David Byrne has written an original song for Musk, Alex Gibney’s upcoming documentary about Elon Musk, and he didn’t have to dig too deep for lyrical inspiration. The track, titled “Let Me Sell You a Dream,” was co-written with the film’s composer Daniel Pemberton and uses Musk’s own public statements as lyrics. “All his own words. No editorialising. Straight from the man’s mouth to mine,” Byrne told Variety. The song will qualify for consideration for Best Original Song at the 2027 Academy Awards.
Byrne said he began by asking for “good quotes from the Martian” before digging up more online, while Gibney described the result as “foot-tapping sardonic poetry.” Should Byrne land a nomination, it would mark his first return to the Oscar race in nearly 40 years. He won Best Original Score alongside Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su for The Last Emperor in 1988. Pemberton has also experienced some Oscar buzz and was previously nominated for “Hear My Voice” from The Trial of the Chicago 7 back in 2021.
Musk will premiere out of competition at the Venice International Film Festival on September 8th before heading to the Toronto International Film Festival. Bleecker Street will release the documentary in US theaters on October 16th.
Musk has been aware of the project since it was first announced in 2023, writing on X that it would be “a hit-piece”; Gibney responded, saying, “how would you know?”
