David Byrne's New Song Uses Elon Musk Quotes

David Byrne has written a new song for an upcoming documentary about Elon Musk, using only the billionaire's own words as lyrics. The song, titled "Let Me Sell You A Dream," will feature in Alex Gibney's nearly four-hour film Musk, which opens in theaters on October 16.

According to a report from Variety, Byrne collaborated with composer Daniel Pemberton on the track. Pemberton's previous work includes scores for Project Hail Mary and the Spider-Verse films. Byrne performs the song in the documentary.

The Song's Creation

Byrne explained his lyrical process to Variety. "I asked for good quotes from the Martian and found more of them online," he said. The musician stated that all the lyrics are Musk's own statements, with no added editorializing. Byrne is sure Musk loves dropping wild statements, and those became the lyrics.

Director Alex Gibney expressed his enthusiasm for Byrne's contribution. He told Variety he was thrilled when Byrne agreed to write and perform the final song for the film. Gibney is a self-described huge fan. He sensed Byrne would find a musical way into what the film is trying to say.

"'Let Me Sell You a Dream' is kick-ass," Gibney said. He described Byrne's process as digging deep into Musk's sayings to create "extremely hard core," foot-tapping sardonic poetry.

The Documentary Context

The documentary Musk is directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney. Gibney calls the 235-minute film a definitive and unvarnished examination of the subject. Elon Musk has reportedly already labeled the project a hit piece. The film joins Gibney's other critical documentaries like Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room and Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief.

Awards Speculation

The Variety report speculated on the song's potential awards season prospects. David Byrne is no stranger to the Oscars. He previously won the award for Best Original Score for 1987's The Last Emperor alongside collaborators Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su. He also received a Best Original Song nomination in 2022 for "This Is A Life" from Everything Everywhere All At Once, a collaboration with Mitski and Son Lux.

The report posed a humorous question: if Byrne were to win an Oscar for "Let Me Sell You A Dream," would he have to share the award with Elon Musk, whose quotes form the entire lyric sheet?

Other Byrne Film Projects

In other David Byrne film news, director Brady Corbet has shot a 70mm concert film of Byrne's recent live shows. The footage was captured over multiple nights at the Hippodrome in Byrne's hometown of Baltimore. The project is currently in post-production. Corbet, an Oscar-nominated director for The Brutalist, follows in the footsteps of filmmakers like Jonathan Demme and Spike Lee, who have previously created celebrated concert films around Byrne's performances.