In Black Mirror, Irma Thomas's song 'Anyone Who Knows What Love Is' got featured a lot:
In Fifteen Million Merits: Abi sings "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is" for the judges.
In White Christmas, song is used in a karaoke segment.
In Men Against Fire, Hunter sings this song in Heidekker's farmhouse while holding him at gunpoint.
But why is this real life song used so prominently? Is there any significance of the song to Black Mirror theme?
It's simply an Easter Egg:
When asked if they had a favorite Season Three Easter Egg, Brooker immediately mentioned “Nosedive.” “I think my favorite, currently, is the status update from Michael Callow [the Prime Minister in “The National Anthem“] that appears in ‘Nosedive’ because I had forgotten that I typed it in, and I thought it hadn’t made it into the finished show,” he said. “Somebody found it and screen-capped it where he says, he’s sort of moaning about being thrown out of a zoo.”
Brooker also added that he enjoyed Irma Thomas’ “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)” reappearing in “Men Against Fire.” The song is known in the series for Abi’s (Jessica Brown Findlay) haunting performance of it on the reality show Hot Shot in “Fifteen Million Merits.”
