"Eastbound & Down 2" Soundtrack Lyrics

“Eastbound & Down — Season 2” Soundtrack Description

Overview

Can a swaggering baseball anti-hero find pathos in post-punk and spaghetti-western cues? Season 2 answers with a grin: yes. Set in Mexico (shot in Puerto Rico), the soundtrack pivots from Southern rock and blues to norteño pulse, Latin hip-hop, Morricone nods, and bruised indie epilogues. The music frames Kenny’s run from shame to self-invention, then back to reckoning.

The season aired in autumn 2010, not 2012; its cues became some of the show’s most quoted: Richard Swift scoring a public unraveling, Mew washing over a goodbye, and Kurt Vile closing the loop with a tender gut-punch. Source: Wikipedia (season details).

Questions & Answers

Is there an official Season 2 album?

No standalone S2 release. The official Eastbound & Down (Original Soundtrack) is a 2012 Fat Possum compilation spanning multiple seasons. Source: Fat Possum Records press.

What song plays when Kenny says goodbye to Mexico?

“Comforting Sounds” — Mew, used in Chapter 12’s farewell stretch. Source: episode listings (WhatSong/IMDb).

Which tracks close the Season 2 finale?

Kurt Vile’s “He’s Alright” and Lee Hazlewood’s “Think I’m Coming Down.” Source: Wikipedia episode guide; WhatSong S2E7.

What’s the spaghetti-western theme heard in the Mexico arc?

Ennio Morricone’s “For a Few Dollars More – Main Theme.” It punctuates Chapter 11. Source: IMDb S2E5 soundtrack page.

Who handled score and supervision?

Original music by Wayne Kramer (with additional music by Joseph Stephens); music supervision by Margaret Saadi Kramer. Source: Variety credits; IMDb.

What’s the meltdown music in the ballpark fiasco?

Richard Swift’s “Field Painting” flowing into “Knee-High Boogie Blues.” Source: WhatSong S2E4.

Notes & Trivia

• Season 2 aired Sept 26–Nov 7, 2010; Season 3 is the 2012 one. (Common mix-up.)
• Tindersticks’ “Hubbards Hill” became a cult favorite after Chapter 9’s closing/carnival cue.
• The 2012 official soundtrack includes dialogue skits and songs from across seasons, not a one-to-one episode dump.
• Production set the story in Mexico but filmed largely in Puerto Rico; the needle-drops lean into that border-blending tone.
• Morricone cues are used as attitude—pomp before pratfall.

Genres & Themes

Spaghetti-western & mariachi colors = inflated machismo, myth-making, the “legend of Kenny Powers” voice-over crashing into reality.

Garage/blues rock (Black Keys, Burnside) = swagger, self-mythologizing, and the show’s cartoon-kinetic montages.

Latin hip-hop / norteño (Control Machete, Cartel de Santa) = place-setting and bravado in the Mexico chapters.

Indie/slow-burn epilogues (Tindersticks, Mew, Kurt Vile, Dustin O’Halloran) = regret, limbo, and bittersweet pivots after the bluster fades.

Tracks & Scenes

“El Cabrón” — Cartel de Santa
Where it plays: Chapter 7; early Mexico stretch underscoring Kenny’s low-rent new life.
Why it matters: Instantly re-roots the show’s sound in its new setting (street-level, hard-edged). (Source: WhatSong S2E1.)

“It’s Bad You Know” — R. L. Burnside
Where it plays: Chapter 7; moody interstitial while Kenny recalibrates.
Why it matters: Delta-blues grit mirrors the hangover of his failed comeback. (Source: WhatSong S2E1.)

“Hit or Miss” — Bo Diddley
Where it plays: Chapter 8; builds swagger during Kenny’s early promotion push.
Why it matters: Old-school strut for a con man selling a myth. (Source: IMDb S2E2.)

“Volver, Volver” — Fernando Z. Maldonado (standard)
Where it plays: Chapter 8; bar-leaning lament.
Why it matters: Classic heartbreak ballad undercuts the chest-thumping with actual loss. (Source: IMDb S2E2.)

“La Receta” — Kemo The Blaxican
Where it plays: Chapter 9; street-promo beat while Kenny chases fans.
Why it matters: Local flavor for his forced image rehab. (Source: IMDb S2E3.)

“Party Up (Up In Here)” — DMX
Where it plays: Chapter 9; fight scene energy spike.
Why it matters: Pure id; the spectacle Kenny mistakes for respect. (Source: MoviesOST S2E3.)

“Hubbards Hill” — Tindersticks
Where it plays: Chapter 9; carnival ride/closing passage.
Why it matters: Melancholy coda that hints at how brittle the persona is. (Sources: Wikipedia episode guide; MoviesOST S2E3.)

“Field Painting” → “Knee-High Boogie Blues” — Richard Swift
Where it plays: Chapter 10; the infamous meltdown (mock birth of a soccer ball, gun tossed into crowd).
Why it matters: Sad-clown swing scoring public implosion with wry elegance. (Source: WhatSong S2E4.)

