The Pop Culture Pundit

Sex and the City was a groundbreaking show following the lives of four female friends through the ups and downs of their relationships and careers while touching on taboo topics for television at the time such as sex, LGBTQ+ issues, and aging. And Just Like That, the sequel series following almost the same group…is decidedly not that. And Just Like That is messy, chaotic, and often cringeworthy…but so much more fun to watch. And isn’t that often the essence of life? The most recent season, airing now on HBO Max, follows Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) as she is being gaslit by her on again, off-again boyfriend Aidan (John Corbett) into thinking a little-contact, long-distance relationship will work for FIVE WHOLE YEARS while he is living in the woods (OK, Virginia) taking care of family stuff, before romantically reuniting for their fairytale ending. They are both absolutely delulu for thinking this will work, but I am 1000% invested in seeing this nonsensical storyline through. I haven’t even covered the other insane plotlines this season alone, including Rosie O’Donnell playing a nun named Mary who loses her virginity to Miranda and Charlotte’s dog being cancelled (where is Samantha when you need her). 

To get through this strange, chaotic, and beautiful mess, I have curated a nearly seven-hour playlist on Spotify (and it will probably be longer by the end of the season). Some of these tracks are taken from the show itself, while I have added other songs based on relevant themes, lyrics, and of course, vibes. Below I will explain in-depth some of the tracks I have picked for my playlist. Many are recent releases which adds to increased relevancy. Let’s dive in!

If you are unable to see my playlist above, you can view it here.

Sex and the City Main Theme (1998)

^{HBO via YouTube}

No playlist related to Sex and the City would be complete without its iconic theme, and this gives me the perfect opportunity to advocate for a proper theme song in its sequel series And Just Like That. I understand they probably don’t want to try to replicate the opening credits sequence of the original series–it’d be hard to recapture the magic–but they could at least try! Maybe have a new montage with Carrie and all her friends walking down the streets of New York City? Have Carrie go to different stories so we can see where on Earth she is buying all her ugly hats and purses? Better yet, have her cat Shoe be the star of the opening credits! Instead, we just get AND JUST LIKE THAT… flashing across the screen at the beginning of every episode in an underwhelming fashion. If the show could at the very least update the original theme song and give us a Succession-like banger, I’d be happy. 

“Manchild,” Sabrina Carpenter (2025)

^{Sabrina Carpenter via YouTube}

This past Friday, Sabrina Carpenter came to the rescue and finally gave us a song of the summer with the country-disco single “Manchild.” This describes Carrie’s dating life perfectly–this may be a hot take, but Carrie has never had a good boyfriend. Think about it: Big was emotionally insecure, Berger invented the Post-it ghost-it, and Aidan is both whiny and has the fashion sense of an action movie villain plotting to overtake an insane asylum: 

^{Screenshot/HBO Max via YouTube}

In essence, all of Carrie’s boyfriend at one point or another could be described as a manchild. Sabrina, thank you for dropping this track just in time for my article. 

Related tracks: “Bed Chem,” Sabrina Carpenter (I mean, for a show called Sex and the City, I hope they have “bed chem”); “Exes,” Tate McRae (“We make up, then we break up, then they swear they’ll never call me” could describe a million relationships in this show.) 

“Type Dangerous,” Mariah Carey (2025)

^{Mariah Carey via YouTube}

This past Friday, Mariah Carey also dropped a new song–and it’s her first solo release in seven years. Her new single “Type Dangerous” references SATC directly with the lyrics “Now it’s sex in the city and a couple little flings.” It also has references to high-end fashion brands such as Balenciaga and Fendis, fitting in with Carrie Bradshaw’s world perfectly. 

Related tracks: Doechii’s 2024 standout track “Nissan Altima” from her mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal also references Sex and the City with the lyric “I’m like Carrie Bradshaw with a back brace on/I been carrying you bitches now for way too long.” 

