What Is the NSFW Song That the 'Sex Education' School Band Sing in Season 3?
Sex Education Season 3 is officially streaming on Netflix and we have some good news for fans of the Moordale Swing Band: they're back with another epic performance.
In the wake of the sex-fuelled performance of "Romeo and Juliet: The Musical" in Season 2, science teacher Colin Hendricks (played by Jim Howick) has let the students in the school band experiment with their song choices.
Newsweek has everything you need to know about the NSFW song you will not be able to get out of your head.
What Is the Song That the 'Sex Education' School Band Sing in Season 3?
In Episode 2 of Sex Education, Colin and the Moordale Swing Band are seen rehearsing for the next big school assembly.
However, the song they are about to perform is one Headmistress Hope (Jemima Kirke) and audiences at home may or may not see coming.
The musicians perform a version of the X-rated song "F*** the Pain Away" by Canadian singer Peaches.
The song was released on the album The Teaches of Peaches in 2000 and remains her signature song, preaching about sex positivity and feminism, with references to "Call Me" by Blondie and The Pretenders' frontwoman Chrissie Hynde.
"F*** the Pain Away" has been covered by numerous artists over the past two decades, including Montreal, Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters and Bat for Lashes.
Thom Yorke from Radiohead even cited the song as an inspiration for "15 Step" on the band's 2007 album, In Rainbows.
Matt Biffa, the music supervisor for Sex Education, told Newsweek that the school band's song had to be "outrageously filthy."
He said: "With 'F*** The Pain Away,' that was very much just sort of Ben [Taylor, director] sort of saying, 'Right, Hendricks is essentially letting the a cappella group make their own choice' and, bearing in mind that there's the rebellion later on in Episode 7, it's sort of like, it just has to be outrageously sort of filthy and so we didn't have to go on too much of a mental journey to come up with that one. I think we also looked at things like the 'Bad Touch' by the Bloodhound Gang and stuff like that. I remember getting the demo and thinking, if they do this right, this could just be one of the best moments.
"And then in Episode 7, with the key change as well … the key change is just the icing on the cake."
Sex Education is not the only T.V. show to feature "F*** the Pain Away." It has also appeared in 30 Rock, The Handmaid's Tale and Letterkenny—as well as in films such as Lost in Translation, My Little Eye and Drive Angry.
In Episode 2 of Sex Education, Colin, as the band's conductor, gets the song started, singing the lines "bom-bom, bom-bom" as the students click their fingers along to the beat.
A cappella style, the band plunge into a verse about women's breasts and the rage in Hope's face, who is observing in the corner, is absolutely terrifying.
As the band head for the upbeat chorus, which includes expletives and hilarious dancing, Hope could not look more displeased.
At the end of the performance, Hope reproaches Colin for the unusual song choice.
She instructs him to change the song and advises that her assistant will be in touch with some more "appropriate" choices for assemblies going forward.
Hope cannot keep the power of Colin and the Moordale band contained for long, however, and the band perform the iconic track again during Hope's disastrous press conference in Episode 7.
The Moordale Swing Band are part of Viv and Jackson's bid to showcase Moordale for what it really is, a "sex school."
The band burst out into their cover of "F*** the Pain Away" once more, singing loud and proud about breasts, sex and pleasure—much to Hope's disdain.
Sex Education Season 3 is streaming on Netflix now.
