Napalm Death’s “You Suffer” Featured Prominently in New Episode of HBO’s Silicon Valley

When it comes to iconic musical moments in film and TV, Napalm Death’s “You Suffer” isn’t quite as well known as “My Heart Will Go On” or “Don’t Stop Believin’,” forever seared into our collective cultural consciousness. A whopping one second of furious grind, the track isn’t exactly what I’d call “marketable.” But that didn’t stop the writers of the HBO show Silicon Valley from tapping the British grindcore pioneers’ infamous song for a prominent feature in last night’s episode.

In “Chief Operating Officer” (Season 5 Episode 3), the perpetually mopey, cynical computer programmer Gilfoyle (played by Martin Starr) has set up a computer program to play “You Suffer” whenever Bitcoin drops below the price at which it’s worth mining. The track blasts throughout the office at odd moments and interrupts a conversation between Gilfoyle and Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch), already annoyed by Gilfoyle’s tardiness to a meeting. The scene plays out exactly like you’d expect, with confusion giving way to frustration over the constant volatility of Bitcoin’s price and the resulting blasts of “You Suffer” over and over, and it becomes a recurring theme throughout the episode. As is so often the case on this show, it’s a pointed mockery of real-life Silicon Valley culture set to perfect comedic slapstick.

Kudos to Napalm Death for scoring this sync; I hope they got hella paid!! Watch the clip below, and watch the full episode here if you (or your mom) have an HBO subscription.