Dan Harmon Snuck A Second Tori Amos Joke Into Tonight’s Episode of ‘Rick and Morty’
The newest episode of Rick and Morty, “The Rick, the Mort & the Ugly,” taught us that thoughtful chamber pop isn’t just for Jerrys.
On Rick and Morty, the musical score of each episode is just as much of a character as is the show’s ing cast. From the heart-breaking Mazzy Star needle drops to bespoke, stream-of-consciousness novelty songs such as the hit single “Terryfolds,” the Rick and Morty soundtrack is a full sonic experience that shows the level of planning and care that series creator Dan Harmon and his team put into every aspect of the show.
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Needless to say, Harmon, himself, has a hand in the official playlist for the show, and he’s even been able to sneak in some diegetic nods to his favorite artists, such as when Jerry bonded with his nocturnal counterpart over their shared love of Tori Amos in the Season Six episode “Night Family.” As tonight’s episode demonstrated, Jerrys aren’t the only of the Rick and Morty family who are big fans of Little Earthquakes.
In “The Rick, The Mort & The Ugly,” Head of Morty Replication Rick returns to his humble farmhouse after recovering from more bullet wounds than they pumped into Pablo Escobar to find the humble, hermetic shack completely trashed by the Rick raiders terrorizing the clone colony. Scrawled in what we assume are mutant pig turds are the words, “What grown man listens to Tori Amos?” and Head of Morty Replication Rick’s CD copy of Amos’ 1992 certified 2x Platinum album Little Earthquakes is defiled with a doodle of Amos taking a dump while mockingly saying, “Here’s some more shit for your ass SOYBOY!”
While both references to the North-Carolina-born mezzo-soprano who blended her classical music training with contemporary genres to create a idiosyncratic and masterful sound of her own seem to be insulting, Harmon’s own Spotify wrapped betrays the fact that he, much like the men of Rick and Morty, is such a soyboy who would hold onto his physical copy of Little Earthquakes in case it ever leaves the streaming services. In a 2013 Vulture article, Harmon listed the album as one of the 22 most important cultural influences on his work, saying of the record, “I played it on a loop, and she sang me to sleep — it was a lullaby filled with venom. She was Katy Perry shooting fireworks, but a lot cooler.”
So when Head of Morty Replication Rick took down the Southern Citadel scheme to the tune of the eponymous track from Little Earthquakes, just know that it doesn’t take much to rip Harmon’s heart into pieces when Amos is on the aux.