“Still the Same” — Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
Where it plays: Chapter 10; reflective beats around Kenny’s habits.
Why it matters: On-the-nose commentary: patterns repeat when the man won’t change. (Source: IMDb S2E4.)

“For a Few Dollars More – Main Theme” — Ennio Morricone
Where it plays: Chapter 11; showdown-style build.
Why it matters: Mythic trumpets for a self-styled gunslinger on a mound. (Source: IMDb S2E5.)

“I Heard It Through the Grapevine” — The Slits
Where it plays: Chapter 11; bail-out sequence for Kenny and Stevie.
Why it matters: Post-punk sting—gossip and reputation finally circle back. (Sources: Wikipedia episode note; fan-documented scene timing.)

“Comforting Sounds” — Mew
Where it plays: Chapter 12; long goodbye to Mexico.
Why it matters: Expansive, cleansing exit music; bravado drops, consequence arrives. (Sources: WhatSong S2E6; IMDb S2E6.)

“For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)” — AC/DC
Where it plays: Chapter 12; stadium-sized punctuation.
Why it matters: Parades Kenny’s grandiosity right before reality clips him again. (Source: WhatSong/IMDb S2E6.)

“He’s Alright” — Kurt Vile
Where it plays: Chapter 13; closing emotional stretch.
Why it matters: Quietly humane finale cue that lets Kenny be small, at last. (Sources: Wikipedia episode note; WhatSong S2E7.)

“Think I’m Coming Down” — Lee Hazlewood
Where it plays: Chapter 13; late-episode comedown.
Why it matters: A laconic wink—euphoria fades; life doesn’t. (Sources: Wikipedia episode note; WhatSong S2E7.)

“Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” — Starship
Where it plays: Chapter 13; broad comic uplift.
Why it matters: Pop-cheese weaponized for irony. (Source: WhatSong S2E7.)

“Opus 23” — Dustin O’Halloran
Where it plays: Chapter 13; intimate piano interlude.
Why it matters: Breath between gags; the show rarely grants one. (Source: WhatSong S2E7.)

Music–Story Links

Morricone brass turns Kenny into his own legend—until Swift’s woozy grooves yank the curtain. Tindersticks and Mew score the hangover after public theater: the carnival and the exit are the same lesson, played two ways. Vile’s closer reframes him as human, not headline; Hazlewood seals the comedown with a shrug.

How It Was Made

Score by Wayne Kramer (with additional music by Joseph Stephens). Music supervision by Margaret Saadi Kramer (with editorial support noted on episode credits). The palette—Delta blues, classic-rock chest-beaters, post-punk, indie lullabies, norteño and Latin hip-hop—mirrors a season staged in Mexico but shot in Puerto Rico. Source: Variety; IMDb credits.

Reception & Quotes

“Season two is funny and wild and loose—but with an undercurrent of real sadness.” AV Club (Nathan Rabin)

“Season two features killer songs that reflect Kenny’s down-and-out status in Mexico.” Phoenix New Times

Availability: the official 28-track Eastbound & Down (Original Soundtrack) released April 24, 2012 on Fat Possum (CD/digital). It blends music cues and dialogue; not every Season 2 placement appears. Source: Fat Possum; Apple Music.

Additional Info

• Official soundtrack street date: April 24, 2012 (Fat Possum, catalog FP1262).
• Includes dialogue interludes (Kenny/Stevie) between songs.
• Key Season 2 cues not on the CD: check episode listings (WhatSong/IMDb) for completeness.
• “Hubbards Hill” (Tindersticks) and “Comforting Sounds” (Mew) gained long tail streams after airing.
• Season aired seven episodes (Ch. 7–13) across Sept–Nov 2010 on HBO.
• Set in Mexico; production base moved to Puerto Rico for logistics.
• Morricone’s western themes function as recurring character jokes—then as mood reset.
• Starship and Seger placements are played for irony, not nostalgia.

Technical Info

• Title: Eastbound & Down — Season 2 (Soundtrack focus)
• Year: 2010 (airing); soundtrack compilation released 2012
• Type: TV season (HBO) — music overview
• Composers: Wayne Kramer (original music); Joseph Stephens (additional)
• Music Supervision: Margaret Saadi Kramer
• Selected placements: The Slits — “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (Ch. 11); Mew — “Comforting Sounds” (Ch. 12); Tindersticks — “Hubbards Hill” (Ch. 9); Kurt Vile — “He’s Alright” (Ch. 13); Ennio Morricone — “For a Few Dollars More – Main Theme” (Ch. 11)
• Release context: S2 aired Sept 26–Nov 7, 2010; location: set Mexico / filmed Puerto Rico
• Label/album status: Eastbound & Down (Original Soundtrack), Fat Possum, 2012 (CD/digital), multi-season compilation
• Availability: widely on streaming storefronts (e.g., Apple Music/Spotify) and on CD

Canonical Entities & Relations

Sources: Wikipedia; IMDb; WhatSong; Variety; Phoenix New Times; Fat Possum Records; Apple Music.

November, 09th 2025