Netflix Painkiller soundtrack: All the music featured in the show by episode

Painkiller is a new limited series on Netflix presenting a fictionalized retelling of Purdue Pharma’s creation of OxyContin. The show centers on the Sackler Family legacy. It follows a legal investigator, played by Uzo Aduba, who intends to bring them down and expose the dangers of their blockbuster drug OxyContin once and for all.

The series is based on Patrick Radden Keefe’s New Yorker article and the book Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic by Barry Meier. Apart from Aduba, Painkiller stars Matthew Broderick, Taylor Kitsch, West Duchovny, Clark Gregg, and more.

All episodes of Painkiller recapped and explained

Painkiller deals with a serious subject and delves into a heartbreaking story of greed and corruption that ultimately led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. The show’s main draw is its writing and acting, but it also boasts a stellar soundtrack.

Netflix Painkiller soundtrack

Below, we’re sharing all of the songs featured in Painkiller, separated by episode. If you are tapping your toes to a specific tune but don’t want to pause to Shazam, don’t worry, we’ve done the work for you!

Episode 1 songs

• “The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel
• “Top Yourself” by The Raconteurs
• “Sabotage” by The Beastie Boys
• “Blow Your Whistle (feat. Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers)” by Chuck Brown.
• “Candy” by Iggy Pop

Episode 2 songs

• “Psycho Killer (LP Version)” by Talking Heads

Episode 3 songs

• “Hustlin'” by Rick Ross
• “Tusk” by Fleetwood Mac
• “I Want Candy” by The Rubix Cubes
• “Kickstart My Heart” by Mötley Crüe
• “I Put a Spell On You” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

Episode 4 songs

• “Chicken Train Stomp” by The Ozark Mountain Daredevils
• “Feel So Good” by Mase

Episode 5 songs

• “Macarena” by Los del Río
• “Step into the Breeze” by Spiritualized

Episode 6 songs

• “Heroin” by The Velvet Underground & Nico
• “Via Luna” by Peter Davidson
• “The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel

All six episodes of Painkiller are streaming now on Netflix. 

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.