To All The Boys… Music Supervisors Share their Favorite Songs From TATB3

Exactly one year later, the third and final installment of the To All the Boys… films has arrived on Netflix. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, you can get your rom-com fix, and update your playlist with what are sure to be some hot new songs.

Laura Webb & Lindsay Wolfington
To All The Boys… music supervisors Laura Webb and Lindsay Wolfington at the 2020 premiere of TATB: P.S. I Still Love You.

Amid all the anxiety and stress of the world today, To All The Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean provides some much-needed joy and escapism. Filmed in 2019 before Covid was an issue, TABT3 continues the love story of Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Peter (Noah Centineo) as they travel and make plans for college and their future together. And cue violins…

But seriously, music has been a central part of the story in these films and helped launch artists like Anna of the North and Ashe onto the charts and your local radio stations. Award-winning music supervisors Lindsay Wolfington and Laura Webb are back to chat with Tunefind and share their favorite songs – out of a whopping 47 total! – featured in the TABT3 soundtrack.

The first two films were huge successes, including the soundtracks. How did you build on that success? Did you change anything for this third film?  

Laura: Lindsay and I are always guided by trying to find the best music for the scene and character – that is the most important thing of all. We kept trying to build upon that and pass our own goosebump test. Do we feel the emotions personally when we watch the scene? And then do Michael Fimognari (our director), our editors and producers on the film also agree with our choices. 

Lindsay: Michael, our director, consistently saw each movie as part of Lara Jean’s growth, so we tried to reflect this where possible in this film as well. He wanted more “gutsy” songs in a few scenes in film 3 –  you can feel that when they see all the sights in New York and when they go bowling. But as Laura says, the story and picture lead the way – if it’s a great moment on screen and the song matches just right, it will be successful.

How do the two of you work together and collaborate on a project?  
To All The Boys I've Loved Before
Peter and Lara Jean at the end of the first film.

Laura: We’ve been friends for years, and several years ago we shared an office. We would support each other and ask the other for advice while working on our own separate projects. Then we got called to work on the first film based on Lindsay’s relations with ACE / Awesomeness. The first film needed to be done in 6 weeks, and since we knew we worked well together based on a few other projects we had done previously, we decided to jump in together and get it done fast. We have similar tastes and styles work-wise and are both willing to roll up our sleeves and get to work. It’s a very equal partnership where we both will pitch for certain scenes. 

Lindsay: It’s always interesting to see what our filmmakers and editors gravitate towards.  Sometimes we interpret scenes differently and pitch different styles. Ultimately, it benefits the project because they get so many ideas! It can be really helpful for us, too, to divvy up responsibility. For instance, I dealt with on-camera details for The Greeting Committee, while Laura did a deep dive into K-Pop music for our Korea spots! It allows us to get in the nitty gritty of one task while knowing your partner is in the weeds with another. And it’s lovely to have a partner to turn to and lean on – makes both the highs and lows really rewarding.  

Laura: It’s personally really rewarding to share this journey with a fellow music supervisor. Many times you are on your own music supervisor island and it’s been such a wonderful experience getting to share this journey with my work sister.  

Anna of the North in the first film, Ashe in the second. Did you have any idea how popular those songs would become? As a music supervisor, what’s your reaction to seeing the success these artists achieve following a perfect placement?

Lindsay: We also have an Anna of the North song in the third film as well! It’s called ‘Dream Girl,’ so felt very LJ + PK. 

 

 

Laura: She’s become part of the TATB world. We honestly never knew these songs would blow up the way they did. As the music supervisor you always hope fans will engage with your work, but who knew all this would happen.

Lindsay: Going into the release of the third film, we are hopeful that quite a few artists get a boost from their placements. We’re really trying to create special moments that resonate with the fans, and there are lots of music moments in this one!

Warning: Light Spoilers Ahead!

Proceed with caution if you haven’t watched TATB3 yet. Below Laura and Lindsay walk us through behind-the-scenes details on their favorite music moments from the movie. You can also find a full list of the songs – over 45 total, many more than could fit on the soundtrack album – featured in the film over on Tunefind’s To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean soundtrack page.

 

 

LW & LW:Beginning Middle End’ plays 3 different times in the movie. The first time the audience hears the song is when The Greeting Committee covers this song at an NYU rooftop party. Lara Jean hears the song and decides to film the performance to show Peter, convinced it is “their song.”  

 

 

LW & LW: The second time we see the song is when Peter shows up at the end with a new contract and a message in her yearbook. They slow dance to this version, performed by the songwriter, Leah Nobel. We titled this the ‘Always and Forever Mix,’ as it was tailor made for this scene and the sequence that follows by Leah and co-writer and producer, Quinn Redmond. As picture changed, this version changed quite a few times – Quinn was very patient and gracious with us!

 

 

LW & LW: The third iteration of this song is the pop version performed by Leah Nobel as heard in the end credits. This version is closest to the demo we received when we all fell in the love with the song! We thought what better way to end the film than with this happy love song, heard in its entirety!

Stay Tuned: In a follow up article coming soon Lindsay, Laura, Leah and Quinn take us on a deep dive on the collaboration to create ‘Beginning Middle End.’


Wannabe

by Spice Girls

from To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean Soundtrack

Lara Jean daydreams about her life with Peter.

 

LW & LW: As this fantasy flash forward montage was being assembled, Michael Fimognari mentioned finding a song that could play happy for Lara Jean’s fantasy of getting into Stanford, and then finding a sad version of the same song to play her reverse fantasy, when she gets rejected. This song popped into our head, as the lyrics “tell me what you want” were perfect for Lara Jean’s fantasy!

