Along with its air of coming-of-age nostalgia and idyllic beach setting, fans often know โThe 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.”
โThereโs 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 songโs theme.
“There’s 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.
โI 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,โ 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 showโs second season was almost set to another tune.
Fans might remember the integral prom scene in Season 2 of โThe Summer I Turned Prettyโ that leads Belly and Conrad (Christopher Briney) to break up. โMayonaiseโ by the Smashing Pumpkins is the song Han ultimately chose to feature in the background.
โI love it because it’s so romantic,โ Han says. โItโs yearning. Itโs really intense.โ
Leading up to the scene, Conrad spends several weeks distancing himself from Belly as he struggles to handle his momโs worsening health. The couple eventually reaches a breaking point at prom when Conrad forgets Belly’s corsage and tells her he isnโt going to spend the night after the dance. Belly perceives his emotional distance as disinterest.
Tension escalates and the intro of โMayonaiseโ slowly begins playing. Belly and Conrad dance at prom as the songโs electric guitar starts to wail.
But Conrad canโt move past the fact that he feels like a disappointment to Belly. They leave the dance floor to escape the songโs 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 โMayonaiseโ almost didn’t set the wistful tone for this intense moment, Han reveals. Instead, she says one person advocated for featuring Mazzy Starโs classic โFade Into You.โ
“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.”
โIf itโs a good song, a lot of people are going to want to use it,โ she adds.
The first two episodes of Season 3 of โThe Summer I Turned Prettyโ premiered on July 16 on Prime Video. The new season already includes many twists and turns, set to songs such as โDreamsโ by The Cranberries, โHot To Go,” โYouโre 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 showโs music has evolved as the characters have evolved,” Han said in a statement about the playlist. “Itโs always been a character of the show in its own right.”
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