David Byrne and composer Daniel Pemberton have released “Let Me Sell You a Dream,” an original song they wrote for MUSK, director Alex Gibney’s new documentary about Elon Musk. The track is out now on Matador Records. MUSK will open nationwide on Friday, October 16.

“It would be too easy and probably not as much fun to overtly criticize Musk,” Byrne said in a statement. “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 admits that he previously employed this songwriting method for Here Lies Love, his Broadway collaboration with Fatboy Slim, which focused on former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos. For that project, he drew many of his lyrics from real statements made by Marcos and her inner circle.

Byrne is said to have recorded “Let Me Sell You A Dream” in hotel rooms while on tour, working with a laptop and 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,” Byrne added. “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.”

Gibney added, “I am a huge fan of David Byrne, having followed him from fronting Talking Heads at CBGBs to his Who Is the Sky Tour. I desperately wanted an up-tempo 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 U.K. To my surprise and delight, he bicycled over to meet with Daniel and they conjured up musical magic.”

Daniel Pemberton added, “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. 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.”

Byrne has a speaking engagement slated at Los Angeles’ Robert Frost Auditorium tomorrow. He is slated to discuss his new book, Sleeping Beauties.