American Horror Story: Did You Catch This Musical Link Back to Murder House?
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Warning: Spoilers ahead for the American Horror Story: Apocalypse premiere.
Even though the group of survivors in Outpost 3 are lucky to be alive, their time in the fallout shelter isn't exactly a fun one. Aside from the fact that Miriam (Kathy Bates) and Wilhemina (Sarah Paulson) enjoy torturing people for the fun of it, the only food is nutrition cubes and the occasional, possibly human meat stew. And, the outpost residents are doomed to keep hearing the same song over and over again.
For their first two weeks in the outpost, the survivors hear a Carpenters song each night while their "dinner" is served. But after Stu is killed, the song changes to one by Maureen McGovern. Neither of the two songs are creepy on their own, but inside the fallout shelter, even the music seems to take a sinister turn. By the end of the episode, we even get a musical link back to Murder House — did you catch it?
These are all the songs featured in the first Apocalypse episode, in case you're curious about the cooperative's taste in music.
“American Horror Story” Title Sequence
The original AHS theme song is back! While recent seasons, like AHS: Cult and AHS: Roanoke, have featured different versions of the theme, the original theme song music is used in season eight. And the opening sequence features some of the images from both Coven and Murder House's title themes, too. The familiar images are combined with apocalypse-themed ones, like mushroom clouds and a radiation detector, in the new opening credits.
“Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” by The Carpenters
Klaatu originally recorded this song, but The Carpenters' cover is the one featured in the AHS episode. It plays during the survivors' cube dinners for their first two weeks in the fallout shelter, much to Mr. Gallant's dismay.
"The Morning After" by Maureen McGovern
Outside of AHS, this could be a perfectly nice song, with its lyrics about finding light after a storm. But the show has a way of making innocent things ominous, and this song is no exception. After Stu's death, the song in the shelter is swapped to Maureen McGovern's 1973 hit "The Morning After." Mr. Gallant thinks the new song is a "message" from the cooperative, or a sign that things will change. But as Timothy notes 18 months later, there was a morning after, for everyone but Stu anyway. Each morning in the fallout shelter, though, is the same as the one before it.
“Tonight You Belong to Me” by Patience and Prudence
What is it about vintage songs that makes them so perfect for American Horror Story? This song shows up at the end of the first episode of season eight, and it's a major clue about the Murder House influence on the new season. The song plays as the grown-up Michael Langdon, the son of Murder House ghost Tate Langdon, arrives at Outpost 3. This isn't the song's first appearance in the AHS franchise, though — it's also heard during the first and last episodes of Murder House!