When the series began in 2013, FitzSimmons were a pair of inseparable scientists and served mostly as comic relief, aside from their budding puppy love tension. Now, going into Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’s seventh and final season, FitzSimmons has become (in many ways) the emotional hook of the series, with the writers more often than not utilizing the “star crossed lovers” trope.
It’s no surprise with all their development, Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge’s performances that FitzSimmons became the most popular relationship on the series. If you wade into the FitzSimmons tag anywhere, you’re bound to find products lovingly created by fans of the ship, like fanart, gifs, or fanfictions. Almost as popular is creating playlists for the pairing — which is what we’re doing today. Buckle up as we sit down and list ten songs that remind us of FitzSimmons.
Heaven by PVRIS
“You took my heart, you took my heaven away” proclaims the lyrics of the PVRIS song “Heaven.” It’s a sentiment song shared with Jemma Simmons in the show’s sixth season, as she ruthlessly searches the galaxy for Fitz after an alternate timeline version of him was killed in the fifth season’s finale.
Needless to say, season six saw an infinitely colder Jemma than we’d seen before. The trauma of losing Fitz (her “heaven”) drives Jemma to extremes we haven’t seen, and as such we have no trouble associating this heartbreaking and angry song with her during this part of her life.
Please Don’t Say You Love Me by Gabrielle Aplin
After Fitz confesses his love for her in the season one finale, season two saw Jemma trying to figure out where they stood — and how she felt about him. She admits to Bobbi she never thought of Fitz that way before, but it becomes clearer and clearer that Jemma herself is realizing how far her love for Fitz goes.
“Please Don’t Say You Love Me” is a meta addition to this list, as the music video actually features Fitz himself, Iain De Caestecker. Beyond that though, the song reminds us of Jemma’s complicated feelings during the second season, especially with the line “doesn’t mean my heart stops skipping when you look at me like that.”
Birds by Imagine Dragons (ft. Elisa)
It’s hard to pin down what makes the song such a FitzSimmons anthem when it seems as though every line of it can connect or represent a part of their story. Even down to the instrumentals, this song seems to scream FitzSimmons from start to finish.
The song has repeated lyrics about love, change, and flying in different directions which definitely are core themes in FitzSimmons’ relationship: despite how hard they cling to each other, they inevitably wind up being separated (flying in different directions), but they never give up hope of seeing each other again.
Work Song by Hozier
Be honest with us — is any playlist complete if it doesn’t have at least one Hozier song on it? If you answered correctly, congrats! Our feelings are mutual. On the surface, it seems strange to associate any of Hozier’s moody and darkly romantic songs with FitzSimmons, but “Work Song” is apt for the pairing.
The song is about a man’s devotion to his lover, to the point that he proclaims that “no grave can hold [his] body down and [he’ll] crawl home to her.” Literally, in the case for Fitz, since he has died but thanks to timey-wimey madness, is still around for Jemma. But he also promises in “Inescapable” that he doesn’t care if he dies trying to protect Jemma, so long as she’s safe.
Hurts Like Hell by Fleurie
The first truly angsty song of this list, “Hurts Like Hell” is a slow and haunting song about loss, the surrealism of losing someone, and the pain that goes with it. Unfortunately, the song is all too fitting for FitzSimmons — in fact, if you were to give it a listen, we’re sure you could come up with a handful of times this song would work for them.
Considering all the many times FitzSimmons has been separated, both physically and emotionally, it’s not hard to imagine this song as a theme for their relationship. Perhaps one day, they’ll finally be together and happy.
No Light, No Light by Florence + The Machine
Honestly, there are plenty of Florence + The Machine songs that could easily be FitzSimmons anthems, but “No Light, No Light” absolutely takes the cake for us due to the parallels we can draw from the song to post-Framework FitzSimmons.
One of the best lyrics of the song is “no light, no light in your bright blue eyes, I never knew daylight could be so violent” which absolutely makes us think of Jemma and Fitz grappling with the devastatingly cruel life Fitz was forced to live in the Framework as “The Doctor” (way to ruin the guy’s love of Doctor Who, Aida).
Counting Paths by Matthew and the Atlas
This moody, haunting song is honestly part of most of our OTP playlists because of how it captures the delicious mutual pining so many great relationships begin with — but it also recognizes the potential shortness of a relationship as well. The relationship the song is about seems to have an expiration date.
FitzSimmons understand each other completely, and they definitely see each other in ways no one else could. Jemma still loves Fitz at his worst (when no one else could), and even when he comes face to face with all of Jemma’s pent up resentment, Fitz loves her fully. But no matter how happy they are, it’s always short-lived.
Atlas: Two by Sleeping At Last
Although this series of songs by Sleeping At Last, is actually about the nine Enneagram types, it’s easy to come to associate the songs with characters and even ships we love — such is the way with “Atlas: Two” by Sleeping At Last.
Unlike most of the other songs on this list, “Atlas: Two” doesn’t remind us of the angstier side of FitzSimmons. It reminds us of how powerful their love is, how tender their bond is, and their utter selflessness when it comes to protecting the other.
The Scientist by Coldplay
The title makes this choice a little on the nose, but even if this classic Coldplay song had another name, it wouldn’t change the fact that it’s another FitzSimmons anthem.
One recurring theme in FitzSimmons’ relationship is change and struggle, two themes that this song deals with heavily. The emotionally raw set of lyrics “nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be this hard. Oh, take me back to the start” painfully reminds us of how happy the beginning of the series was, knowing all the struggles they go on to face.
The Archer by Taylor Swift
There’s plenty of great songs on Taylor Swift’s latest album “Lover,” but none of them reminds us as much of FitzSimmons as “The Archer” does. Every lyric can be traced back to some trial they’ve faced, the struggles they’ve both overcome.
Mostly though, this song reminds us more of their lives as agents rather than their relationship. From lyrics about being broken to enemies that started out friends, it’s easy enough to get lost in all our FitzSimmons feels listening to this one.
