i heard it on the tv: Tonebenders and Tom Waits

Love music. Love TV. When they come together, it’s magic. Of course there are the obvious music-television mashups, like Glee and Smash. Both have their moments, though they don’t rate high on my must-see list, with Smash edging out Glee. Treme, the HBO series about life in New Orleans after Katrina, is another. It is exquisite.

But the music on television I love best is a single musical phrase used perfectly as an accent or counterpoint in a scene. If I’m really lucky, it’ll be an entire song that is as good as a well-played scene all on its own. This month, I have two songs to share.

Just last night, The Good Wife ended with Alicia (Julianna Margulies) both winning and losing in court (How’s that for a non-spoiler?). Perfect capper? The song Lucy, Suzy, Cindy, by the Tonebenders, which laconically accused the listener of putting lipstick on just “to tell me goodbye”.

If you didn’t already watch the episode, settle in and click here.

If you watched it and you want a link to download the song (legally, because I’m that kind of music fan), click here, for the Good Wife music page on Tune Find, a website after my own heart, devoted to tracking music used on a number of popular TV shows, including Californication (ok, not popular, but occasionally rippingly good), House of Lies, Shameless and Girls.

Another musical highlight on my recent TV watching is Tom Waits’ Hold On (Walking Dead, Season 3, Episode 11, Feb. 24), sung in a quiet family-type moment by young Beth (Emily Kinney).

Here’s the Beth version, but my preference, below, is Waits’ own version.