‘Lucifer’ Was Banned From Using One Song in Season 5 Musical Episode

Netflix’s Lucifer gave fans a treat in the second half of Season 5 in the form of a musical episode. However, one number from the episode’s original layout had to be cut due to rights issues. In an interview with The Wrap, Lucifer showrunners Ildy Modrovich and Joe Henderson revealed that the Cat Stevens’ “Father and Son” was initially supposed to soundtrack a prominent scene in Season 5, Episode 10, which is titled “Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam.”

The scene in question was a duet between Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) and his dad, God (Dennis Haysbert), whose powers are misfiring and causing people around him to burst into musical numbers. The scene in question still made it into the Sherwin-Shilati-directed episode, albeit with a new song, “I Dreamed A Dream,” which was taken from Les Misérables. In the Wrap interview, the showrunning duo detailed what exactly went wrong with securing “Father and Son” and why it was actually a blessing in disguise.

“We first had ‘Father and Son’ by Cat Stevens in our heads for that final scene,” Modrovich, who also wrote the episode, told the publication. “You know, I totally respect him and his team, because I think a lot of people feel this way about their music, but it is a song for so many different people and it evokes so many different things for people, that you don’t want to narrow it to one image or experience. I think that that’s how he felt. I think he was like, ‘Look, it’s such a song that speaks to so many people. I kind of want to keep it in that big place of everybody relates to it.’ So then we went after the ‘Les Mis’ song.

“I remember Tom called me up and played it; he’d just learned it on the guitar. I kept thinking, oh my God, there are so many fans who would freak out if Tom just called them and got on the guitar for them. I cried the first time I heard him do it. I was like, this is the song. It just became the one I wanted more than anything.”

Henderson said, “I’m so happy with the song we ended up with, because it’s one of the things where the limitations make something actually better.” Modrovich agreed, saying, “I mean, that always happens, right? When you’re told you can’t do something and then you go, ‘Wait, what?’ And then you find something else and it’s like, ‘Oh, it should have always been this way.; It becomes what it is and you can’t imagine it any other way.”

Stevens’ original version of “Father and Son,” taken from his 1970 album Tea for the Tillerman, can be heard above. Stevens wrote that track himself, with Paul Samwell-Smith serving as producer. The Lucifer version of “I Dreamed A Dream” can also be heard above. Herbert Kretzmer wrote the song’s English lyrics, based on Alain Boublil’s original French version. Claude-Michel Schönberg composed the original song, with John Cameron providing the first orchestrations. As for Lucifer itself, all episodes of the show are currently streaming on Netflix. It’s based on the DC Comics character Lucifer Morningstar, who was created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Keith and Mike Dringenberg.