Ted Lasso | Contenders TV Nominees 2023
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Transcript
00:00 Pete Hammond back here at Contenders.
00:02 And today, of course, you all know this show, Ted Lasso,
00:07 which has won the Emmy for Best Comedy Series
00:10 two years in a row.
00:11 The two seasons that it was eligible, it won both times,
00:14 has had numerous nominations across the board
00:18 and again is nominated this year.
00:20 And one of its nominations belongs to the two people
00:24 I'm about to talk to here for outstanding music and lyrics
00:29 for the song "Fought and Lost" from Ted Lasso.
00:32 We have its songwriters and performer too.
00:35 Its performer is Sam Ryder,
00:37 and he is also a Eurovision runner-up.
00:41 He's got a celebrated career in music as well
00:46 and wrote the lyrics here along with Ted Lasso's composer
00:51 and the man responsible for the music on the show
00:55 in so many ways.
00:56 Also the new show "Shrinking" as well, Tom Howe.
00:59 Hi, Tom.
01:01 - Hi, thanks for having us on, Pete.
01:03 - Absolutely, and hello, Sam.
01:05 How are you?
01:06 - I'm wicked, Pete.
01:07 How's it going, man?
01:08 (laughing)
01:09 Yeah, fantastic to be here.
01:11 - It's good.
01:12 It's all good.
01:14 Well, congratulations on the Emmy nomination.
01:17 That must be exciting to get that, I would imagine, right?
01:21 - Just a bit, man.
01:23 I can't sit still.
01:24 I'm stoked about it.
01:26 Can you believe that, Tom?
01:27 We've been nominated for an Emmy, mate.
01:28 How amazing is that?
01:29 (laughing)
01:32 - Well, Tom, I wanna ask you,
01:35 'cause music seems to me to have been so integral
01:39 into the success of "Ted Lasso."
01:41 There's been a lot of great musical moments.
01:43 In fact, if you go on the internet,
01:45 they have people's top 10 favorite musical moments
01:49 at any given time on the show.
01:51 Did you know going into "Ted Lasso"
01:53 that music was gonna be such an important part of the show?
01:57 - No.
01:57 I mean, what became clear from the off
02:02 is obviously Jason really knows his music
02:06 and he's a music fan.
02:08 And he and Tony and Krista,
02:12 some of the musical choices in terms of songs and stuff
02:17 that were in the show,
02:19 some of them were written into the script.
02:21 And some of those moments, like "Hey Jude" in season three,
02:25 they're talked about a long way in advance
02:27 and they're very careful about what they put in
02:31 and they make brilliant choices on that front.
02:34 And in terms of the score,
02:35 initially working on the show,
02:38 I went and spent 10 days with Marcus
02:41 at his studio down in Devon,
02:42 which is in England and sort of off in the sticks
02:46 a little bit.
02:47 And we'd met briefly for breakfast before that in LA.
02:51 And then I flew over there and I was there for 10 days
02:53 and we just got up every day
02:54 and we worked sort of nine to five putting down ideas.
02:58 And at that point we hadn't seen any footage.
03:02 You've no idea what it's gonna...
03:03 I'd seen the little skit on the SNL thing,
03:05 but I hadn't really,
03:07 just wasn't aware of what the show was gonna be
03:10 at that point and how successful it was gonna be.
03:12 And I think just the fact that the show was so heartfelt
03:16 and also the moment, the timing,
03:18 that when it came out, everybody,
03:20 we'd had a lot of dark television shows,
03:22 not that they weren't all great,
03:23 but a lot of things like "Game of Thrones" and things
03:25 where it's, you know, everyone's in darkness
03:28 and everyone needed a bit of light and lifting up
03:30 and it just kind of hit the zeitgeist at the right time.
03:33 And the characters, the story and the musical
03:36 had a very kind of light, positive sort of feel about it.
03:39 And I think it just sort of caught the moment, you know?
03:41 So we were lucky to be involved, you know?
03:44 - How did this collaboration with Sam come about?
03:48 Who initiated this and how did that happen?
03:52 - Well, I mean, Sam can take over on this one in a bit,
03:55 but it came about really from initially,
04:00 I mean, the connection here
04:01 and the person we should also be mentioning
04:03 is a great friend of both of us, Jamie Hartman,
04:06 who is the third person in the nomination.
04:09 And he actually is the kind of linch,
04:12 the bridge between Sam and I
04:14 and the reason why Sam and I have met
04:15 and become good friends in that
04:17 I knew there was gonna be opportunity for song,
04:21 you know, for a song in season three
04:23 before they really started filming
04:25 just from conversations I'd had with Jason.
04:28 And I've known Jamie for 20 years
04:31 and we wrote 20 years ago
04:34 when he was above a Chinese takeaway in London
04:37 and I was sort of in a kind of basement somewhere in Battersea
04:40 and I called him and said,
04:43 "Hey, I've got to put a song together for season three.
04:46 Do you want to get involved?"
04:48 And he said, "Great, you know, I'd love to."
04:51 And we started the seed of an idea.
04:53 I then went to the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert
04:56 with Jason Sudeikis
05:00 and Sam was performing with Queen
05:02 and he came on and I mean, everybody was brilliant.