LW & LW: It’s also a song that everyone instantly knows and gives you that excited, joyful feeling you would have if your dreams came true! And then obviously, the sadder version plays the counterpoint. There aren’t many sad covers of ‘Wannabe,’ so we were glad to find Sandflower’s to use in the rewind sequence.

 

Wannabe

by Sandflower

from To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean Soundtrack

Lara Jean has her daydream in reverse.


 

LW & LW: The lyrics “to be young and in love in New York City” were too perfect to score them driving into New York (and on a bus, just like in film 1)! We thought this one would be a nice wink to the audience, and the remix gave it the energy we needed as they enter the Big Apple.


Eat Them Apples

by Suzi Wu

from To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean Soundtrack

The students sightsee around New York City.

 

Lindsay: Gotta give Laura all the credit for finding this one! I was going in a different direction, so this is an example when working as a team really paid off!

Laura: We tried so many – I mean SO MANY – options for this sequence. I think we worked on this scene for a whole year. It was important to Michael Fimognari (director) to have a “gutsy” song. Ultimately this song felt gusty, and obviously the “apple” lyric is a fun wink to New York. This is the beginning of Lara Jean’s love affair with New York so we needed to find a song that does this moment justice. Plus, it always so nice to see New York with no Covid in sight. I still get nostalgic watching it and thinking about when I lived there in my twenties.


 

LW & LW: It felt nice to include Anna in the third installment, since she’s been in our other two films. This song has such a warmth to it that it was the natural choice for Peter and Lara Jean’s Big Lebowski inspired date.


 

LW & LW: This was a song Anton Monsted at Capitol Records (our soundtrack partners) sent to us to consider for the film. When we heard Jordan’s vocals we both were immediately smitten with his voice. And the lyrics about ‘whatever move we make, I will carry a piece of your soul’ were so perfect for Lara Jean’s and Peter’s story in film 3! We actually had this song in another scene but later changed it to play during the prom to showcase it a bit more. It is one of our favorites on the soundtrack.


The Same

by Ashe

from To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean Soundtrack

Lara Jean and Peter walk upstairs to her room. …

 

Lindsay: As for Ashe, it’s been so cool to watch her meteoric rise from the result of the second film. So happy for her! 

Laura: Ashe and Noah Conrad (one of the producers on ‘Moral of the Story’) floored us with this original song. Ashe came to the edit bay (pre-covid) and watched a few scenes. The scene she chose to write for resonated with her on a personal level, and she expressed excitement in creating 2 parts to the song – before and after the break up (we had been playing with 2 separate songs initially). What can we say? Ashe knows how to write a great, sad breakup song!


Until We Leave the Ground

by Emmit Fenn

from To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean Soundtrack

Lara Jean finds Peter in the wedding tent; (Fla…

 

Lindsay: We knew we needed a swoon-worthy song to play Peter’s ultimate love letter to Lara Jean. I’ve been a fan of Emmit’s music for a bit, and was excited to find this beautiful sweeping song from his unreleased album to play this moment.


Won’t Let Go

by Black Match

from To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean Soundtrack

The students graduate! Lara Jean sets up her do…

 

Laura: I think it’s safe to say we both ALWAYS cry when this song comes on at the end of the film. The song is gorgeous, and we love the way it helps tie up Lara Jean’s and Peter’s love story. Hannah and Ian wrote such a gorgeous, lush song and it has been in the film since the very first cut. There was never any doubt that this was the perfect song. Lindsay found that song and she really nailed it!


LW & LW: As an artist on Capitol Records, we were lucky enough to ask FLETCHER to write a song for the film. The idea of falling in love with New York really resonated with her when writing the song since she went to NYU – how perfect! The song embodies Lara Jean’s confidence on her new journey, so it felt like a great way to end the film. So please update your Netflix settings and watch the credits till the end for this awesome song!

While that’s just a taste of the nearly 50 songs featured in the film, you can catch the full list – complete with scene descriptions – over on over on Tunefind’s To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean soundtrack listing.


We’ll be back to talk more about ‘Beginning Middle End’ in the next installment of our interview, but as we wrap up here, this final film has got to be bittersweet for the two of you. Any reflections back on working on the TATB films?  

Lindsay: It really is. We’ve had so much fun living in Lara Jean’s world and finding the music for her journey. It’s always amazing to work on a project where music is so important and treated with such respect – it’s been our honor to be part of it! We adore the whole team and wish we could do 20 more films with them! 

Laura: It is bittersweet. We’ve grown to love and care for these characters. Having the TATB world to live in during Covid was particularly nice. These films came out at a time when things were very heavy and it was great to work on a project that celebrated a positive portrayal of teenagers being kind to one another. I always say these films have been like a warm hug, and we certainly have needed those particularly this year, but over the last 3 years too.  It’s been rewarding to have people enjoy the work we’ve done and engaged with us in meaningful ways. We’ve met so many wonderful people throughout these films. We don’t want the party to stop.

All three films To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You, and To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean are available on Netflix right now. And, as always, Tunefind has your complete soundtrack details.

In case you missed it, our previous interviews with Laura and Lindsay highlight their favorite songs of the To All the Boys… soundtrack and their best music moments from P.S. I Still Love You. To All The Boys… has been one of the most popular articles on Tunefind for two years running (claiming the #1 spot in 2018) and only relinquished the top spot for P.S. I Still Love You as Tunefind’s top article last year in 2020.

More

〉Full list of songs featured in the To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean soundtrack

〉Full list of songs featured in the To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You soundtrack

〉Full list of songs featured in the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before… soundtrack

〉Interview with Lindsay Wolfington and Laura Webb about TATB2: P.S. You’ll Love the soundtrack of TATB 2

〉Interview with Lindsay Wolfington and Laura Webb about TATBTo All The Boys I’ve Loved Before’s Soundtrack Success Story

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