‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ Songs of Season 1, Ranked
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Daisy Jones and the Six, Season 1, Episodes 1-10.]
Daisy Jones & The Six is here, and so is its music. At the center of the 1970s-set Prime Video series is “one of the biggest bands in the world at the time,” with music to match. The tunes by fake-Fleetwood Mac play a crucial role, and their defining album, Aurora, is available for purchase and streaming. Riley Keough stars as pseudo-Stevie Nicks Daisy Jones, and Sam Claflin plays Billy Dunne. Suki Waterhouse, Sebastian Chacon, Nabiyah Be, Camila Morrone, Tom Wright, Will Harrison, and Josh Whitehouse also star.
The show has a tough task in front of it: create songs that sound like they’re massive hits and that sound like they’re from the 1970s. They have to be accurate and good. Some songs succeed more than others.
We’re ranking the songs featured, from worst to best. Plus, which classic 1970s songs are they most like? For the purposes of this article, we are excluding covers played by the band early in their career (like Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Suzie Q in the first episode).
We are including original songs from just The Six and just Daisy Jones, before they join forces, as well as songs from Daisy’s friend, Simone Jackson, that are not on Aurora. Let us know in the comments your favorite Daisy Jones & The Six song now that the finale has aired!
Daisy Jones & The Six, Fridays, Prime Video
"Look Me in the Eye"
“I put the grease, I put the sword in the stone…and then I hit the bird in the bush, and someone called the police.”
A work of lyrical genius, it is not, but it does harken back to the sound of Jackson Browne (who worked on some of the series’ songs), Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, Tom Petty, and, of course, Fleetwood Mac. The Six are early in their career when they perform this one, and they only improve from there.
It’s about 25% Stephen Stills’ “Love the One You’re With,” 50% Jackson Browne’s “Doctor My Eyes,” and 25% Fleetwood Mac’s “Second Hand News.”
"Nobody Needs"
“Nobody needs a family,” sings Daisy, while Billy is unable to meet his newborn daughter and instead must go to rehab.
It’s a quiet but pretty song. Producer Teddy Price (Tom Wright) agrees to help Daisy with a full album, and eventually pair her with The Six. It shows promise but, as Price says, “this is now the worst song on your album.” It shows promise, but she’s got even better in her.
We did the math, and this is about 10% James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain,” 40% Carly Simon’s “The Carter Family,” and 50% “Landslide-Early Version.”
"Flip the Switch"
Billy is frustrated with this song. We agree, it’s not the best The Six has to offer. That being said, it’s a fun toe-tapper and seems great live. We can see why Camila sings along in Episode 2!
It’s roughly 30% Led Zeppelin’s “Over the Hills and Far Away,” 50% America’s “Ventura Highway,” and 20% The Eagles’ “Take It Easy.”
"Type of Guy"
All of Daisy’s pre-The Six work is in line with women rock-folk artists of that era, and Episode 4’s “Type of Guy” is no exception. It’s mournful, sweet, pretty, and romantic. Once again, it’s just Daisy’s voice and an instrument. Right after we hear her sing it in full for the first time, Daisy gets arrested for breaking into her childhood home, because her parents didn’t tell her they moved. Then she tells Teddy, “I’m tired of the singer songwriter thing,” so that ends that era of her sound. Like a lot of the early episode’s songs, it’s good, but it gets better.
It’s about 35% Carly Simon’s “Embrace Me, You Child,” 10% Linda Ronstadt’s “Revenge,” and 55% Carole King’s “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.”
"Aurora"
The titular song on Daisy Jones and the Six’s hit album, we hear it requested on the radio, a clear fan favorite. Daisy listens as she listlessly drinks and does drugs in her apartment, trying to decide what to do with her time now that their recording sessions are over.
It’s a fun little bop on the album, and it’s 30% Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop” and 20% “Go Your Own Way” and 50% “Rhiannon.”
"You Were Gone"
“Even in shambles Daisy was a power house, but this was just sad,” says ’90s Karen as the band performs this number back in the ’70s. Daisy is doing decidedly poorly in Episode 9, and you can hear it when she performs. Billy, too, admits that he is unhappy.
This is a fun, sweet, and melancholy song. The trilling piano is especially Fleetwood Mac-esque. It’s precisely 50% “Dreams” and 50% “You Make Loving Fun.”
"Up to You"
Nabiyah Be’s Simone (based on Donna Summer, among others) seemingly wrote “Up to You,” and it’s a great showcase for her beautiful voice. Though we don’t get to hear the entire song, it could definitely be a hit in the world of the show.
It’s 60% Donna Summer’s “Domino,” 15% Labi Siffre’s “Bless the Telephone,” and 25% Minnie Ripperton’s “Lovin’ You.”
"It Was Always You"
Daisy is back to her roots with this song in Episode 9, just her voice and a guitar. She performs the song for Billy, and the lyrics are obviously about him. About them.
Like her earlier songs, this is VERY Joni Mitchell. It’s 60% Mitchell’s “California,” 30% Linda Ronstadt’s “Long Long Time,” and 10% Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend.”
