This Is Us musical analysis: season 3 episode 11

The mystery of how and why Jack and Uncle Nicky became estranged and what happened in Vietnam has finally be revealed. While the latest episode of This Is Us was dark and emotional, the songs chosen this week added a dimension of hope mixed with underlying tension.

While not a song from an outside source, the music for the opening montage in which Jack receives several postcards from Nicky over an unspecified period of time is immediately striking. The song is distinctive for its percussion, at once hypnotically rhythmic yet unsettlingly just off time. I don’t know what the instrument is, but the percussion is less of a drumming than it is a series of clicks, like wood against wood. It almost sounds like the percussion from “Die in Peace” by DJ Champion.

When the chanting comes in, it really starts to give you this off-kilter feeling. And just like Jack’s rhythm is being interrupted by Nicky’s postcards, we feel off balance and anxious right along with him. For me, there’s something just slightly reminiscent of The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows,” the hypnotic beat, the steady and off-kilter percussion, the chanting vocals. I think it was a perfect choice to enchance the tone of the montage and Jack’s state of mind, as well as a reminiscent throwback to the music of the period.

The main song used in the episode was a Craig Cardiff cover of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.” This is used over a montage of Jack getting ready for his trip to see Nicky intercut with The Big Three preparing to leave for their own trip. The accoustic style once again blends perfectly with the natural soundtrack. The lyrics could relate to a number of relationships in the show but mostly seem to be about Jack and Nicky.

"“And it ain’t no use in a-turnin’ on your light, babeThe light I never knowedAn’ it ain’t no use in turnin’ on your light, babeI’m on the dark side of the roadBut I wish there was somethin’ you would do or sayTo try and make me change my mind and stayWe never did too much talkin’ anywayBut don’t think twice, it’s all right”"

If you turn these lyrics around on either one of them they fit perfectly. Nicky might feel like he’s beyond help, so maybe Jack’s “light” won’t be any use to him, but he still wishes there was something Jack could do. For Jack, he maybe feels like Nicky “a-turnin on” his light – sending postcards and asking to talk – won’t do any good either. Jack is “on the dark side of the road” himself, but he might also wish there was something Nicky could say to change his mind. In the end, neither of them “did too much talkin’ anyway.”

This is also relevant for Jack and Rebecca or for Jack and his kids. There’s a lot of darkness in him that Jack never talks about, but maybe deep down he wishes there was something they could do or say to change his mind. But in the end, his family is the reason Jack is “trav’lin’ on,” putting his past behind him and leaving Uncle Nicky behind too, to protect them from that darkness.

This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on NBC.