Music has always been an intrinsic part of Scott Pilgrim. The graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley include songs for the band Sex Bob-Omb. The movie, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was built around a battle of the bands and led to a hit album. And now, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off has created a fever for which the only cure is “United States of Whatever” by Liam Lynch.
It’s somewhat surprising this is the big, musical takeaway from the series. The theme song “Bloom” by Necry Talkie is an infectious hit. The score by Joseph Trapanese and Anamanaguchi is hummable and catchy. And every episode is packed with bangers that will definitely make your Spotify Wrapped. But it’s the Liam Lynch song that’s the clear, breakout.
The song is featured right at the beginning of Episode 4. Appropriately titled “Whatever,” the episode turns the focus to Chris Evans’ Lucas Lee. As Lucas skates his way through Los Angeles, the tune plays nearly in its entirety and becomes the overall theme of the episode… Does Lucas actually think “whatever” about everything; or is there something he cares about?
Liam Lynch First Wrote “United States Of Whatever” In 1999
It’s a big come-up for a song originally released in 2002. “United States of Whatever” was the lead single off Liam Lynch’s album, Fake Songs, which hit record stores (back when they existed) in 2003.
However, it actually dates back further than that. The song, which Lynch says was improvised in one take, was originally shown on the cult classic The Sifl and Olly Show. Lynch was the co-creator of the MTV series along with Matt Crocco, and both voiced the title characters. The concept was essentially Sesame Street on crack, with two sock puppets (Sifl and Olly) hosting various low-budget sketches. It was canceled after three seasons. But Sifl and Olly still holds a fond place in the hearts of anyone obsessed with MTV at the time.
“United States of Whatever” was a global hit, though, and landed in the Top 10 in the UK, Scotland, and Australia, and Top 100 in the Belgium, Netherlands and New Zealand. The United States was mostly like, “whatever,” though, and it peaked at #34 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs charts.
Watch The Video For Liam Lynch’s “United States of Whatever”:
And now, over two decades later, it’s seeing a resurgence thanks to Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. A cursory glance at the YouTube comments for the video shows fans saying “Bless Scott Pilgrim for showing me this gem,” and, “One dude said that Lucas Lee hearing that while skating was a masterpiece. And I was like WHATEVER.”
You can watch the ripped version of the video below (it’s been up for 17 years, but just in case you find it elsewhere online):
Listen To Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Podcast:
Love Scott Pilgrim? Then perhaps you would also enjoy Scott Pilgrim vs. The Podcast. Every episode we break down a volume of the book series, discuss the feature film, and it’s all leading up to Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, the new Netflix series.
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