“We started referring to this song as Theme from ‘Sorry Darling’ within the band because it’s felt like a mission statement from the moment we started playing it,” said [Stephen] Bailey. “It’s sort of a microcosm of what we’re all about—revved up guitars, driving bass and drums, and a shoutalong chorus that makes everyday relationship guilt feel epic. We couldn’t think of a better first impression to show what we’re all about.” — Sorry Darling
Author: Jason Lee
In the expansive annals of TV sitcom opening theme songs and their accompanying credit sequences that help to establish a given show’s backstory and cast of characters most of which are mandated by law to feature at least one if not more cast members seated or even playfully frolicking on a comfy-looking couch…
…every since the passage of the Molly Dodd-Bonnie Franklin Sitcom Theme Song Reform Act of 1987 with the goal of reassuring viewer-consumers that it’s totally the norm in this great nation of ours to enjoy a certain extent of domesticated comfort and luxury even when acquired from a shabby-looking furniture warehouse off the interstate turnpike out near the airport and even when it’s in the form of sectionals…
…a formula that’s been so successful it’s surprising not more aspiring bands see fit to rip off…erm…apply these principles to their own theme songs in the form of mission statement style eponymous debut single releases that feature the same sunny major-key affability as your average TV sitcom opening credit sequence but in a rock band format that establishes the overall tone and tenor and “aptitude for rockitude” of the band in question…
…with Sorry Darling having at last breached this impasse on their debut self-titled single and what’s more here’s a band whose very name could hardly sound more like the title of a mid-season replacement series named after a pithy little throwaway in the pilot episode that’ll no doubt serve as a catchphrase for for one the Sorry Darling’s main protagonists going forward akin to Gary Coleman’s “Whatchu talkin’ about, Willis?” or Jimmy Walker’s “Dy-no-mite!!!” or Henry Winkler’s “Aaaayyyyyyyee” but most likely closer to the waitress Flo’s well known riposte “Kiss my grits!!!“…
…and speaking of do-no-mite, “Sorry Darling” by Sorry Darling (a.k.a. “Theme From ‘Sorry Darling’”) starts off with a ‘90s sitcom-worthy chiming fanfare whose boisterous, major-key electric guitar line puts no less than The Rembrandts to shame, the sonic equivalent of a big bear hug assuming the bear in question is into bracing, melodic indie rock, a bear who’re lucky enough to have all their problems in life resolved in 22-1/2 minutes or less except in the rare case of a “to be continued” very special episode…
…but of course bear hugs can be just as perilous as they are comforting especially if the bear in question has snorted a kilo of uncut cocaine as illustrated in a recent documentary film and while we’re not at all suggested that illicit drugs come into play here (of course!) the Sorry Darling Theme Song does contain some rough edges and emotionally ambiguous sentiments making it more appropriate to a Freaks and Geeks-style dramedy than a straight-up laff riot comedy…
…especially with lyrics containing quatrains like “I’m sorry partner / this is the end of the road / this is the casting of the stone / that shatters us” adding a nicely astringent note to the delicious sweet-and-sour harmonies of co-lead singer/co-guitarists Stephen Bailey and Liz Wagner Biro alongside the driving rhythms and rumbling low-end frequencies of bassist Jaclyn Land and drummer Daniel Holodak with Sorry Darling showrunner Stephen B. describing their sound as “Wist n’ Shout” or in other words “big feelings with bigger guitars” while going on to note the “bands that we feel kinship with lately are The Beths, Charly Bliss, anything involving Jenny Lewis, and cool classic stuff like The Cranberries and the Pretenders”…
…and while none of the members of Sorry Darling take a machete to the face (thankfully!) in the song’s opening-credits style music video (filmed/edited by Christian Wright and Dan Holodak with animation by Carley Haggerty) having “an ax to grind” *is* mentioned in the opening lines which eventually conclude with a dramedy-worthy sentiment: “I know you’re not perfect / but that’s never what I asked for / just a kindness to carry us / through the worst parts” and truly it’s theme songs like “Sorry Darling” that make such hard won insights believabe not to mention highly hummable which is of even greater value in light of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike so give the song a spin then catch ’em playing live in a local space that needs your face…
Sorry Darling are currently wrapping up the final few dates of a Northeast tour. Check your local listings for details or better yet check their Instagram page for more info on upcoming shows and musical releases..