“The core of it is finding Beth some solace,” the episode’s writer, Anne Lane, said in an Inside the Episode video. Most fans interpret this as Beth speaking directly to Rick, who continues to be a toxic figure within her family years after he abandoned Beth and her mother. “I know you tried your best, and now is time to put this all to rest,” the song begins. On, Rick and Morty fans analyzed those lyrics to show why “Don’t Look Back” is the perfect track for Rick and Morty, but also a song anyone can relate to.
“Lyrically, we talked about not being super literal about what was happening in the show, but pulling the bigger emotions out of the scene.” “Ryan gave me an early version of the scene and explained plot-wise what was going on so I could figure out emotionally where we were,” Culjak tells Inverse. She played around with the order of the chords and layered different sounds to infuse the song “with a little ear candy here and there.” Martin Cooke, who has worked on newer Death Cab For Cutie albums, mixed the final version of the track.
When series co-creator Dan Harmon first heard “Don’t Look Back,” he thought Elder had licensed a popular song he'd just never heard before, but it was actually written and recorded in just a few days as part of a collaboration with Culjak.įirst, Elder laid down a track with the “piano, a guitar pad, and that repeating synthy pulse that you hear.” He also developed a rough melody idea before handing it off to Culjak to write and perform the lyrics.
Normally, Rick and Morty might license a famous track for big scenes like this, which is what happened in the Season 2 finale “The Wedding Squanchers.” While Rick sacrifices himself to the Galactic Federation to save his family, “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails plays, and the devastating cliffhanger is made that much more emotional. "Holy shit, I'm a terrible father." Adult Swim Decider called it “haunting and emotional,” noting that Culjak’s known for her “lush, ethereal vocals.” Adult Swim even published a music video for it that cuts together various scenes from Season 4. This emotional revelation is a cutting indictment of Rick’s character, made all the more potent as “Don’t Look Back” plays in the background. The final product is ethereal and wistful in tone with lyrics that convey a sense of mournful regret but also an outcry to heal and move on. “I knew it needed to have organic elements to really bring that human feeling to it couldn't be totally robotic-sounding music,” Elder tells Inverse of the track, noting that it's inspired by the " chillwave" genre.
The Season 4 finale, "Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri," gave us one such moment: As Rick watched his own preserved memory of cloning his adult daughter Beth, only to realize he would never know which version of her was the real one, a mournful and contemplative song titled “Don’t Look Back” by Elder and Lauren Culjak (better known as her stage name Kotomi) played in the background. Rick and Morty rarely gets emotional, but when it does, the adult animated comedy punctuates the series' most complex moments with powerful music that helps explore the depths of Rick's depression, and series composer Ryan Elder is the musician behind some of the show's darkest scenes.