It’s been wrenching our hearts and dehydrating our tear ducts, but according to our socials, One Day is also shaping our playlists. Based on the classic David Nicholls novel, the book was peppered with music references, and the show does not disappoint in delivering a pitch-perfect vibe of every year between 1988 and 2003.
Whilst we all mourn the loss of our own youth as keenly as we do Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley’s lifelong bond, we’ve also been pepped by one of the most exquisitely curated nostalgic soundtracks to grace a Netflix series in years (Selling Sunset’s soulless dance fakes, this is not). So, whether you’re an Eighties aficionado, Nineties club kid, or Noughties trip-hop try hard, they’ve tapped into our emotions through our ears as much as through the acting.
As Leo Woodall’s Dex and Ambika Mod’s Em fall in love before our eyes, we’ve charted the ten most moving moments and the evocative songs they are set to.
PS. This contains many spoilers - maybe read the book to mentally prepare yourself. And if you can’t search for all of these yourself, here’s the whole soundtrack to download.
Episode 1 – 1988: Frankie Knuckles – Your Love
He’s the uni cad, she’s the bookish nerd with a crush as big and ill-advised as her perm and puffball sleeves. But when Dex and Em's eyes meet across the dance lawn at the Edinburgh leaver’s ball, it can only mean two things 1. We’re in for a sweeping romance of the ages. And 2. He's finally unearthed a girl on campus he’s not yet shagged.
Episode 1 – 1988: The The – This is the Day
The hungover pair hike up Arthur’s Seat for a fragile morning after the night before. The realities of their mismatch become apparent as they run into his posh mates, but somehow they can’t let it go. When their desire for a rematch is derailed by his parents’ arrival, they finally go their separate ways. Is this the end? Doing the classic rom-com ‘run’ up Edinburgh’s iconic Vennel Steps, this song plays them into the kiss that marks the first real day of the rest of their lives. ‘It’s St Swithin’s Day you know...’
Episode 3 – 1990: Cocteau Twins - Iceblink Luck
Emma’s emergence into London society, waitressing in ‘London’s second worst Mexican restaurant’ is a damp squib in comparison to Dexter’s immediate arrival as an emerging TV face (and floppy fringe). The pair take their love of a good hill walk to North London’s sunniest clime, with a tender wine-date on Primrose Hill, which only cements their friend zoning, soundtracked with the soaring bittersweet lament of Cocteau Twins.
Episode 4 – 1991: Lion - You've Got a Woman (Shoes Subtle edit)
Best friends Dex and Em head to Greece with no hotel booking but lots of ground rules. But the azure shutters, back lotioning and heartfelt chats - as well as this hazy 70s track - make it all too hard to resist a skinny dip to remember.
Episode 5 – 1992: N-Joi – Anthem
Those iconic opening bars of keyboard set the scene for Dex getting on it in London’s heady early Nineties rave scene. The dreamy, drug-driven dance scene offsets the knowledge that he’s letting loose to escape the realities at home.
Episode 5 – 1992: Joan Armatrading – Save Me
Arguably one of the best episodes in the series, this one warrants a second moment... Dexter, needy and broken after an unbearable visit to his dying mother begs Emma to pick up as he’s close to collapse at station payphone. This song is a stab to the heart.
Episode 6 – 1993: Stereo MCs – Step It Up
Dex makes his (car crash) TV debut. This song bottles the Brut squared (champagne and strong aftershave) essence of The Word, Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush, and early TFI Friday. Dare we say Dex is a bit better looking than Chris Evans, if a little less charismatic in front of the live cameras?
Episode 10 – 1997: The Verve – Sonnet
Probably the most on the nose of the songs in the whole show, it’s as if Richard Ashcroft has written the lyrics for the pair (or did David Nicholls riff on the song?)
‘My friend and me / Looking through her red box of memories / Faded I'm sure / But love seems to stick in her veins you know / Yes, there's love if you want it /Don't sound like no sonnet, my lord’
As they come together for an illicit kiss in a maize at Tilly’s wedding reception, this is the first moment you really feel that their yearning is completely matched. I refuse to believe you won’t cry hearing this whilst seeing them try to part their faces.
Episode 13 – 2002: Lou Reed - Satellite of Love
Shakespearean spoiler alert: this story features death . And as the slow wind of Satellite of Love opens, with the pair corresponding their final humdrum love notes on voicemail, we realise that the inevitable is upon us. It does not make it any less shocking or allow us to contain our laments any more effectively.
Episode 14 – 2004: Jeff Buckley – Lilac Wine
As Dex rifles through the cupboards of his new flat - the place to find solitude and solace after such a drastic loss - searching for anything in which to drown his sorrows, Jeff Buckley soars into gear. Get ready to collapse into a heap against a wall, One Day will stay with you.
