While not even categorized as a musical, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has plenty of original songs throughout the show's run on Netflix. While some are longer than others, they all are just as wacky and irreverent as the characters singing them.
The comedy team behind 30 Rock is also responsible for Kimmy, so it should come as no surprise that these songs use satire and parody in a unique way to make some of the show's most memorable scenes. From conspiracy theories to Spider-Man spoofs, these songs are among the best moments the show has to offer, and the most hilarious.
Gals On The Town
Gals on The Town is a fictional sitcom not only in Kimmy but in 3o Rock as well. The theme song, sung by Tina Fey, satirizes the tropes and stereotypes that television shows centered on women seem to always have. "Love and friendship, having it all, or maybe just a great pair of shoes," Fey sings semi-enthusiastically over stock photos of actresses Aisha Tyler and Teri Polo. Not only is this song s fun callback to a hilarious moment on 30 Rock, but will always be funny and relevant due to the subject matter it is making fun of.
Supreme Court
In an episode in which Titus tries to make some money, he takes a gig recording songs written by someone else who Titus soon comes to realize is a conspiracy theorist. There are many songs Titus sings in this episode that are just as nonsensical as they are entertaining. The best one would be about how the of the Supreme Court wear robes " to hide their octopus bodies." Satirizing the wild ideas some people truly believe to be fact, this song is just one of many funny takes on real-life conspiracy theories.
Under The Manhattan Moon
Sung by Lillian and her lover, Bobby Durst, this old-timey romantic song sounds sweet and beautiful on the surface, but starts to get creepy the more viewers think about the lyrics. Robert Durst is a real person who itted to murdering his friend, Susan Berman, but on the show, Fred Armisan plays Durst as a parody.
This off-kilter and somewhat off-putting relationship is exemplified in the song when Durst sings"your hair was so curly," only for Lillian to respond "your eyes were so black." Seeing as how Lillian accidentally killed her first husband, maybe this was a match made in heaven.
Unbreakable (They Alive, Dammit!)
While also serving as the series' theme, this song is used in the pilot episode when Kimmy and her fellow Mole Women are set free from the bunker. The song is meant to be a parody of musical remixes of normal, everyday speech made popular on YouTube by channels such as "Schmoyoho." This song not only sets up the story for the series but lets audiences know what type of humor they are in for for the rest of the four-season journey, with the interactive special finale. The lyric "females are strong as hell" is even reiterated in different ways throughout the series.
Spider-Man: The Musical
In the episode in which Titus auditions for the production called Spider-Men Too: 2 Many Spider-Men, a snippet of a song can be heard. Titus sings "I will crush that Spider-Man, and then that other Spider-Man, and all the Spider-Men, 'til I'm the Spider-Man." Obviously a parody of the Broadway show Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, the song is not only a ridiculous parody of that musical but can even be seen as a parody of how convoluted comic books can be with multiverses, like the one shown in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. Either way, this is one of the most meta and wacky songs on the show.
Stronger Than The Storm
SNL alum and frequent Tina Fey collaborator Maya Rudolph's Emmy-nominated turn as Dionne Warwick kicked off in the episode where a tropical storm is ravaging New York City and New Jersey. Warwick is hosting a telethon to raise money to repair damage caused by the storm that Kimmy and her friends are watching. Rudolph nails her impression of Warwick, specifically with this song in which she sings "New Jersey's gonna be OK, even though Chris Christie floated away." The lyrics combined with Rudolph's mannerisms and expressions as Warwick make this one of the show's best moments, musical or otherwise.
Hold Up
Titus channels his inner Beyoncé as he reenacts her Lemonade album and he creates his own version of her hit song "Hold Up." Not only does Titus do his best to recreate the iconic music video, but he also gets his feelings out using similar phrasing to Beyoncé... only somewhat succeeding.
Angry at his boyfriend, Titus changes lyrics from "something don't feel right, because it ain't right, especially coming up after midnight," to "something don't taste right, cause it ain't right, like when you take a sip of water and it turns out to be Sprite." Melding Beyoncé's music with Titus' imagination creates this moment that even went on to be used in the show's marketing.
Boobs In California
This is the final song Titus sings during his time working with the conspiracy theorist played by Judah Friedlander, who played Frank on 30 Rock. The song is a cringe-inducing, outdated number that went on to become a moderate hit in the world of the show. Seeing a proud gay man like Titus have to pretend to be straight just so he can get paid makes for a hilarious satirical music video. In the song, Titus sings lyrics like "shirts off, shades on, Smash Mouth on the stereo, rockin' with the top down is hella rad now here we go." The song also emphasizes what a creep Titus is working for, but Titus is not above compromising his morals for a check.
Meemaw
Jacqueline tries to impress her new in-laws by making a recipe that was created by their late grandmother. She ends up having a romantic encounter with Meemaw, and the moment becomes a parody of the famous pottery scene in the movie Ghost.
Jacqueline sings, "Meemaw, we're hungry for your dish/ It's mostly corn." They're simple lyrics, but when belted out by Jane Krakowski's powerhouse of a voice, they seem much more meaningful. Blending Jacqueline's incompetence in the kitchen with powerful vocals and a hilarious parody, this song exemplifies what Kimmy does best.
Pinot Noir
The one that started it all, this song was used in season 1 of the show and went viral very soon after. Titus and Lillian break into Jacqueline's home to film a music video for Titus' song which is meant to be a double entendre. The lyrics are nonsense, mostly just other words and phrases that rhyme with "pinot noir" such as "smoke a cigar, revenge can be spectacular," and "pinot noir, leather bar, oh so close and yet so far." The video shows Titus in various outfits, interacting with everything from pool tables to animal bones. This song perfectly captures the spirit of the show as it is nonsensical but it makes audiences laugh regardless.