literal interpretation or filler, but The Wire uses music sparingly and authentically.
Ambient Background Philosophy
David Simon’s approach treats music as existing within scenes’ reality—fleeting songs from rowhouses or cars creating subliminal effects.
Glancing, Not Brutalizing
Songs only glance off themes rather than being too dead-on-point, avoiding brutalizing the visual with obvious emotional cues.
No False Hope Allowed
An obvious song choice about Baltimore was rejected because its narrator escaped—contradicting The Wire’s commitment to harsh reality.
Capturing Baltimore’s Reality
Music enriches naturalistic depiction of a city suffocated with helplessness, eating itself alive in a brutal drug war.
Television as Premier Storytelling
The Wire established television as the pre-eminent storytelling medium, surpassing contemporary movies and novels in narrative achievement.
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Article Analysis
Breaking Down the Elements
Main Idea
Authenticity Through Restraint
The Wire’s soundtrack exemplifies the show’s broader artistic philosophy of rejecting audience manipulation in favor of authentic naturalism. While typical television music either fills silence with easy listening or heavy-handedly underscores emotions, The Wire treats music as diegetic sound—existing within the world rather than commenting from outside. David Simon’s principle that songs should glance off themes rather than hit them directly reflects the show’s refusal to pander. This restraint serves the larger project of capturing Baltimore’s reality without false hope or emotional shortcuts, trusting viewers to engage intellectually rather than being bullied into predetermined responses.
Purpose
Defend Overlooked Excellence
Wilde aims to correct critical oversight by highlighting an underappreciated dimension of The Wire’s artistic achievement. By contrasting the show’s ambient, naturalistic approach with standard television soundtrack manipulation, he demonstrates how music contributes to what he considers television’s transformation into the pre-eminent storytelling medium. The purpose extends beyond mere appreciation—he’s arguing that restraint and authenticity in sound design represent sophisticated artistic choices worthy of recognition alongside the show’s celebrated writing and performances. His reference to contemporary movies and novels failing to match The Wire’s challenge positions the soundtrack as integral to this unprecedented achievement.
Structure
Contrast → Philosophy → Examples → Stakes
Wilde opens by establishing that music is overlooked in Wire discussions before explaining why this matters—typical TV soundtracks manipulate shamelessly. He then articulates David Simon’s ambient background philosophy through direct quotation, demonstrating how restraint serves naturalism. The middle section provides a telling example: rejecting an obvious song about Baltimore because its narrator escaped contradicts the show’s commitment to characters trapped without happy endings. Specific soundtrack examples follow, creating what Wilde calls Proustian memory rushes of poignant scenes. The conclusion raises stakes by positioning The Wire as television’s masterpiece, implying soundtrack choices contribute to this achievement while humorously warning against diluting the legacy.
Tone
Passionate, Critical, Insider
Wilde writes with passionate advocacy for The Wire while maintaining critical distance from typical television practices he finds manipulative. Phrases like “mercilessly bullied into what to think and feel” and “brutalises the visual” reveal strong opinions about conventional soundtracks. The tone assumes insider knowledge—he references The Sopranos comparison casually, quotes David Simon authoritatively, and mentions specific scenes expecting recognition from true fans. The parenthetical aside about unconditional love from anyone who stuck with the show reveals warmth toward fellow devotees. The closing humor about a potential rap album balances reverence with playfulness, suggesting confident enthusiasm rather than pretentious intellectualism.
Key Terms
Vocabulary from the Article
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Tough Words
Challenging Vocabulary
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Something that has been left out or excluded, whether intentionally or by oversight.
“In most other television dramas, this would not be an odd omission.”
Proved superior or won through; triumphed or succeeded in establishing dominance or acceptance.
“Now in its fifth and final season, it has prevailed as a masterpiece.”
Passing swiftly; lasting only a very short time before disappearing or ending.
“Usually so fleeting as to achieve a subliminal effect.”
Causing or characterized by severe suffering, sorrow, or pain; seriously harmful or distressing.
“Randy Newman’s deeply grievous Baltimore.”
Dark, shadowy, or obscure; characterized by darkness or gloom both literally and metaphorically.
