Music plays a quiet but essential role in Call Me by Your Name. Rather than guiding emotions in an obvious way, it drifts in and out of the story, often unnoticed at first — and then impossible to forget.
Director Luca Guadagnino is known for relying on existing music, and here that choice feels especially intimate. Classical pieces and pop songs sit naturally beside two original compositions by Sufjan Stevens, creating a soundtrack that feels discovered rather than designed.
Many viewers come for the story and leave carrying something else with them. The music has a lot to do with that — working quietly, emotionally, and often long after the final scene fades out.
This is not a definitive list. Just three songs that tend to linger, each for slightly different reasons.
Psychedelic Furs – Love My Way
“Love My Way” appears twice in the film, both times connected to movement, bodies, and a sense of temporary freedom. It first plays during the outdoor dance scene — one of the most recognisable moments in the film.
The song was released in the early 1980s by The Psychedelic Furs, and its meaning has long been associated with self-acceptance. Singer Richard Butler once described it as a message aimed at people struggling with their sexuality:
“It’s basically for people who feel bad about their sexuality, and it says, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ It was originally written for gay people.”
Within the film, the song doesn’t explain anything. It simply exists in the moment — loud, rhythmic, and unbothered. It allows the characters to move without reflection, without language, without explanation. For a few minutes, nothing needs to be named.
Sufjan Stevens – Futile Devices (Doveman Remix)
The version of “Futile Devices” used in the film is a 2017 remix by Doveman, created specifically for the soundtrack. It stays close to the original, but feels slightly more distant, more internal.
The song accompanies Elio at a moment of emotional isolation, after intimacy has already changed something he cannot yet articulate. The arrangement is soft and restrained, matching the stillness of the images rather than competing with them.
“Words are futile tools.”
The line resonates strongly in a film where multiple languages are spoken — Italian, English, French, German — and yet the most important things remain unspoken. Here, silence and gesture carry more weight than dialogue. The absence of words is not a failure, just a fact.
Sufjan Stevens – Visions of Gideon
“Visions of Gideon” closes the film, and for many viewers it becomes inseparable from the final image. As Elio sits in front of the fireplace, time seems to slow almost to a standstill.
The piano theme recalls earlier musical moments in the film, creating a sense of return rather than resolution. There is no dramatic shift, no emotional release — just repetition, both in the music and in the thoughts it seems to echo.
“Last time I loved you
Is this a video?”
The question hangs unresolved. Memory, imagination, and reality blur together, as they often do after loss. When the closing title appears and the line “I touched you for the last time” is heard, the scene refuses to hurry the audience away.
The film ends, but the feeling does not.
