Composers Gavin Brivik and Andrew Bird discuss how The Pitt Season 2 song “Need Someone” came together.
Normally, a TV show’s big original song might come in the season finale, but The Pitt isn’t a traditional television series.
Producers slotted the Gavin Brivik and Andrew Bird collaboration, “Need Someone,” in Episode 6 of the second season, when the staff eulogizes one of their favorite “regulars,” Louie (Ernest Harden Jr.). In the scene, Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) reveals the backstory behind Louie’s alcoholism, how he lost his wife and unborn child in a car accident and was never the same.
“I’m always seeing the episodes one at a time,” said Brivik, who also scores the soundtrack for the series. “So when Episode 6 came around, that was just the luck of that opportunity. These incredible writers and showrunners gave us that beautiful moment, and it lined up.”
Singer/songwriter Andrew Bird hadn’t watched the first season of the hit show but his discography influenced actors like Patrick Ball, who often listened to the musician’s indie-folk rock (with of course iconic whistling!) to get into character.
“It’s really refreshing to be able to write something that’s so unapologetically emotionally direct,” said Bird of The Pitt song, “or given that directive or that license to do that. I really have come to love the show. I see why it’s connecting with so many people, too.”
Brivik said Andrew wrote his part “in a few hours,” and that the song came together really quickly.
“And I feel just lucky that we were able to get our track in front of the right people,” said Brivik, “to pitch it against the other track. And thankfully, they decided to use ours.”
The Pitt Season 2 Song
If you stay for the credits of The Pitt, you’ve probably heard a guitar track. That song is the song in question that the composers were up against. And yet, it also helped guide Brivik and Bird with composing “Need Someone.”
“I think [the producers] lean towards something more like, ‘What would Robbie listen to? What would some of the characters listen to?'” said Brivik. “Andrew brought the most incredible whistle solo ever, and I don’t even know if anybody expected that. And then when Andrew’s voice comes in, like right at the end, everybody gets gut-punched by it. So I like that they’ve kept people on their toes a little bit.”
They only got one piece of negative feedback: It wasn’t long enough.
“It was literally written for the scene,” said Bird. “So, in the last month or two, I wrote a bridge that expands and gives it somewhere to go so it can come back to the chorus and give it a shape. We have a three-minute version that we just recorded with the band. And I’m not sure what the plan is exactly with it, but it just made sense to flesh it out. It was fun.”
Given the nature of the lyrics (“You need someone who’s going to cry for you”), Brivik and Bird’s song could apply to anyone at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. This season, Robby struggles with his mental health, Dr. Mohan (Supriya Ganesh) is burning out, and Head Nurse Dana (Katherine LaNasa) teeters on the edge after her assault in Season 1. However, Bird said he always had one specific person in mind when writing “Need Someone.”
“When I was writing it, I was thinking Louie. But it’s a universal thing, kind of a fundamental thing we all think about when we think about our mortality. You don’t want to die alone, and so yeah, I was mostly thinking about Louie with that. But it crosses everyone’s mind in the show.”
The Pitt airs on HBO Max.
