The Waves Soundtrack Decoded by Director Trey Edward Shults, Song by Song

“Be Above It” by Tame Impala (Live, Studio, and Remix Versions)

Shults: The lyrics, “Gotta be above it, gotta be above it,” reflect Tyler’s routine, that’s his world. Later you see the expectations put upon him, between his father and everything else he’s going through, it’s part of his head state. It’s a whisper that says, “Gotta be above it, gotta be above it.” It feels like Tyler’s head, it feels like him telling himself, “Gotta be above it, gotta stay in my element, gotta be on top of everything.” There’s a musical drive that just feels like how I wanted that opening of the movie to be driven musically. It’s a combination of the studio track and live track, and we recall it later. The recalling of it later in that remix, to me, is really sad because it’s recalling where we started out, when this kid was in his element and now his world has slowly been dismantled piece by piece by piece. He hasn’t had time to process anything. He’s just reacting and he’s in a very dark, sad place, and to recall it there builds on to what this tragedy is. So for me it felt powerful recalling it that sense.

This is the studio version:

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23