The 10 Best Musical Moments from ‘The Office,’ Ranked
The Office’s signature was its absurd humor and insanely eclectic characters. However, when streaming the show for the umpteenth time, it’s also impossible not to notice the level and quality of the music throughout. With multitudes of musical talent in its cast, the mockumentary dropped banger after banger of mesmerizing performances and iconic scenes.
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So let’s give it the old re-dit-dit-diddo and take a look at the top musical moments of Scranton, PA...
‘Country Roads’
Musician(s): Andy Bernard and Dwight Schrute
The Moment: Ruined by Toby (Paul Liberstein) because, well, Toby ruins everything. This was a sweet little jam session that showcased Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Andy’s (Ed Helms) true musical talents. The two began with some flirtatious strumming trying to win Erin (Ellie Kemper) over, then quickly turned their attention solely to one another when the jam’s peak hit. Setting aside their recent feud over Angela, the two absolutely shred John Denver’s “Country Roads.”
‘The Tale of Sweeney Todd’
Musician(s): Andy Bernard and the local theater cast
The Moment: After hearing about Andy’s musical background for several seasons, we finally see them on display, and the results are surprisingly good. Performing The Tale of Sweeney Todd, Andy and his acting crew nail an in-office performance that convinces the entire staff to attend their show. Even Michael Scott (Steve Carell) begrudgingly tags along with his gloom of disappointment after not being selected for the lead role even though he performed an entire episode of Law & Order SVU during his audition.
‘Hey, Mister President’
Musician(s): Kevin and the Zits
The Moment: A short-lived group that never got to play their first gig, the Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) proclaimed band “Kevin and the Zits” had a great run and a very unique sound. The band consisted of Kevin, Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson) and Andy, with their main track featuring Andy singing from the perspective of a little girl whose father is off to war. The band was dismantled by Robert California and his musician friends when they took over the practice space of “The Zits,” causing the band to break up.
‘Dunder-Mifflin Commercial Song’
Musician(s): Darryl and the office crew
The Moment: Although his creation ended up being scrapped, Darryl showed some natural skill when he gathered Dunder Mifflin’s most musically inclined to create a theme song for Michael Scott’s original company commercial. Combining multiple talents and genres, Darryl was able to put together a catchy song with the ease of a big-time producer. If it wasn’t for Michael shouting, “I hate it, I hate it, I hate it” over and over again during its debut, the song could have been a hit.
‘Forever’
Musician(s): Chris Brown
The Moment: A wonderful montage created for one of television’s most touching and heartwarmingly weird weddings. Following a YouTube trend, Michael secretly gathered all of the office members to rehearse their walkout for Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam’s (Jenna Fischer) wedding. A trip to Niagara Falls, a torn scrotum and even a front kick to the face from Dwight did little to diminish the importance of this moment and solidified Jim and Pam as the King and Queen of Dunder Mifflin. Just never Google “Chris Brown relationships.”
‘Lazy Scranton’
Musician(s): Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute
The Moment: An early favorite and one of the show’s first meme-able moments, “Lazy Scranton” was Michael Scott’s response to the famous SNL music video of “Lazy Sunday.” Created as sort of a welcome video during the branch merger for new employees, “Lazy Scranton” features a hip-hop version of Dwight and Michael as they walk through all of the things that go down in the electric city. “Scranton, what?!”
‘One Night’
Musician(s): Hunter (Jan’s Assistant)
The Moment: The single song soundtrack to the greatest Office episode ever created, “Dinner Party.” Not only is it a completely hacky, sappy ballad, but “One Night” by Jan’s old assistant Hunter (Nicholas D’Agosto) is clearly about a night spent with an older woman — ahem, Jan. The track is played several times throughout this tumultuous episode, finally landing in Jim’s car as a loving gesture to Pam and a conclusion to their dinner-less dinner party.
‘All the Faces’
Musician(s): Creed Bratton
The Moment: Despite the absolute insanity that is Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton), his musical contribution to the show is second to none. With the strumming of a guitar and a sweet-sounding voice, Creed soulfully captures the last moments of the series as he sings this song to an office full of our favorite Dunder-Mifflin crew. This shouldn’t have been a shock considering Mr. Bratton is actually an accomplished musician in real life, but it still hits surprisingly hard.
‘I Will Remember You’
Musician(s): Andy Bernard
The Moment: In one of his final moments as a Dunder-Mifflin employee, Andy sings a cover of Sarah McLachlan’s “I Will Remember You” as a thank you and goodbye to his former employees. Not a dry eye in the room for this performance as it was a beautiful nod to Andy’s talent that left us all feeling a little hopeful that maybe the Nard Dog will make it someday after all.
‘9,986,000 Minutes’
Musician(s): The Office Cast
The Moment: “Well, this is gonna hurt like a motherfucker!” And it did. This heartwarming gesture from the office staff is easily the show’s most significant musical moment. To say goodbye and thank you, the entire staff parodies the iconic “Seasons of Love” from the Broadway musical RENT, changing its most notable lyric to “9,986,000 minutes” to showcase Michael’s tenure at Dunder Mifflin. Carell’s reaction to the song is completely genuine as he was unaware of what the other actors would unleash for the scene. It’s a beautiful moment that defines the usage of music for this series as a whole: quirky, fun and with tons of heart.
