Earlier this week, I watched The Sopranos on Prime.  I started with the very first episode and then I watched all the way up until that famous black out at the end of the final episode.  It took me about 6 days to watch the whole series.  In case you were curious why I haven’t posted many film reviews over the past few days, it’s because my mind has been preoccupied with the New Jersey mafia.

Needless to say, I’ve now got the Sopranos theme song — Woke Up This Morning — stuck in my head and it only seems appropriate to select it for today’s music video of the day.  Now, I should point out that Alabama 3 did not write Woke Up This Morning for the show.  (And the version in this video is, needless to say, a bit different from the version that most people know from the opening credits of The Sopranos.)  In fact, Woke Up This Morning is not about the mafia at all.

Instead, the song was based on the true story of a woman who, after years of being abused by her husband, finally killed him.  She stabbed him to death but “got yourself a knife” doesn’t have quite the same impact as “got yourself a gun.”  The song was a minor hit when originally released.  It became a much bigger hit once it was featured on The Sorpanos, though its doubtful that Tony Sopranos and his misogynistic crew would have approved of the song’s actual theme.

Originally, David Chase, the creator of The Sopranos, wanted to start every episode with a different song but he was overruled by HBO, who felt that viewers would be confused unless they heard the same song at the start of each episode.  However, Chase did end each show with a different song.

Enjoy!