Björk was the soundtrack to my first love, back in New York in ‘93. Her records Post and Debut are some of those core memories—I can’t listen to those records without going back to that time, my nineteen-year-old self falling in love for the first time. And so I wrote a letter to her, talking about the show, talking about this relationship, and then talking about what her music means to me, and how her music was the soundtrack to a very, pivotal time. I was, like, crying in the middle of writing it. And she approved basically the next day.

Oh, my gosh. That’s so cool.

Which was just in time before we got to the mix. I’d just kept telling the producers, This is not a no, it’s not a no. And then we got it. Everybody was thrilled that we got it, because again, she doesn’t approve a lot of her songs on a regular basis.

We didn’t get any denials! Kate Bush, I worked very, very closely with her team, who were lovely and very supportive of the use [of “This Woman’s Work” in episode 2]. In that episode, the idea was almost like Romeo and Juliet, where she’s going through the service door and John’s going on the red carpet…the Peter Gabriel getting slowly mixed into the Kate Bush right when they see each other, and you get the really strong, beautiful close-ups.

I want to ask about “Common People.” I think that’s my favorite drop of the show so far, especially since it’s diegetic, with John and Carolyn dancing to it.

So in all the scripts, there were certain songs that were kind of placeholders. But this one was really special. It was in the script. This was actually also a very difficult clear. When I sent the request to the people who represent Jarvis’s publishing, it was like, Get a backup. He doesn’t clear this song. And, yeah, don’t tell me I can’t do something, because I’m going to figure out a way to do it! I had a producer on another project who I worked with, and he totally helped me out and was able to put the pieces together to be able to get them to say yes.

It’s so perfect. They had it [playing] on set, obviously, for Sarah and Paul, and you could just tell that they had so much fun in that scene. We were so grateful to Jarvis and his team for allowing us to use the song.

That’s awesome. It’s also just such a one-of-one song. There’s really no kind of lyrical or musical song like it.

Definitely not. If that didn’t clear, I’m not one hundred percent sure what we would have done. I didn’t have a plan B for that one at all.

How about “Heaven or Las Vegas”? I’m a music dork and that song feels so iconic to me, but I was looking into its past use in TV and movies, and I feel like it’s incredibly underutilized. Will you tell me about putting it in the show?

Cocteau Twins are one of my favorite bands. I was so lucky that a lot of the songs in the show are from my personal playlist, songs that I’ve always wanted to use in a show. I sent it to Max. He loved it. We found the spot for it. It worked beautifully. There’s definitely some songs—Björk, Stone Roses—where people who know me and know my personal taste will watch the show and be like, That’s Jen.

It sounds like you had great taste in the ’90s! The only other song I want to ask about is “(Nice Dream)” from the wedding scene. I feel like that’s an example of, as you mentioned, a less obvious pick from a band that got huge in the ’90s.

We wanted a slow song for that scene. It was used non-diegetic, as opposed to being their wedding song. It’s very stylistically shot with them rising up and being the only people in the room. And “(Nice Dream)” is one of Radiohead’s saddest songs. It sounds very fragile, almost like a lullaby. It’s describing this tranquil life that’s really unsustainable. And I think that encompassed our story. You’re with these two people that are so, so in love. But we all know what happens. I feel like everybody’s watching the show with blinders, hoping for a happy ending.