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

“What a Difference a Day Made” by Dinah Washington 

Shults: Another thing the movie deals with is generations, because as much as it is about the kids in their headspace, I hope you feel you also get a bit of the parents as well, and that sort of generational love. It felt right to have a timeless track at some point, like a track that mom would sing to her son, that she might have grown up with, that felt really powerful. But also what the song is about, the lyrics of it, speaks to the movie very much. What a difference a day makes? What a difference the most drastic mistake of your life can make? It’s very mirroring the themes of the movie. 

We use it in two parts, the second time when Emily is in this new stage. I hope that playing that song again it works as trigger, with this unorthodox structure, telling you, “It’s okay, relax, there’s a purpose behind everything.” Even if you feel like, “Where’s this movie going?” there’s a purpose to it. We’re bringing this back and recalling a moment to show what a difference a day makes. That’s how life is. One day you’re engulfed in grief and you’re incredibly depressed, and the next you can meet someone or you change perspective and you can start opening yourself up in a new way. 

There’s also the fact that Wong Kar-wai’s Chunking Express was a huge inspiration. When I saw that it blew my mind, and I was like, “Oh you can do this with structure.” I had seen diptychs or two-part movies, but not to the extent that you have two lovers on each side and you totally switch characters. This song is in this movie that I love so much, and it’s used in the airplane and the flight attendant. My girlfriend’s a flight attendant. We met ’cause we got kicked out of flight attendant training, so it felt personal in that sense as well, and I thought that was a little homage to that movie. 

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