The Music of Weeds

Through the course of the series, Weeds utilizes limited use of diegetic sound- that is, sound within the story world, such as that being played by a character, on a radio, or other such device. However, the show cleverly utilizes non-diegetic music (not within the story world) at the end of each episode to emphasize or make light of the situation occurring. The Weeds soundtrack champions independent and marginalized artists above popular acts, which is both a song licensing and aesthetic issue. Christopher Noxon, the show’s music supervisor, says that this method is intentional, and that the show “’[sounds] more distinct from other shows that go to the same stable of publishers who push writers or bands that all sound like Coldplay’" (Bessman). Artists such as State Radio, The Dresden Dolls, Of Montreal, Regina Spektor, Man Man, and many others, have been featured on Weeds.

The most important non-diegetic music, however, is the quirky opening theme for seasons 1 through 3, called “Little Boxes”, and performed originally by Malvina Reynolds. Reynolds is perhaps the greatest example of a “distinct” musician, as “Little Boxes” was released in 1964 when she was 64 years of age, and the song found only limited success, even after being covered by Pete Seeger. The lyrics of Reynolds’ song, paired with the melody, are a saddening observation of the post-World War II urban sprawl that occurred in large cities, and notably in California where both Reynolds’ wrote the song, and where Weeds takes place.


Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same. (Reynolds 1-8).

The song goes on to detail the factory of the suburban neighborhood, a place in which residents go to college, become doctors and lawyers, start families, and send their children to summer camp,

Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same. (Reynolds 23-24).

With this in mind, “boxes” plays a double meaning, referring to both the identical nature of suburban homes within pre-packaged neighborhoods, as well as the cultural expectations and constraints of living in such an environment. Men are expected to go to school and get high-paying jobs, women are expected to take care of the children, and children are expected to accept and perpetuate this lifestyle. This theme runs parallel to Nancy’s struggles; she is forced out of this cycle and must embrace her new position, for better or for worse.

Additionally, the term “ticky tacky” is defined as “shoddy and unimaginatively designed; flimsy and dull”, referring to both the lack of variance from home to home, as well as the lack of construction integrity in each house (Dictionary.com). Even Nancy cannot recognize the home she in which she lives in episode 15 of season 3, titled “Go”. Nancy and drug dealer Guillermo are standing on a hill overlooking the Agrestic neighborhood, and she attempts to point to her house: “It’s that one. No… it’s that one? I don’t know, it’s over there somewhere.” (Weeds: Season 3). After Nancy expresses remorse for her loss of lifestyle and home, Guillermo goes on to assure her that “over the hill, there’s another one just like it”, emphasizing the prevalence of such neighborhoods and homes (Weeds: Season 3). When Nancy burns down her own home at the end of this episode, marking her newfound independence from the suburban lifestyle, Reynolds’ “Little Boxes” is played for the last time.