“High Fashion,” Addison Rae (2025)

^{Addison Rae via YouTube}

Fashion is its own character in Sex and the City, as evidenced by Carrie’s Little House on the Prairie-meets-modern day tradwife bonnet from the series 3 premiere that has spawned multiple articles. Addison Rae’s debut album, which dropped yesterday alongside new Mariah and Sabrina songs (really a popstar holy trinity here!), has many relevant tracks to And Just Like That, including opening track “New York” (where the SATC universe takes place) and “Money is Everything” (nearly everyone in the show has wealth and is certainly not afraid to flaunt it). But “High Fashion” most aptly describes Carrie’s life, down to the opening lyrics– “have you ever dreamt of being seen?/not by someone, more like in a magazine”–Carrie’s wedding dress was literally featured in Vogue! This proves Carrie is living her best life in her Manolo Blahnik shoes and Vivienne Westwood dresses. A girl can dream about getting high fashion. 

“3,” Britney Spears (2009)

^{Britney Spears via YouTube}

In one of the wildest plot lines of season 2, Miranda nearly has a threesome with her (now former) partner Che Diaz (Sara Ramírez) and Che’s ex-husband, Lyle (the underrated Oliver Hudson). Miranda thankfully bows out before anything escalates (as a viewer, I never suffered secondhand embarrassment more, outside of religiously bingeing Riverdale during COVID), but if you ever want to relive the cringeworthy antics of seasons past, this Britney Spears song can soundtrack just that. There is really not much more explanation needed outside of the title of the track, but here are the opening lyrics for the heck of it: “One, two, three/Not only you and me, Got one eighty degrees/And I’m caught in between.” This describes Miranda’s situation pretty accurately in this episode. You could also just watch the far superior Challengers, which has a similar premise but is actually fun. 

Related TV shows: Just about the only not cringeworthy aspect of this episode is Oliver Hudson. Hudson also appeared on the sitcoms Rules of Engagement and Splitting Up Together, neither of which are very good, BUT are good reminders to TV execs that he should be on our screens more. Maybe he can guest star on his sister Kate Hudson’s Netflix comedy Running Point. 

“No You Girls,” Franz Ferdinand (2009)

^{Franz Ferdinand via YouTube}

Franz Ferdinand may be best known for the 2004 hit “Take Me Out,” but they have plenty of other catchy tunes in their catalogue. “No You Girls” is an indie-rock, dance-punk banger, and I can totally imagine Carrie listening to this while sitting in her courtyard contemplating the state of her life–or out at a club trying to find a new man because she has finally realized the state of her and Aidan’s “relationship” is ridiculous (please, writers, don’t make us suffer through five years of their messily defined situationship). The opening lyrics could easily soundtrack her first kiss with a new man with the words “flick your cigarette and kiss me”–Carrie seems to have gone back to her smoking habit, after all. Regardless, this song is sung from both the perspective of men and women’s thoughts on relationships, and this could be relevant as we follow the lives of Carrie’s male friends as well, including Anthony (Mario Cantone) and Herbert Wexley (Chris Jackson)…and maybe Steve? I have no idea if David Eigenberg will show up as Miranda’s ex this season…but if not, that’s probably because he’s busy working at a firehouse in Chicago.

Other tracks:

“Freakum Dress,” Beyonce (2006)–another fashion related track, because every girl needs an impressive statement dress for meeting prospective dates

“bad idea, right?” Olivia Rodrigo (2023)–most ideas the characters have on this show are inevitably bad ideas. 

“Round and Round,” Selena Gomez and the Scene (2010)–because this show feels like it is constantly going in circles and resurrecting bad ideas from 20 years ago. I bet Jack Berger (Ron Livingston) will show up for a non-apology over his terrible break-up methods before the series’ conclusion, and Carrie will contemplate whether hooking up with him is a good idea (it is not–it’s a bad idea…right?). 

“Talk About Love,” Kate Hudson (2024)–Oliver Hudson guest-starred on And Just Like That, so why not have a romantic, pop-country Kate Hudson song soundtrack a character’s date night? (If you like this track, I recommend checking out her underrated debut album, Glorious, from where the song is from–it’s really good!) 

New episodes of season 3 of And Just Like That drop every Thursday on HBO Max, until July 31, 2025.