How was True Detective theme song picked?

One of the most endearing aspects of the hit HBO series True Detective is the theme song used to kick things off and get us in the moody blues of the show. The theme song, performed by the Handsome Family, sticks with us long after the show concludes and has indeed stuck with us long after the first season has wrapped up.

The duo that make up the Handsome Family recently sat down with Forbes to talk about the theme song and how much it has meant to them and their careers moving forward. One of the more interesting tidbits from the great piece by Drew Tewskbury was just how the song came about being the theme song for True Detective.

"“We never considered it a possibility as we’ve been around 20 years and nothing had been offered before. … We simply got an email from a publishing rep for HBO saying they were considering using our song for the show,” Rennie says. “We said we’d be delighted. We had a lawyer look at the contract and then we signed. They offered us a very fair deal to begin with.”’"

That seems so anticlimactic as those sitting at home one day hoping to become entered into the stratosphere of pop culture are probably thinking of a much more glorious way of having your song get chosen for a hit television show. But we didn’t know True Detective was going to be a hit and the Handsome Family hardly seem like the type who are out for the glitz and glam of fame.

What they’re out for is to become part of not the pop culture lexicon but part of the artistic fiber that makes up shows like True Detective and boy do they ever have a sweet spot at that table.