What is the theme song of Death by Lightning? Here’s all about the original composition by Hanni El Khatib

Death by Lightning
Death by Lightning (Image via Netflix)

Death by Lightning on Netflix features a theme song called Weep No More and it is from Hanni El Khatib, who wrote it and sang it.

Netflix Music put it out, and you can find it everywhere, on Spotify, Amazon, and many other platforms. The track oozes that gritty, soulful vibe Hanni is known for, and it fits the Garfield drama like a glove. The show itself is kind of an intense experience, and the music ramps that up.

Death by Lightning is one of those shows that sneaks up on you. Mike Makowsky took Candice Millard’s book, Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, and turned it into this four-episode series about James Garfield.

You get the whole arc: kid from nothing, somehow lands in the White House, and then gets tangled up with Charles Guiteau. The series doesn’t just stick to the politics, though. It dives deep into the medical stuff, the backroom deals, and all the drama from the 1880s.

On top of all this, Hanni El Khatib’s music is moody, especially the theme song. It glues the whole thing together, making you actually feel that mix of chaos and heartbreak that defined the era.


The theme song of Death by Lightning by Hanni El Khatib

Hanni El Khatib (Image via Getty)
Hanni El Khatib (Image via Getty)

Weep No More by Hanni El Khatib is not just another track tossed onto a playlist. Netflix wanted something special for Death by Lightning, so they had Hanni create this song just for the show. It dropped on November 6, 2025, under Netflix Music. You can grab it anywhere you stream music: Spotify, Amazon, SoundCloud, take your pick.

However, you won’t find it on any of Hanni’s old albums. This thing is exclusively made to fit the mood and story of the series. Before this, nobody had heard it, and he hadn’t slipped it into live sets or anything. It is all about Death by Lightning.

Musically, it is classic Hanni El Khatib. He has got a gritty, bluesy, rock vibe, but with this one, there is a real soulful energy. The song’s lyrics are dark and heavy, totally in sync with the show’s storyline. It digs into regret, sorrow, and all the spectacle that comes with fate. Some lines hit like a punch to the heart, spelling out the pain and chaos around the assassination, and it just elevates the emotional rollercoaster of the series.

There is a rawness in the music that brings an extra layer to what is happening on screen. It channels that mix of political obsession, heartbreak, and the gritty fight to keep going when everything is falling apart. Plus, it meshes perfectly with Ramin Djawadi’s instrumental score. The combo of Hanni’s modern, rough-edged sound and Ramin’s sweeping drama makes the music feel like it is straddling two worlds, old and new.


What is Death by Lightning about?

Death by Lightning (Image via Netflix)
Death by Lightning (Image via Netflix)

Death by Lightning is a gritty, old-school drama that digs deep into the murder of James A. Garfield, America’s 20th president. It is based on Candice Millard’s book, which pulls Garfield out of history class obscurity and drops him into the middle of a mess of ambition, chaos, and some pretty questionable 19th-century doctoring.

It is not about actual lightning, but more like a nod to how out-of-nowhere an assassination can be. One minute you are running the country, the next, you are gone. Just like that.

Death by Lightning kicks off with Garfield’s poor beginnings, then follows him as he claws his way up the greasy pole of American politics. The series shows that he actually cared about corruption and civil rights, which, in the snake pit of the 1880s, was basically asking for trouble. And then you have got Charles Guiteau, a real piece of work: obsessed, unstable, and convinced the universe owed him something.

Guiteau stalks Garfield and, in a train station, tries to take him out. It works, but also not instantly. Garfield hangs on for 79 miserable days, mostly because doctors back then thought hand-washing was optional. The show really doesn’t sugarcoat how much the so-called “treatment” made things worse.

What is cool about Death by Lightning is that it is not just a paint-by-numbers history lesson. There are political dreams, betrayals, and people in way over their heads. You get to see both Garfield and Guiteau as messed-up, complicated humans. It is heavy on ambition and the fallout that comes when those two crash together.

The cast includes Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen. The details are on point, too. The show actually makes you care about a tragic slice of American history, partly because it feels so current with power games, bad luck, and people messing things up for everyone else.

Edited by Sahiba Tahleel