Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is one of those rare shows where you actually feel like you take how good it is for granted. On top of being a genuinely great comedy-drama, it produces 2-3 original songs each episode as a bonus. They flow into the episode’s stories, they’re usually quite catchy, and always funny as hell. The dream of a comedy-musical as a TV series that so many of us had after watching “Once More With Feeling” on Buffy is here, and it’s beautiful. To honour it, and its upcoming second season (premiering this October), I’d like to list my eight favourite songs so far.

8. A Boy Band Made Up of Four Joshes

Squeaking into this list is this great send-up to boy band music, which mainly seems to be about how four super attractive dudes are going to help every girl that is listening to them deal with every conceivable problem they are facing. A lot of this show’s humour comes from taking general concepts in popculture and presenting them in a very literal manner to expose their inherent absurdity. This show does that well here with boy bands, but it also gives us a chance to see Vincent Rodriguez bust out some truly hilarious dance moves and gives his character Josh a nice little theme the show calls back to later on.

7. I Have Friends

This song is the ultimate anthem for people who definitely have friends but, uhhh… kinda don’t? It’s super catchy, but also depressingly relatable for a lot of people. It’s also a theme that’s called back to many times throughout the show’s first season when there are scenes dealing with loneliness. I don’t know what else to say about this but to reassure my audience that this song doesn’t really apply to me at all since I have friends, I definitely have friends; friends, friends, friendly friends, time to meet my friends…

6. Textmergency (Textastrophe)

I love this song because it harmonizes so well comedically. It’s a song meant to convey the panic of sending an awful text message that you need to make sure never gets seen, but it does a bunch of other things in the process. It utilizes a cast of surprisingly funny minor characters to sing said song, all of who are dealing with their own problems (most amusingly having to do with what the song itself should be called), while Rebecca herself is going on an amusing tension filled journey towards breaking into her ex’s home. This song is so great because it does many, many things very well all at once. Also the victory laugh Rebecca does when she finds Josh’s key is amazing.

5. Feeling Kinda Naughty

This song represents the logical conclusion to all those annoying “girl crush” fauxsbian songs that pop music was kinda obsessed with at one point. It’s just so thorough and disturbing, but also one of the best songs to just listen to because of how well it escalates. This is my favourite song of this show that takes an annoying trend in music, and then just brings it to the extreme for comedic effect.

4. After Everything I Have Done for You

This is the most “Disney Villain” song in this show’s repertoire. On top of explaining this show’s (entirely forgivable) plot contrivances in an amusing fashion, it’s also genuinely scary. It reveals some troubling things about our lead characters, and it does so in a way that puts the whole series in a different light. What was once seen as sitcom hijinks now may no longer seem so innocent. In many ways, this song represents chickens coming home to roost. You probably wanna avoid this one if you’re concerned about spoilers.

3. I Give Good Parent

One of my favourite aspects of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is when it shows off that, besides being an obsessive and psychologically stunted woman, Rebecca is also a brilliant attorney who has all the qualities one would assume parents look for in their children’s romantic partners. In one sense, Rebecca is basically perfect, and to see her triumphantly march into her enemy’s domain to slay her is oddly invigorating. It also helps that this song is incredibly funny and a nice change of pace from this show’s usual style of music.

2. JAP Battle

This is the best televised rap battle ever shown. The music and the flows itself are decent, but the way it paints a picture of the parallel lives of these women, while also being hilarious, having clever word play, and going places that most TV shows just don’t is perfect. I shouldn’t say any more, this song basically just has to be seen by everybody reading this. The part where they debate a bit, and then eventually agree on, how they’re both cool with black people is a particular highlight of mine.

1. Settle for Me

The definitive song of the show. I mean, not really, but in a way it kinda is thematically at least. It’s about the choices we make as people to be with others we may not entirely be head over heels for, and it talks about it in such a frank, honest, and funny way. This song is so sad in its desperation, but also weirdly hopeful in a way since we can see this sad person being super charming and confident in his own supposed mediocrity. It’s also the manifestation of all my hopes and dreams for this show as a network comedy-musical TV show. It’s this type of song, this modern and old-fashioned, funny and dramatic, goofy yet true to life masterpiece that I dared to imagine when I first read about this show, that was fulfilled with “Settle For Me”. This song also provides a perfect theme music for Greg’s character that plays in subsequent episodes that makes it and the themes it introduces all the more important. “Settle For Me” is the clear best from this show, and I can only hope the second season produces something to at least match it.

Honourable Mention: You Stupid Bitch and Where’s the Bathroom?

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