Intro themes are an incredibly important part of TV shows. They set the vibe and get you in the mood to actually watch the show. It worked for Game of Thrones, and it’s certainly worked for The White Lotus as well.
The White Lotus Season 1 intro theme was a catchy island riff with infectious vocals, and it was brought to the next level with Season 2, when creator Mike White requested that composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer include operatic elements into the theme to fit with the Italy setting. Titled Renaissance, the Season 2 intro theme resonated a lot better with fans, especially with its building energy with every four beats. And of course, the iconic vocals were there too.
With Season 3, however, The White Lotus intro theme has done away with the vocals, and that’s resulted in a very mixed reception from fans since the premiere. The general beat and rhythm of the theme are still present, but there’s no denying that it just feels like something key is missing without the vocals.
In an interview with Variety, Tapia de Veer explained that he pulled inspiration from TikTok when composing the theme.
‘“I hear interesting things in TikTok or YouTube sometimes,” he explained. “I think that the best song I heard in the last few years that I can remember is people harmonizing to a cat on TikTok. There’s a cat, and somebody put some piano and then some girls started harmonizing, and then there’s all these versions harmonizing this cat, it’s super moving and so spontaneous and fresh that this is grabbing a lot more my attention than super-produced pop music.”
“I’m a fan of pop music, but it feels like it’s been a while that I feel like something has surprised me,” he continued. “So I’ve been looking a lot into these eight-second bits of music that people [are] putting together and harmonizing a cat or stupid, silliest things. To me, it’s like a gold mine, it’s just moving to me. It feels like you are actually in contact with a person.”’
It’s worth noting that the Season 3 theme has a lot of build-up as well. However, given that this season is set to explore threads like religion, spirituality, and losing yourself in the wild, it made sense that the vocals would take a backseat, or not show up in the music at all. The intro theme is meant to take you deeper into Thailand’s jungle resort setting, with every build-up getting darker and more mysterious. The music is meant to evoke singing animals and beasts, which is certainly in line with all the monkey imagery we’ve been seeing in the premiere episode.
It’s understandable that fans would be divided over this massive change, but I’m not complaining. If it fits the tone better, then I’m all for it. Besides, it might very well grow on you over the course of the next couple months. And the rest of the soundtrack is pretty damn good, too.
The White Lotus Season 3 is now streaming on Max.
Published: Feb 18, 2025 2:38 AM UTC