The Witcher has become this holiday season's must-stream show and while critics and viewers are split on Netflix's adaptation of the fantasy series, there's one thing everyone seems to be agreeing on:
"Toss A Coin To Your Witcher" is 2019's catchiest earworm.
Sung by the beloved bard Jaskier at the end of the second episode, the song recounts the epic adventure of Geralt of Rivia in the former elven kingdom of Dol Blathanna (with a few exaggerations, of course).
As for how the show's composers Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinellii came up with the addictive tune, Netflix
offered a bit of insight into the creation process. The track was scored by both Belousova and Ostinellii, who "deliberately avoided the source books and video game adaptations." The lyrics were written by co-executive producer Jenny Klein.
"Belousova and Ostinelli created half a dozen different versions of ‘Toss A Coin’, ranging in style from medieval to more modern renditions - including a rap," Netflix revealed.
"In the end, they decided to go with something a little more in keeping with [Lauren Hissrich]'s incredible vision for the series."
Netflix also revealed that Joey Batey, who plays Jaskier, was actually "sick as a dog" while recording the vocals for the song. Filming for the scene didn't happen until six months later,
"requiring a flawless lip sync on set."
"To drive home what a banger ‘Toss A Coin’ is, the composers made Jaskier’s older songs extremely, well, not good," Netflix continued.
"Keep an ear out for different versions of it throughout the series, especially when Geralt and Jaskier hit up a pub for an ale."
The Witcher is currently streaming on Netflix. Unfortunately,
"Toss A Coin To Your Witcher" is unavailable on popular music services such as iTunes and Spotify. There is one way to listen to it, however. It's currently available to listen to over
on the SoundCloud account of show composers Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli. You can probably also find various versions uploaded to YouTube by now.