05:06 It was the most ridiculous night I've ever been to
05:09 in terms of live music.
05:11 Sam can touch on that in a minute,
05:12 but, and you know, not to make him blush here,
05:15 but when he came on, everybody was brilliant,
05:17 but I was having one of those moments
05:18 where I was talking to someone like Brendan
05:20 or someone like that and I kind of went, "What's that?"
05:23 And he was so good that it kind of took me out of the moment.
05:26 And so I found him backstage, talked to him.
05:30 I don't think he knew what I was talking about.
05:31 And then he was on a high from his performance.
05:35 And I called Jamie and said,
05:36 "I've just seen this guy, Sam Ryder, he's unbelievable."
05:39 And he said, "I'm working with him in a couple of months,
05:41 completely independently, nothing to do with this."
05:45 And I said, "Well, you've got to get him in.
05:47 We've got to get him to work on the song."
05:49 You know, so Sam and Jamie then got in
05:52 and finished this song off.
05:53 And then we were sort of all passing it back and forth a bit,
05:55 but that was really, it was all kind of,
05:57 all the chips fell into place without really,
05:59 you know, just things happen type thing.
06:02 And then when I sent the song into the team,
06:05 they all loved it.
06:06 - So they lured me in, Pete.
06:09 (laughing)
06:10 - They did lure you in.
06:12 - Rod and the lake, they lured me in,
06:14 I'm grateful they did.
06:16 But it was amazing, man.
06:18 And Tom's right, I was up in the clouds,
06:21 like, because backstage,
06:23 you had these legends walking around,
06:25 Lars Ulrich, Geddy Lee, Dave Grohl,
06:29 Paul McCartney, they're just milling about.
06:32 And I mean, these are my, not just mine,
06:34 but probably all of ours on this call,
06:36 let alone everyone watching
06:37 and everyone beyond around the globe,
06:39 like they're heroes, you know?
06:40 What they've done for music is immeasurable.
06:44 So I was totally sort of buzzing the whole night.
06:48 And I roughly remember me and Tom having a conversation,
06:52 but I was kind of, I was fizzing, man.
06:55 But I'm glad that it was sorted out.
06:59 And when I got to Jamie's studio,
07:01 it was very much like,
07:03 "So I hear you met my pal Tom."
07:04 And I sort of nodded and smiled and went, "Yeah."
07:07 (laughing)
07:08 And then we wrote this song.
07:10 And then of course,
07:13 yeah, there was a seed of an idea there
07:16 that was so gorgeous.
07:17 And the concept's always so crucial.
07:21 And it was there, this idea of fighting and losing.
07:24 And I love how Tom touched on it just then.
07:27 Like he, when he first wrote with Jamie,
07:29 he was in a basement in Battersea
07:31 and Jamie was above a Chinese restaurant.
07:33 And I mean, compared to me as well,
07:36 I mean, they would have been great places for me to be.
07:39 I started, I think, lower down the Peckinorder
07:41 than that even.
07:43 But we've all, three of us, failed
07:45 in this pursuit of the careers that we are now enjoying.
07:49 And I'm sure, as you can probably relate to,
07:54 there are more failures to come.
07:55 But the song is about that.
07:58 It's about putting yourself in this arena
08:01 because you love the thing that's got you there.
08:03 And in our case, it's music.
08:05 And we sat down and wrote this song
08:08 about being fulfilled by the thing
08:11 that will challenge you the greatest.
08:13 And that's what "Fought and Lost" is.
08:15 - Well, that is a perfect setup for a clip
08:19 'cause I'm gonna show how the song "Fought and Lost"
08:22 is used in "Ted Lasso" here.
08:25 And it does play on more than one level
08:27 in what the meaning of this song is, like you just explained.
08:31 So let's take a look at "Fought and Lost" from "Ted Lasso."
08:37 ♪ Same time, same place next year ♪
08:42 ♪ And you may win this battle ♪
08:47 ♪ But you'll never win the war ♪
08:51 ♪ Better to have fought and lost ♪
08:54 ♪ Than never fought it ♪
08:55 - More will.
08:55 - Hey, I'm on it, Ted.
08:57 ♪ Better to have fought and lost ♪
09:01 ♪ Than never fought it ♪
09:05 - You know, Tom, it is bittersweet
09:08 when you look at how it's used in the show
09:10 'cause this is the penultimate episode.
09:13 We're seeing supposedly the end of the series
09:17 and the end of his time there.
09:18 So it's not only about the team and sports and things.
09:22 It has much more meaning beyond that.
09:24 - I mean, for me, I mean, obviously, as you say,
09:27 I've written a lot of music in this show,
09:30 but I think I can safely say
09:32 that this is the most important episode in the whole thing.
09:37 The most important moment, rather, in the whole thing.
09:41 It's the, Ted, you know, you've had the buildup
09:44 and this is when he decides that he's going back to America
09:47 and it's gonna be, that's the turning point
09:49 in the whole series.
09:51 And, you know, that's been hinted at a couple of times
09:54 in how he's felt along the way in various moments.
