With the highly anticipated season finale of “Succession” airing this Sunday, I thought it was finally time to delve into the ingenious Succession Theme Song and score by composer Nicholas Britell.
The show, created by Jesse Armstrong, is one of the best TV series I’ve seen in a long time. The story follows the Roy family, a dysfunctional and wealthy media dynasty, as they navigate power struggles, family dynamics, and the future of their global conglomerate, Waystar Royco.
The Succession Theme Song
The Succession theme has become almost synonymous with the show itself, drawing you into its world as you soon as you hear those opening piano notes. Have a listen:
The music is dark, brooding, and emotional, while at the same time grand and majestic. In this recent interview with Vanity Fair, Britell breaks down the theme and explains how this duality reflects the show: the serious issues of power and wealth concentration in the media industry are contrasted with the day-to-day absurdities and personal conflicts among the characters.
It’s a cliché at this point, but the score is truly a character in this show. What’s amazing about it is that it’s pretty much one chord progression and one melody that permeates the whole series. Of course, each cue (musical segment composed to accompany a specific scene) is orchestrated differently, but the framework is almost always the same. This is incredibly powerful because as soon you hear that C minor chord, it fills you with a strange combination of excitement, dread, and drama. It tells you: you’re in this world now and there’s no going back, so get ready for this rollercoaster ride.
The chords
Below are the four main chords that make up the theme (I consider the last two chords, Gsus and G, as one chord, the dominant):
It’s a simple progression, i – VI – ii – V in C minor, but so powerful. Each chord has its own character, which you could tie to the scheming cycles of the show:
C Minor: This is the beginning of the cycle, representing the sense of restlessness and discontent among the characters. It’s the underlying dissatisfaction that drives their ambition and ruthlessness. Minor chords are often associated with sadness or melancholy, representing the dissatisfaction and tensions within the Roy family.
Ab Major: This chord can symbolize the planning stage. As the sixth scale degree in minor, this major chord has a brighter, almost hopeful sound, mirroring the characters’ optimism as they strategize and plot. They’re full of confidence and hope in this stage, believing they can maneuver their way to the top.
Dø/F: This stage reflects the execution of the plans, and the inherent tension and instability in them. The half-diminished chord is often associated with uncertainty and ambiguity, fitting for the unforeseen obstacles and challenges the characters face as they put their schemes into action.
G: The final chord represents the climax of their scheming, where tensions reach a boiling point and the stakes are at their highest. In C minor, G is the dominant, which drives towards resolution. But just like the recurring power struggles, it cycles back to the start, to C minor, a new, albeit temporary, equilibrium.
To visualize this ceaseless cycle, I’ve put these different stages over the theme song in the video below:
The melody
On top of the chords floats the melody, featuring a number of dissonant notes that don’t fit the chords. As Britell explains in the video: “[…] things are always kind of off-kilter with themselves, like the family in the show.”
I’ve circled those off-kilter notes:
I imagine these notes as inhabiting Shiv, Roman, Logan, Kendall, and Tom as they scheme and plot their next moves in the arena of ever-shifting power balance.
In jazz, the ornaments that these notes are part of are often called enclosures in jazz (or turns in classical music). They “enclose” certain target notes, often chords tones:
Reharmonization
In my own reharmonization, I pushed the harmony outside of the core progression. By adding in an A minor I introduced another dramatic shift from the C minor tonality to its parallel major key, C major. A minor is the vi-chord in C major, and feels quite out of place, (maybe this chord could represent “Greg the Egg” ), but I like the way it resolves to the Ab major chord from the original progressions.
Give it a listen:
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed my reharmonization and analysis of the Succession Main Theme. I’m excited for the finale on Sunday but I also know that I will miss these flawed, terrible, and fascinating characters and their power struggles once it’s over. One thing is certain, Britell’s theme will be stuck in my head long after this show has ended, reminding me of the power of music to transport me to a different time and place.
Let me know your thoughts on Succession (no spoilers!) and its theme in the comments below. As always, if you’d like to get started on your own reharmonizations, make sure to download the Reharmonization Quick Guide here.