“Masta Ace’s tenebrous Unfriendly Game.”
Relating to involuntary memory triggered by sensory experiences, named after writer Marcel Proust; deeply nostalgic recollection.
“Prompts an excitable, Proustian rush of Wire memories.”
Reading Comprehension
Test Your Understanding
5 questions covering different RC question types
1According to the article, typical television soundtracks use music primarily to enhance naturalistic storytelling through ambient background sound.
2Why does Wilde mention the well-known song about Baltimore was never used for The Wire’s soundtrack?
3Which sentence best captures David Simon’s philosophy about The Wire’s soundtrack?
4Evaluate these statements about The Wire according to the article:
Wilde argues The Wire has established television as the pre-eminent storytelling medium, surpassing contemporary movies and novels.
The Wire frequently uses complete songs as featured music to emphasize emotional peaks in dramatic scenes.
The soundtrack albums include both carefully selected tracks from the show and music from Baltimore’s local club and hip-hop scene.
Select True or False for all three statements, then click “Check Answers”
5What can we infer about Wilde’s view of the relationship between artistic restraint and audience respect?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Simon advocates for oblique rather than literal musical commentary on scenes. Music that’s “too dead on point” would directly mirror emotions or events—like playing sad music during a death scene, which he considers brutalizing the visual by manipulating viewer response. Music that “glances off” themes maintains tangential relationship to what’s happening, suggesting mood or atmosphere without dictating interpretation. This creates what Wilde calls a subliminal effect—viewers register the music unconsciously as part of Baltimore’s ambient reality rather than as external emotional direction, preserving the naturalistic illusion and respecting audience intelligence.
Typical TV soundtracks either fill silence with easy listening or use popular songs to literally interpret on-screen events, which Wilde says mercilessly bullies viewers into predetermined emotional responses. The Wire instead uses music sparingly—mostly fleeting snatches spilling from rowhouses or car windows, often so brief they achieve only subliminal effects. Rather than functioning as external score commenting on action, music exists within the scenes’ reality as ambient background, creating what Simon calls diegetic sound. The Wire trusts audiences to engage intellectually rather than being emotionally manipulated, refusing to pander through obvious musical choices that tell viewers what to feel.
The reference is to French writer Marcel Proust, famous for describing how sensory experiences—like tasting a madeleine cookie—trigger involuntary, intensely vivid memories of past experiences. Wilde suggests hearing The Wire’s soundtrack songs prompts similar involuntary memory rushes of specific poignant scenes for devoted viewers. For example, hearing The Pogues immediately recalls the wake scene from season three, or Masta Ace evokes the tense moment when a character’s car edges toward potential violence. Despite the show’s restrained use of music, the carefully chosen songs become deeply associated with emotional moments, creating powerful memory triggers precisely because they weren’t used manipulatively.
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This article is rated Intermediate level. While it discusses sophisticated concepts like diegetic sound, naturalism, and artistic restraint, Wilde writes accessibly with clear contrasts and concrete examples. The piece assumes some cultural literacy—references to The Sopranos, Proust, and Baltimore’s music scene—but explains technical concepts through quotations and metaphors. Understanding requires following the central argument about restraint versus manipulation and recognizing how specific musical choices embody broader artistic principles. The vocabulary includes some challenging terms like subliminal, tenebrous, and evocative, but context generally clarifies meaning. The conversational tone and passion for the subject make complex ideas about sound design approachable for engaged general readers.
The soundtrack embodies The Wire’s core commitment to authenticity over audience pandering. Just as the show refuses convenient plot resolutions or moral simplification, its music rejects emotional manipulation through obvious choices. The decision to use only ambient background existing within scenes’ reality parallels the show’s documentary-style visual approach and refusal to provide external narrative judgment. Simon’s philosophy that music should only glance off themes reflects the show’s broader trust in viewers to engage thoughtfully rather than being told how to feel. Wilde suggests this restraint across all artistic elements—writing, performance, visual style, sound design—collectively establishes television’s superiority as a storytelling medium, demonstrating that sophistication doesn’t require sacrificing accessibility.
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