Yellowjackets composers Anna Waronker and Craig Wedren discuss composing the haunting original song “Sleepwalking” for the Season 3 finale, “Full Circle.” *Spoilers Ahead*
For Yellowjackets Season 3, composers Anna Waronker and Craig Wedren describe the score as “scrunchy,” kind of like the leaves on the ground in the wilderness.
“I keep having this image of the forest floor and it sucking everybody under,” says Wedren.
After all, the cave swallows Akilah (Nia Sondaya), Van (Liv Hewson), and Shauna (Sophie Nélisse), causing them to have David Lynchian visions.
“The cave set us off on a trajectory,” continues Waronker. “The creators wanted us to do little vignettes for the characters when they were having their hallucinations. We really pushed some boundaries beyond our regular Yellowjackets insanity.”
To extend that scrunchy, crunchy cave sound to the characters. Waronker and Wedren ended up using that unique, almost-animal texture as the sonic foundation for the rest of the show. Whenever “a cue needed glue,” the synth cave sound was something they kept going back to.
“It supports any other instrument because it’s so unique,” says Wedren. “You can put a voice or a string over it. It feels like an alien baseline or rhythmic track.”
Or maybe even a screeching frog!
“So much of this season was about incorporating more of the character of the wilderness,” says Waronker. “We collaborated with supervising sound editor Brett Hinton in those moments when we were trying to bring out the new sound of the wilderness.”
Yellowjackets Original Song “Sleepwalking”
In the opening moments of the finale “Full Circle,” Waronker and Wedren take us on a musical odyssey, starting with their original song “Sleepwalking” — the first for the series (other than that banger theme song, of course).
“[The creators] had temped an existing song into the ‘Sleepwalking’ moments, namely the Lottie and Callie zones,” says Wedren. “They couldn’t get the rights to the song, and they were heartbroken.”
The duo admit the temp song didn’t feel like Yellowjackets, so they were thrilled when the producers asked them to write an original song.
In fact, Wedren and Waronker wrote three different songs and let the producers pick the one they wanted.
“They chose wisely because ‘Sleepwalking’ was definitely the best,” says Wedren. “It fit best with the scenes. Spooky, minimal, spare, like a zombie dreamland.”
“But also in a different world,” adds Waronker. “This season starts out rooted in traditional Yellowjackets, and it starts to take these turns. By the end of the season, I feel like we’re in a whole other world, so being able to push our sonic palette for the song was a cool move they encouraged.”
“Sleepwalking” pulses in digital tones before swelling into a wordless chant. Listen closely for Paul Cartwright’s string arrangement where he pays homage to the organ “doo doo doos” of the theme song.
Since “Sleepwalking” follows Lottie (Courtney Eaton/Simone Kessell), weaving in and out of her scenes, is she Yellowjackets’ musical songstress?
“It wasn’t a conscious thing,” says Wedren. “Lottie feeds a lot of the score because of the baptism in Season 1, the commune music in Season 2, and then the caves in Season 3. She really does get a lot of music. And then it all gets sprinkled on the rest of the cast. She’s the spiritual leader of the group.”
The Identities of Pit Girl and the Antler Queen Revealed
“Eat,” says Shauna, newly crowned as the Antler Queen in the finale, clad in netting and bewitching attire fans have come to obsess over these past three seasons. “And never forget this.”
The Yellowjackets score echoes as they feast on their friend, Mari, with poignant piano and horns giving the moment gravitas. This marks a turning point for the series, and it’s clear why the pilot started with this death: It’s the beginning of the end.
Did Waronker and Wedren feel that when composing music for this scene?
“It felt like it needed to breathe,” says Waronker. “It was so simple. Shauna goes through a lot, and that sequence visually is so beautiful. It was lovely to be melancholy and still have a hint of, ‘What’s going to happen?’ Ultimately, we’re setting up the disappointment she’s about to face, which is really exciting, and also shows us why she is the way she is.”
Yellowjackets is streaming on Paramount+ and airs on Showtime.
