David Byrne and composer Daniel Pemberton have released ‘Let Me Sell You a Dream,’ the original song they wrote for MUSK, Academy Award®-winning director Alex Gibney‘s documentary about Elon Musk. The song is out now on Matador Records.
“It would be too easy and probably not as much fun to overtly criticize Musk,” says Byrne “Better, I thought, to try and get inside his head a little bit, to use phrases he himself has used in interviews and statements, and let the character in the song be the one who describes himself.” Byrne has previously employed this songwriting method. For Here Lies Love, his Broadway collaboration with Fatboy Slim focusing on former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, he drew many of his lyrics from real statements made by Marcos and her inner circle.
David Byrne – ‘Let Me Sell You A Dream’ (Official Visualizer)
Byrne recorded ‘Let Me Sell You A Dream’ in hotel rooms while on tour, to a laptop with gear he picked up in London. Pemberton, who composed the score for MUSK, produced the track, which closes out the film. “When I wrote the words and melody to this song I hadn’t seen the film,” shared David Byrne. “But I trusted Gibney, I’d loved a bunch of his other movies I’d seen, and am a fan of Pemberton’s work. So when they approached me it sounded like fun.”
On working with Byrne, Gibney said, “I am a huge fan of David Byrne – having followed him from fronting The Talking Heads at CBGBs to his “Who Is the Sky” Tour. I desperately wanted an uptempo song for the end of the film that would channel the chaotic spirit of Elon. I reached out to David – who happened to be in the UK. To my surprise and delight, he bicycled over to meet with Daniel and they conjured up musical magic.”
Daniel Pemberton adds, “David Byrne is one of the great artists and thinkers of our time. A generational observer, commentator and storyteller – to collaborate together on a song so timely, one that reflects the world we are now living in, was incredibly exciting.” He continues, “We find ourselves in a messy, complicated moment in history where the richest and most powerful use unrealistic promises, dreams and deflection to consolidate their wealth and control rather than to work towards a genuine better future for anyone else. I love getting the opportunity to address that through music and also getting to hang out with the artistic icon that is David in the process. We went for a walk, talked about architecture, hung out, had coffee, wrote music. David is a wonderfully inspiring ball of thoughts and energy. I hope the message and spirit of this song connects and resonates. It was a lot of fun to make.”
MUSK had its world premiere out of competition at the Venice International Film Festival on September 8, followed by its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Musk declined to be interviewed for the film, so Gibney drew on Musk’s own recorded words from podcasts, past interviews and documentary outtakes. Byrne’s song takes the same approach. Gibney told Variety the result is “foot-tapping sardonic poetry.”
‘Let Me Sell You a Dream’ is eligible for Best Original Song consideration at the 99th Academy Awards®. Byrne won the Oscar® for Best Original Score for The Last Emperor and was later nominated for Best Original Song for ‘This Is a Life’ from Everything Everywhere All at Once. Pemberton was nominated for Best Original Song for ‘Hear My Voice’ from The Trial of the Chicago 7.
About David Byrne
David Byrne is a musician, artist, and filmmaker whose work spans five decades, from his founding role in Talking Heads through a wide-ranging solo career. A two-time Academy Award® nominee with one win, Byrne took the Oscar® for Best Original Score for “The Last Emperor” and was later nominated for Best Original Song for “This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once”. His concert work, from “Stop Making Sense” to the Emmy®-winning “David Byrne’s American Utopia”, has helped define the modern concert film. His most recent album, “Who Is The Sky?”, was released in September 2025 on Matador Records, supported by an international world tour through 2025 and 2026.
About Daniel Pemberton
Daniel Pemberton is a multi award winning composer and songwriter whose work includes film scores such as “Project Hail Mary”, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”, “The Drama”, “Steve Jobs”, “Eddington” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” as well as TV series like “Slow Horses” and “Black Mirror”. He received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Original Song for “Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7” performed by Celeste and has written songs with the likes of Mick Jagger, Iggy Pop and Busta Rhymes.
About MUSK
“MUSK” is a documentary directed by Alex Gibney, written by Gibney and Michael J. Palmer, about Elon Musk and his economic and political reach. Gibney won the Academy Award® for “Taxi to the Dark Side”, and his films include “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” and “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief”. “MUSK” is produced by Alex Gibney, Jessie Deeter, Erin Edeiken, Zhang Xin, Joey Marra, Nick Shumaker, Jessica Grimshaw and Dana O’Keefe. It runs 235 minutes and is releasing in theaters by Bleecker Street on October 9 in NY and LA followed by nationwide release on October 16th.
