The Music in Gossip Girl Episode 12 – School Lies

The January 2nd episode of Gossip Girl, “School Lies,” starts off with the song “Oh Yeah,” by Moby. Now, this is a seriously fun techno song that’s all about partying. And at the beginning of this episode, so are Serena, Blair, and all their high society pals. Partying in the pool, to be more specific. That is, until the cops come.

Hey, that’s a teen party for you. It’s all “oh yeah” until somebody smashes their head and bleeds in the pool.

Since parties definitely feature in this episode, later on you’ll find some very special party music. If you’re a big fan of Chuck Bass, his conniving ways, and his naughty smile, you may have spotted the punky sounds of his UK-based punk rock band, The Filthy Youth, playing during Blair’s “study group” party. Yep, Ed Westwick, who plays Chuck on the show, has a band. And The Filthy Youth’s sound is almost as fun and rebellious as Chuck himself.

During this scene, you can hear “Come Flash all Your Ladies” followed by “Orange.” The fast tempo and angry guitar makes for the perfect music to accompany Chuck’s rebellion against Dan’s desire to tell the truth, as well as Vanessa’s mutiny in the face of Chuck’s always-imperious demands to give him what he wants. In this case, he wants the video of Blair confessing she slept with him. Good for you, Vanessa. Somebody needs to tell Chuck that when he says “jump,” the answer isn’t always “how high.”

But “School Lies,” wasn’t just about teenagers hanging out and partying. It was also about compromise and doing the right thing. During the episode, several characters make difficult choices to protect the ones they love. It’s a rather heartbreaking moment when Lily tells Dan’s dad, Rufus, that she can’t be with him. The song chosen for that scene, “Come Home” by One Republic, expresses perfectly what Lily and Rufus must be feeling. “Come home, cause I’ve been waiting for you so long…” After being forced apart by Lily’s mother, they finally have a chance to be together. But they can’t, because Lily wants to do the right thing for Serena.

At the end of the episode you’ll hear the song “Cross the River” by La Rocca. At one point the song says “cross the river to the other side,” and it perfectly describes what Serena seems to want. After finding out that her mother’s slimy new fiancé, Chuck’s dad Bart, paid her way out of being expelled from school, she goes to Dan’s. She doesn’t tell him the truth about what happened, but it’s obvious she’s disappointed that he was right… that his world and hers are very far apart. And it’s starting to look like Serena wants to “cross the river” to Dan’s world and leave her own behind.