– "You're so cool" (ep 1.1) Israel Kamakawiwo'ole – "Over the Rainbow" (ep 1.1 and 1.8) Crash Poets – "Goodbye" (ep 1.2) Nick Drake – "Which Will" (ep 1.3) Kate Bosworth as Bella Banks – "The Way You Look Tonight" (ep. 1.4) Julius La Rosa – "The Way You Look Tonight" (ep. 1.4) David Gray – "This Years Love" (ep. 1.5) Salt-N-Pepa – "Let's Talk About Sex" (ep. 1.5) David Gray – "Sail Away" (ep 1.5) David Gray – "Please Forgive Me" (Album Version) (ep 1.5) Nick Drake – "Place to Be" (ep 1.7) Nick Drake – "Things Behind the Sun" (ep 1.7) Brooke Lundy – "Fernando" (ep 1.8) Theme song The theme song "Six Pacs" by The Getaway People from the album Turnpike Diaries was changed at the request of the producers to remove the original reference to cigarettes in the lyric. Joe Voci, the show's executive producer, said in an interview with VH1.com that "Unlike other teen shows that are angst-driven, ours is about a group of kids who want to do the right things, and how they handle the obstacles they're presented. The song presented a mood, tone and feel that is optimistic and implies a sense of adventure." Reception David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun described the series as "Shakespeare Summer Lite, with some gender-bending and woodland trysts to go along with the star-crossed lovers." In comparing the series to another debut Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly found that "it at least avoids the unearned angst of the summer's other 15-year-olds-in-school show, Fox's hapless Opposite Sex". Harvard creative writing professor Jane Rosenzweig found that Young Americans "has a breadth of focus that's far more true to life than the so-called reality-based shows like MTV's Real World and CBS's summer hit Survivor." Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said that the show presents as though the creator "looked at the blueprints of other WB shows and plucked out the elements that would give his series the best chance for success with the Gen Y set." After naming a checklist of elements of the show that are common to many shows on The WB, Owen says that it is admirable from a business standpoint to make a show in such a manner but that it is not very original. Owen concludes by calling Young Americans "mindless and clichéd" but still "guilty summer fun." Michele Hewitson of The New