The Bear Season 2 soundtrack: All songs & when they play in the show

The Bear Season 2 soundtrack is a tasty cooking companion. This is all the music, with tracklists for each episode and when the songs play.

While attention in 2024 has been firmly focused on The Bear Season 3, plenty of chefs are serving up rewatches in their living rooms.

The Bear is by far one of the best TV shows to hit the small screen in recent years. From the incredibly tense yet uplifting story to the brilliant cast, it never slows down.

The Bear Season 3 soundtrack is just as good, but let’s relive the highs and lows of Carmy and the crew’s journey from Season 2.

The Bear Season 2 Episode 1 songs

• ‘The Show Goes On’ by Bruce Hornsby & The Range – The opening sequence.
• ‘Handshake Drugs’ by Wilco – The team is making renovations to the restaurant.
• ‘Transcendental Blues’ by Steve Earle – Richie is fixing Mikey’s poster of Fenway Park in the office.
• ‘New Noise’ by Refused – Sugar, Carmy, and Syd realize The Bear needs to be opened in three months. Also plays again during the closing credits.

Season 2 Episode 2

• ‘She Drives Me Crazy’ by Fine Young Cannibals – In the opening scene when Carmy and Syd are walking through the construction in the restaurant.
• ‘Baby, I’m a Big Star Now’ by Counting Crows – Carmy gives Richie the hat that Mikey left in his locker.
• ‘You Are Not Alone’ by Mavis Staples – When the moldy ceiling falls on Ritchie.
• ‘Strange Currencies’ by R.E.M. – Carmy meets his childhood crush, Claire, at the store.

Season 2 Episode 3

• ‘Goodbye Girl’ by Squeeze – Syd searches Chicago for meal inspiration, Tina arrives at a cooking class, and Ritchie drives his daughter to school.
• ‘Secret Teardrops’ by Martin Rev – Syd is ordering food from the restaurant Kasama.
• ‘Twenty-Five Miles’ by Edwin Starr – Syd ordering and eating a ton of food in Chicago.
• ‘Future Perfect’ by The Durutti Column – Syd envisions a new ravioli meal.
• ‘Make You Happy’ by Tommy McGee – Syd eats an ice cream sundae and thinks about her mother.
• ‘I Like the Things About Me’ by Mavis Staples – Sydney is disappointed in her ravioli and during the end credits.

Season 2 Episode 4

• ‘Holiday Road’ by Lindsey Buckingham – Marcus first arrives in Copenhagen.
• ‘I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) [Live]’ by Otis Redding – Marcus finishes his first day of training with Chef Luca.
• ‘Tezeta’ by Mulatu Astatke – Marcus walks around Copenhagen eating and taking pictures.
• ‘Beneath the Surface’ by Bob Bradley & Mia Bradley – Marcus is hugging the Danish biker he saved from being stuck in a wired fence.
• ‘Welcome’ by Harmonia & Eno ’76 – Marcus talks to Syd on the phone and successfully makes a dish he learned from Luca.

Season 2 Episode 5

• ‘Bastards of Young’ by The Replacements – Carmy is trying to map out the layout for The Bear’s kitchen and then later plays again as Carmy drives in a car with Claire.
• ‘Anytime’ by Neil Finn – Claire invites Carmy to a party.
• ‘Pretty in Pink’ by The Psychedelic Furs – Claire and Carmy enter a house party full of their high school classmates.
• ‘Tonight Tonight’ by Smashing Pumpkins – A karaoke patron sings it while Tina watches.
• ‘Before the Next Teardrop Falls’ by Freddy Fender – Tina sings this in the karaoke bar.
• ‘Strange Currencies’ by R.E.M. – plays as Carmy invites Claire to see the restaurant and they walk in to see Sugar and Ritchie arguing.
• ‘Can’t Hardly Wait’ by The Replacements – Carmy kisses Claire at the end of the episode.

