3 Songs You Didn’t Know David Lynch Co-Wrote for Other Artists

Today, David Lynch is known as one of entertainment’s most beloved and weirdest auteurs. He somehow manages to blend the oddball with the nostalgic, the eerie with the sublime. Known for the television show Twin Peaks and movies like Blue Velvet, Lynch is both cult hero and Oscar-nominated storyteller.

But what many might not know is that Lynch, 78, is also a songwriter, along with being a painter, actor, and moviemaker. Here below we dive into three songs that Lynch wrote for other artists.

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“Falling,” Julee Cruise

Written by Angelo Badalamenti, David Lynch

Fans of Lynch’s breakthrough TV show Twin Peaks will recognize this as the show’s opening theme song. Featuring the signature fat reverb-rich bass lines from Lynch’s friend and co-composer Angelo Badalamenti, the track was written by Badalamenti (music) and Lynch (lyrics), and performed by Julee Cruise. Lynch and Cruise have worked together on several songs, including, “Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart.” As for the the dream pop artist, Cruise released this song in 1989 as the lead single from her debut studio LP Floating into the Night. Charting in several countries, the song hit No. 1 in Australia in 1991. Cruise sings,

Don’t let yourself be hurt this time
Don’t let yourself be hurt this time
Then I saw your face
Then I saw your smile

The sky is still blue
The clouds come and go
Yet something is different
Are we falling in love?

“In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song),” Peter Ivers

Written by David Lynch, Peter Ivers

This song was written by Peter Ivers and Lynch—the former wrote the music while the latter wrote the lyrics. Ivers also performed the song, which was featured in Lynch’s first full-length film Eraserhead and has since become a cult classic. Aside from being on the movie’s soundtrack album, Ivers released his own version first on his 2019 album Becoming Peter Ivers. As with many Lynchian works, the song has a niche following. For example, Grammy-nominated Northwest rockers Modest Mouse covered a section of the song for the track “Workin’ on Leavin’ the Livin’” on their 1999 compilation album Building Nothing Out of Something.

“Sycamore Trees,” Jimmy Scott

Written by Angelo Badalamenti, David Lynch

Also written by Lynch and musical partner Badalamenti, this song is performed by American jazz vocalist Jimmy Scott, known for his work in the 1940s and ’50s before experiencing a resurgence in the 1990s—in part thanks to Lynch. Scott performed the song in Episode 29 of Twin Peaks. It’s eerie but numinous, sounding like something you’ve known your whole life. Part-animalistic chant, part opera. Scott sings,

I got idea man
You take me for a walk
Under the sycamore trees
The dark trees that blow, baby
In the dark trees that blow

And I’ll see you
And you’ll see me
And I’ll see you in the branches that blow
In the breeze
I’ll see you in the trees
I’ll see you in the trees
Under the sycamore trees

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Photo by Michael Tran/FilmMagic