After a long two-year gap between seasons, The White Lotus finally returned for season 3 on February 16. The season premiere was full of all the classics fans have come to expect from the buzzy HBO anthology series: A gorgeous locale, morally dubious rich people, and weird relationship dynamics that definitely make you raise an eyebrow — I’m looking at you and your incest-y energy, Ratliff siblings. But, unfortunately for fans, the third season of The White Lotus is missing one key element previous seasons boasted: A banger of a theme song. The White Lotus has a new theme song for season 3, and fans are finding that it simply does not hit the same way previous ones did. So why did The White Lotus change its theme song?
Dedicated fans will remember that The White Lotus actually mixes up its theme song every season to match the vibes, while sticking to a somewhat consistent melody. For the first season, which was set in Hawaii, the theme song was titled “Aloha!” and featured island drums and chanting vocals. Then, with the Italy-set season 2, the theme song evolved into “Renaissance,” which has a little bit more of an opera-meets-club sound to fit the European setting of the season. Season 3 is set in Thailand, and apparently that means a theme song with no vocals or beat drop at all. The other White Lotus theme songs have quite literally become club hits, so fans are pissed the season 3 song is not hitting the same way.
White Lotus Season 3 Theme Song
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One X user called it “an unfortunate downgrade in the opening theme music,” while another said, “I can’t believe they got rid of the yodelly bits in the White Lotus theme. Why am I even watching this anymore?”
“The only thing America can agree on right now is that the white lotus season 3 theme song is NOT it,” yet another X user said. In one TikTok of fans listening to the season 3 theme, after the song ends and they’re left disappointed, their solution is to simply listen to the season 2 theme song instead.
All three theme songs have the same composer, Cristobal Tapia de Veer, but he made a distinct choice to go in a different direction for season 3 after his work on the previous seasons of The White Lotus. He told Variety that he took inspiration for the season 3 White Lotus theme song from cat videos on TikTok. Yes, you read that right. Cat videos.
“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,” he said. “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.”
While a lot of fans are bummed out about the new White Lotus theme song, it does have its fans. One fan on TikTok posted a defense of the season 3 theme song and called it “mind-blowing.” Perhaps the haters out there just need to check into the White Lotus a little longer and take the time to get used to this new song.
