David Byrne pens new track for Elon Musk documentary

David Byrne has written and performed an original song for Musk, Alex Gibney’s new documentary about Elon Musk, according to Variety.

Titled ‘Let Me Sell You a Dream’, the track was composed alongside Daniel Pemberton, the Oscar-nominated musician best known for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and The Trial of the Chicago 7.

“I was thrilled when David agreed to write (with our composer Daniel Pemberton) and perform the final song in the film,” Gibney said to Variety. “I am a huge fan of his. My wife and I were at the Pantages for the filming of Stop Making Sense, so I sensed that he would find a musical way into what the film is trying to say.

“And he did. ‘Let Me Sell You a Dream’ is kick-ass. And, in writing the lyrics, David dug deep into the sayings of Musk himself to get to ‘extremely hard core,’ foot-tapping sardonic poetry.”

Byrne added that it was a “thrill” to be invited to work on the documentary as a fan of Gibney’s work. ““I asked for good quotes from the Martian,” he continued, “and found more of them online. I’m sure he loves dropping these wild statements, and those became the lyrics. All his own words. No editorialising. Straight from the man’s mouth to mine.”

‘Let Me Sell You a Dream’ marks Byrne’s first return to the Oscar race since winning the Academy Award for best original score for The Last Emperor in 1988. The song will be entered for best original song at the 2027 Oscars.

The film had its premiere at the Venice International Festival on September 8, and will have its US theatrical release on October 16, although a European release date has not been announced.