"No Words"
We barely hear this one in-episode, but it’s lovely! A slower, more folk-leaning song, closer to Daisy’s earlier work in the series.
It’s 60% Joni Mitchell’s “A Case Of You,” 20% Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman,” and 20% Fleetwood Mac’s “Never Going Back Again.”
"Ya Love Ain't Enough"
Simone is coming into her own after moving to New York City in Episode 7. Bernie (Ayesha Harris), who Simone met earlier in the series, has taken vocals Simone sent her and added disco backtracks. “You’ve got fans,” she tells her, looking out on the crowd of dancers, right before they go home together. Simone’s a success in New York, romantically and professionally. Bernie convinces Simone to sing her song live at the disco, and it’s electric. Bernie and Simone agree; they need to keep making songs together.
Like the crowded disco club, we’re fans of this song. It’s 30% Candi Stanton’s “Young Hearts Run Free,” 10% Donna Summer’s “Lucky,” and 60% Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff.”
"More Fun to Miss"
“More Fun to Miss” is hard to watch. Billy, a recovering addict himself, writes a song about Daisy’s addiction and makes her sing it over and over again until she gets it how he wants it. He’s punishing her for missing the previous day’s recording session due to a bender. It’s brutal. In the middle of recording, they argue privately and Billy finally kisses her, yielding the performance he was after. There’s something between them, but will it materialize? The second half of their recording session is tense in a very different way than the first half.
Daisy is channeling Janis Joplin on this track, 55% “Me and Bobby McGee,” 30% “Little Girl Blue,” and 15% Stevie Nicks’ “Wild Heart.”
"Two Against Three"
Daisy sings this song at the iconic LA venue The Troubadour with her friend Simone. It later appears on Aurora. It’s a lovely song, and their harmonies are beautiful. Daisy’s still in her acoustic singer/songwriter era, reminiscent of Joni Mitchell and Carole King.
This song is 60% Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird,” 30% Joni Mitchell’s “Song to a Seagull,” and 10% Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young’s “Our House” (specifically the Demo version, featuring Mitchell).
"Kill You to Try"
This song solidifies, in Episode 6, Billy and Daisy’s intense writing partnership. Daisy asks for the instruments to sound “swampier,” and Billy translates what she means. They have fantastic fights, but they get each other. “Kill You to Try” is a fun addition to Aurora.
This one is 60% “Dreams,” one of Rumour’s swampiest songs, and 40% “You Make Loving Fun.”
“Last Night Together”
Simone’s got a hit on her hands with “Last Night Together.” “That song just worked,” says 1990s Simone, and she’s right. Simone and Bernie perform their songs every night at clubs around New York and New Jersey, but they always come back to their favorite queer bar, where their music is most understood and appreciated. The song, and Simone, is a well-earned and well-deserved success.
This bop is 30% Cheryl Lynn’s “Got to be Real,” 50% Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls,” and 20% Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family.”
"By Myself"
The first episode ends with Daisy Jones belting out this piano ballad, and then needle drops “I Feel the Earth Move” to drive the point home.
Daisy expresses love for Carole King’s Tapestry, and this song would be right at home on that album. It’s about 60% “It’s Too Late,” 20% “Tapestry,” and 20% Joni Mitchell’s “River.”
"Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)"
Finally, Daisy Jones joins The Six! Daisy gets brought on to feature on “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)” and for some rewrites. As expected, they’re better together. It’s the song that, so far, sounds the most like Fleetwood Mac. Billy and Daisy have tense, but excellent, creative chemistry.
This one is 100% “The Chain,” and the best song of the first three episodes.
"Let Me Down Easy"
Episode 5, or should we say Track 5, is largely focused on the writing of this song. Daisy and Billy are figuring out how to work together, and “Let Me Down Easy” is the result. It’s VERY Fleetwood Mac, in a good way. The band loves this one, with Warren (Sebastian Chacon) even saying it’s “still one of my favorites.” Even though it doesn’t quite have the gravitas of Fleetwood’s best, we have to agree with Warren.
The opening guitar makes this one 100% “Rhiannon.”
"Regret Me"
Taylor Jenkins Reid has said she was inspired to write the book Daisy Jones and the Six by 1997 tour videos of Fleetwood Mac, the most famous of which is this charged performance of “Silver Springs.”
Though written for Rumours, “Silver Springs” does not appear on the final album. Billy doesn’t want to record “Regret Me” for Aurora. The parallels are clear.
“Regret Me” is another 100% Fleetwood Mac song.
"The River"
Daisy and Billy don’t like each other much at this point, as ‘90s Daisy points out. And yet, “The River” is a song that showcases their creative chemistry. The worse their relationship, the more compelling their live performance. Riley Keough is doing her best Stevie Nicks on this track, and it’s one of Daisy’s best songs, vocally.
This song is 30% Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way,” 15% Stevie Nicks’ “Wild Heart,” and 55% Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon.”
However, this song is the song that feels the most like its own song, and least like an imitation. It might be in the style of Fleetwood Mac, but it’s 100% Daisy Jones and the Six.
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