Season 2 Episode 6

• ‘It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ by Andy Williams – Carmy, Sugar, and Mikey are outside their childhood home sharing a cigarette.
• ‘All Alone on Christmas’ by Darlene Love – Plays as the camera pans into the Berzatto home and reveals that this event took place five years ago.
• ‘Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)’ by Ramones – Carmy’s mother, Donna, is introduced.
• ‘Got My Mind Set on You’ by George Harrison – The Berzatto family argues in the kitchen.
• ‘The Little White Duck’ by Dorothy Olsen – Donna explains the story of how Natalie earned her nickname ‘Sugar’.
• ‘Dominick the Donkey’ by Lou Monte – Richie films Fak and his brother, Ted, dancing.
• ‘I Want You’ by Lindsey Buckingham – Donna tells Sugar that nobody would miss her if she was gone.
• ‘A Marshmallow World’ by Dean Martin – Uncle Lee interrupts a story that Mikey has already told several times.
• ‘Something So Wrong’ by Crowded House – Carmy’s cousin, Michelle, invites him to stay with her in New York.
• ‘The Things We Did Last Summer’ by Dean Martin – Carmy finds Donna crying in the kitchen and she states that nobody makes things beautiful for her.
• ‘The Christmas Song’ by Weezer – The closing credits.

Season 2 Episode 7

• ‘Glass Concrete & Stone’ by David Byrne – plays over a montage of Richie waking up and cleaning forks at another restaurant.
• ‘Diamond Diary’ by Tangerine Dream plays as Ritchie learns about running the front of the house at Chef Terry’s restaurant.
• ‘Love Story (Taylor’s Version)’ by Taylor Swift – plays as Ritchie drives home after a successful day of staging.

Season 2 Episode 8

• ‘Lay My Love’ by Brian Eno and John Cale – plays as Ebra sees Tina washing the restaurant’s window.
• ‘Stop Your Sobbing’ by Pretenders – plays as Carmy, Sydney, and Marcus decide on a cannoli for the restaurant.
• ‘The Crane Wife 3’ by The Decemberists – plays as The Bear finally passes its fire suppression test.

Season 2 Episode 9

• ‘The Day the World Went Away’ by Nine Inch Nails – plays over a montage of Claire and Carmy in bed.
• ‘Strange Currencies’ by R.E.M. – plays as Carmy begins panicking and having visions of bad life events, Syd’s pep talks, and Claire.
• ‘New Noise’ by Refused – plays as the team prepares the meat for The Bear’s opening and Carmy becomes angry over the pots being on the wrong side.
• ‘Come Back (Live)’ by Pearl Jam – plays as Carmy and Sydney fix a table together and finally apologize to one another.
• ‘If You Want Blood’ by AC/DC – plays as the restaurant opens for the first time.

The Bear Season 2 finale

• ‘Supernova’ by Liza Phair – The first dishes are brought to the tables on opening night.
• ‘Velouria’ by The Pixies – Richie brings the focaccia out to the guests and Sugar realizes she has to fix the toilets.
• ‘Vega-Tables’ by Brian Wilson – Fak walks in on Sugar plunging the toilets.
• ‘Spiders (Kidsmoke)’ by Wilco – Carmy apologizes to Syd for yelling and Syd apologizes to Carmy for letting the fish get cold.
• ‘Animal’ by Pearl Jam – Syd says “drive” and Richie starts the five-minute timer.
• ‘Half a World Away’ by R.E.M. – The chefs celebrate their success at The Bear and Sydney wins the approval of her father.

How to stream The Bear Season 2 soundtrack

The Bear Season 2 soundtrack songs can be found on FX’s website, Spotify, or wherever you listen to music.

Unfortunately, there is no official soundtrack listing on Spotify, but you can add all the songs to your very own The Bear playlist.

For more from the kitchen, here’s a guide to The Bear cast and who dies in The Bear Season 3. Alternatively, look ahead to other upcoming Disney+ releases like the upcoming Marvel TV shows and The Bear Season 4. Or, find some more binge-worthy TV shows to watch next.