09:57 And he's been, you know, up and down,
09:59 different characters doing different things.
10:01 But that moment on the sofa when he wakes up
10:03 after having been with his mum,
10:04 I think it's, yeah, I think it's the most important bit.
10:09 And as he comes in the next day
10:10 and then that cliffhanger when that episode ends,
10:12 when she turns around, Rebecca, and says,
10:15 "Today's the day I say something, you know,
10:16 I've got nothing."
10:17 And he says, "Well, I've got something."
10:18 And you already know what he's gonna say,
10:20 even though he hasn't said anything.
10:22 And even walking through the locker room there,
10:24 you know what he's decided.
10:27 And I think that's the power of the song.
10:29 I think it's a really key moment in the show.
10:31 So yeah, it turned out really well.
10:34 - Sam, beautifully sung.
10:35 You know you can sing, man.
10:37 You know that.
10:38 (laughing)
10:40 - It's one of those songs,
10:42 it's truly a joy to sing that song
10:45 because it's about connecting, isn't it?
10:47 And singing a story that you feel that you know so well
10:51 because you've been there and you've lived it.
10:53 You've experienced what it is to have setbacks
10:57 and to be sort of down but never out.
11:01 And yeah, it really sort of,
11:06 you can get lost in the song when you're singing it.
11:09 And it's been a pure joy to work with these legends,
11:12 Tom and Jamie, such formidable writers
11:14 and formidable people.
11:16 And yeah, I really think that whatever happens
11:21 with anything going forward,
11:23 that we achieved our objective
11:26 in coming up with a modern day classic.
11:29 It feels timeless.
11:30 It doesn't feel like it subscribes to anything
11:33 that we're trying to sort of make a song
11:39 that fits somewhere,
11:40 whether it's chart position or streaming sort of success
11:45 or virality of any kind.
11:46 It's simply writing experience
11:51 and hopefully connecting with others out there
11:54 that have had similar or are going through similar.
11:57 - And speaking of all those legends,
11:59 you mentioned all those big names
12:01 before when you were talking.
12:04 Brian May from Queen has something to do with this,
12:08 I've heard as well.
12:10 - So Jamie and I, when we were recording the vocal,
12:16 we were both sort of, it's just stoked.
12:19 I remember both of us pacing around Jamie's studio at home
12:24 and just because we were so excited,
12:25 we knew we were onto something.
12:26 There's nothing that beats that feeling
12:28 of like when you've written a song like that.
12:30 And we were both sort of saying,
12:32 "What if Brian May played the guitar?"
12:33 It was kind of like Wayne's World actually.
12:35 We were both going, "Yeah, that'd be sick!"
12:37 (laughing)
12:38 And I think we sort of, we'd put some feelers out
12:42 to hopefully get to Brian's camp.
12:44 And the first time that we knew
12:47 that the message had got to him
12:48 through sort of intermediaries and stuff like that
12:51 was when I was back at home, sat watching Ted Lasso
12:55 and my phone rang and it was a number I didn't recognise.
13:00 And I was actually quite annoyed 'cause I was like,
13:03 "Who's interrupting me this late at night
13:04 "while I'm watching Ted Lasso?"
13:06 And I answered the phone like, "Hello?"
13:08 It's like, "Sam, it's Brian, this song is amazing!"
13:11 (laughing)
13:13 And he was right there, he was right there in his studio
13:16 then recording the guitar.
13:17 "I'm sending over a guitar lick right now,
13:19 "let me know what you think."
13:20 And he was just, he's so enthusiastic.
13:23 And we don't have to repeat the fact
13:26 that the guy's a living legend.
13:27 And his guitar solo is gorgeous, man.
13:30 It makes you feel like you're flying.
13:32 And to get nerdy about it,
13:35 if anyone watching this plays guitar or anything like that,
13:38 I actually originally,
13:40 'cause we didn't know if Brian was gonna do it,
13:42 so I recorded a guitar solo first.
13:44 And listen, it was all right,
13:46 but I'm not even a molecule in Brian May's ability.
13:51 But when I listen back to my guitar solo,
13:54 it sounds like someone that's trying so hard
13:58 and has everything to try and prove to the world.
14:01 'Cause I'm doing so much on the guitar.
14:03 And then when Brian sent his guitar solo back,
14:06 it sounds like someone completely at peace
14:09 with where they're at on their journey in life
14:12 and what they've experienced and what they've achieved.
14:14 It's just someone floating and being completely present.
14:18 And it might sound strange to dig into a guitar solo
14:23 this much, but we do it with vocals.
14:25 And for guitar players, it's the same.
14:28 They're singing with their guitars.
14:30 And yeah, I think that it goes so well
14:35 with the meaning of the song.
14:36 Like being at one, being completely present
14:40 with your journey,
14:42 regardless of what challenges and successes come your way.
14:46 - Well, again, congratulations on the Emmy nomination
14:49 and more power to you.
14:51 I'd love to hear this song go to the top of the charts
14:53 as well, all over the world.
14:57 Well done.
14:58 And thank you for joining us on Contenders today.
15:01 - Thanks so much.
15:03 - Thanks for having us.
15:04 - Thank you.