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Glee: The Quarterback Album Cover

"Glee: The Quarterback" Soundtrack Lyrics

Movie • 2013

Track Listing



"Glee: The Quarterback (Music from the TV Series)" Soundtrack Description

FOX promo thumbnail for Glee S5E3 'The Quarterback' with memorial lighting in the choir room
Official promo — Season 5, Episode 3 “The Quarterback,” 2013

Overview

How do you write grief into a show built on release? The Quarterback answers with six carefully chosen songs and long breaths between them. Issued as a digital EP on October 7, 2013 — three days before the tribute episode aired — the release gathers performances that memorialize Finn Hudson and, by extension, Cory Monteith.

The set opens with community (“Seasons of Love”), loops back to Finn’s own canon via a reframed cover (“I’ll Stand by You”), and then narrows to private elegy (“Make You Feel My Love”). It’s brief (≈21 minutes) and intentional: each cut marks a stage of mourning, from collective to intimate. Wikipedia and storefront/press summaries align on date, track count, and context; contemporaneous recaps document the scenes.

Choir room silhouettes from FOX promo for 'The Quarterback' emphasizing memorial candles and a letterman jacket
Context — the choir room becomes a memorial space, 2013

Questions & Answers

What exactly was released?
A six-song digital EP titled Glee: The Quarterback (Music from the TV Series), timed to the episode.
When did the episode air?
October 10, 2013 (Season 5, Episode 3). It functions as a tribute to Cory Monteith/Finn Hudson.
Which songs are included?
“Seasons of Love,” “I’ll Stand by You,” “Fire and Rain,” “If I Die Young,” “No Surrender,” “Make You Feel My Love.”
How did the EP perform commercially?
Debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200 with ~47,000 copies in week one.
Any notable single impact?
“Make You Feel My Love” (Rachel) entered the Billboard Hot 100 and became the series’ final Hot 100 entry.
Where can I verify credits and placements?
Wikipedia pages for the EP and episode; Glee Wiki’s song entries; industry trades and recap outlets.

Notes & Trivia

  • The episode with these songs drew 7.4 million live U.S. viewers (10.5 million with DVR) — the show’s best rating since September 2012.
  • “I’ll Stand by You” is a direct callback to Finn’s Season 1 performance; here, Mercedes sings it as a memorial.
  • “No Surrender” hands Puck a Springsteen anthem that reads as stubborn loyalty rather than bravado.
  • “If I Die Young” was staged to break mid-song — the character can’t finish; the pause is the point.

Genres & Themes

Broadway chorus → communal mourning: A Rent opener (“Seasons of Love”) sets ritual: witness, then sing.

Adult-contemporary solace → surrogate voice: “I’ll Stand by You” lets the club honor Finn using his own musical footprint.

’70s folk-pop → acceptance: “Fire and Rain” frames grief as memory work rather than spectacle.

Country elegy → interruption: “If I Die Young” makes silence part of the arrangement — the character stops; friends step in.

Heartland rock → persistence: “No Surrender” refuses to let absence erase influence.

Modern standard → private eulogy: “Make You Feel My Love” strips accompaniment to foreground a goodbye.

Promo collage suggesting ensemble opener and solo spotlights for the tribute episode
From chorus to solo — the episode’s musical arc, 2013

Tracks & Scenes

(Song placements cross-checked with episode records; timings vary by platform.)

“Seasons of Love” — New Directions (past & present)
Where it plays: Opening number in the auditorium; diegetic memorial performance facing Finn’s jersey and photo.
Why it matters: Defines the hour’s tone — community first.

“I’ll Stand by You” — Mercedes
Where it plays: Choir room; diegetic solo addressed to the empty chair/letterman jacket.
Why it matters: Mirrors Finn’s Season 1 vow from a friend’s perspective; tenderness without gloss.

“Fire and Rain” — Artie & Sam
Where it plays: Choir room with seated ensemble; diegetic duet, hushed arrangement.
Why it matters: Names the unsayable; uses restraint to keep the focus on absence.

“If I Die Young” — Santana
Where it plays: Auditorium memorial; diegetic; breaks mid-verse as emotion overwhelms; friends gather; song remains unfinished.
Why it matters: The moment validates breaking down as part of grieving.

“No Surrender” — Puck
Where it plays: Outdoor steps by the memorial tree; diegetic with acoustic guitar.
Why it matters: Angry loyalty redirected into resolve; a private goodbye played out in public.

“Make You Feel My Love” — Rachel
Where it plays: Final act; auditorium; diegetic solo with piano.
Why it matters: A quiet benediction; the episode lets the last note sit in silence.

Music–Story Links

The opener holds the room together so individual grief can surface. Mercedes invokes Finn’s Season 1 voice; Artie and Sam keep the center calm. Santana’s cut breaks — that rupture drives her confrontation with Sue and the plot’s sharpest scene. Puck’s Springsteen pivot finds a way forward. Rachel’s closer isn’t narrative exposition; it’s permission to remember without fixing anything.

Final promo frame with spotlight on solitary performer in the auditorium hinting at the episode closer
One voice at the end — the series lets grief finish the sentence, 2013

How It Was Made

Written by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Ian Brennan, and Matthew Hodgson; directed by Brad Falchuk. The music team (Adam Anders, Peer Åström; supervision by PJ Bloom) selected familiar texts that could carry weight without heavy arrangement. Release strategy: issue the six tracks as a single EP ahead of broadcast.

Reception & Quotes

Critical response was broadly positive; ratings spiked relative to the prior weeks. The EP entered the Billboard 200 top ten; the episode became one of the series’ highest-rated hours post–Season 4.

“The tribute leans into silence, and that’s why it works.” Contemporary recap consensus
“Opening with ‘Seasons of Love’… no further explanation required.” Glamour

Additional Info

  • Air date: October 10, 2013 (FOX). A short broadcast hiatus followed before the next episode.
  • EP street date: October 7, 2013 (digital).
  • EP runtime: ~21 minutes; six tracks.
  • “Make You Feel My Love” charted on the Billboard Hot 100 (final franchise Hot 100 entry).
  • The episode’s total U.S. audience reached 10.5M including DVR.

Technical Info

  • Title: Glee: The Quarterback (Music from the TV Series) — EP
  • Year/Type: 2013, TV soundtrack EP (memorial/tribute)
  • Label: Columbia / 20th Century Fox TV
  • Release (EP): October 7, 2013 (digital)
  • Episode tie-in: S5E3 “The Quarterback” (aired Oct 10, 2013)
  • Track highlights: “Seasons of Love,” “I’ll Stand by You,” “Fire and Rain,” “If I Die Young,” “No Surrender,” “Make You Feel My Love.”
  • Charts: Billboard 200 #7 (≈47k week one)

Canonical Entities & Relations

SubjectRelationObject
Glee: The Quarterback (EP)is aMusicAlbum (EP)
Glee: The Quarterback (EP)byArtistGlee Cast
Glee (TV series)hasPartSeason 5 Episode 3 “The Quarterback”
“Seasons of Love”aboutAuditorium memorial performance (opening)
“If I Die Young”aboutAuditorium memorial; interrupted performance
“Make You Feel My Love”aboutRachel’s closing auditorium solo

Sources: Wikipedia (EP & episode); Glee Wiki; IMDb; Glamour.

November, 09th 2025

"The Quarterback" is the third episode of the fifth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the ninety-first episode overall. Read more: Wikipedia, Internet Movie Database
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