Everybody has a default theme song that rings through their head whenever the HBO intro appears on the screen, and the answer varies from person to person. But for most people (the right ones) that seven-second intro perfectly feeds into “Woke Up This Morning” by Alabama 3, the theme from The Sopranos.
While the song might be iconic for TV lovers and people who are too lazy to fast-forward through the credits, the song’s co-writer has never seen actually an episode of the beloved mafia drama.
Alabama 3 frontman Larry Love told BBC that he has been “too scared” to watch the series, but not because of he’s terrified of New Jersey. He clarified, “Not because of anything in the show itself, more due to the fact I hate listening to my own records. I’m too much of a perfectionist and always end up thinking, ‘Oh, I should have done that part differently.’”
Love also revealed that showrunner David Chase discovered the song while he was driving on the New Jersey Turnpike, years before the James Gandolfini Rest Stop was added.
Chase was “driving along the New Jersey turnpike when [the song] came on his car radio,” Love began. “He thought the lyrics, ‘Woke up this morning, got yourself a gun / Mamma always said you’d be the chosen one,’ were perfect for the dynamic between Tony Soprano and his mother.”
The frontman also revealed that Chase was unaware that they weren’t Americans. “Funny thing is, David originally thought we were a bunch of black kids from the Bronx, as opposed to some Welsh fella pretending to be American,” he said. “And when he found out the truth he loved it, saying that it was so daft it somehow made perfect sense.” It also makes sense that a Welsh band would not be particularly interested in the inner workings of the New Jersey mob, so maybe it’s for the best that they haven’t seen the show. They still sing a remixed version of the track on tour, though.
