Editing Donnie Darko (section)

===Soundtrack===
{{Main|Donnie Darko (soundtrack)}}
The film's soundtrack was composed by San Diego musician and songwriter [[Michael Andrews (musician)|Michael Andrews]]. Kelly knew that the film's limited budget prevented him from hiring either "[[Thomas Newman]] or [[Danny Elfman]]" to compose the score for the film, so he decided to look for a composer who happens to be someone "very young, hungry, and really talented".<ref name=LA18/> Andrews was recommended by Juvonen's brother, Jim.<ref name=LA18/>

The film's opening sequence is set to "[[The Killing Moon]]" by [[Echo & the Bunnymen]]. The continuous shot of introduction of Donnie's high school prominently features the song "[[Head over Heels (Tears for Fears song)|Head over Heels]]" by [[Tears for Fears]]. Samantha's dance group "Sparkle Motion" performs to "[[Notorious (Duran Duran song)|Notorious]]" by [[Duran Duran]]. When the scene was originally shot, the group danced to "[[West End Girls]]" by [[Pet Shop Boys]]. However, the rights to the song could not be obtained for the final release. "[[Under the Milky Way]]" by [[The Church (band)|The Church]] is played after Donnie and Gretchen emerge from his bedroom during the party. "[[Love Will Tear Us Apart]]" by [[Joy Division]] also appears in the film [[diegesis|diegetically]] during the party and shots of Donnie and Gretchen upstairs. Despite the film being set in 1988, the version played was not released until 1995.<ref name="Day">{{cite web|url=http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content/id/12415/donnie-darko-directors-cut.html|title=''Donnie Darko'': Director's Cut|first=Matt|last=Day|work=Film @ The Digital Fix |date=10 August 2004|publisher=The Digital Fix|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008094412/http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content/id/12415/donnie-darko-directors-cut.html|archive-date=8 October 2016}}</ref> In the director's cut, the music in the opening sequence is replaced by "[[Never Tear Us Apart]]" by [[INXS]]; "[[Under the Milky Way]]" is moved to the scene of Donnie and Eddie driving home from Donnie's meeting with his therapist; and "The Killing Moon" is played as Gretchen and Donnie return to the party from Donnie's parents' room.<ref name="Day"/>

The film's end sequence features a piano-driven cover of "[[Mad World]]" by English new wave group [[Tears for Fears]], sung by American musician [[Gary Jules]], a schoolfriend of Andrews. In 2003, the cover of "Mad World" was released as a single that was No. 1 in the United Kingdom for three weeks, during which it was the country's [[List of UK Singles Chart Christmas number ones|Christmas No. 1]] of that year.<ref name=IW04>{{cite web|last=Brunett|first=Adam|date=July 22, 2004|publisher=Indie Wire|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2004/07/donnie-darko-the-directors-cut-the-strange-afterlife-of-an-indie-cult-film-78774/|title="Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut": The Strange Afterlife of an Indie Cult Film|access-date=2012-08-31}}</ref>