COMMENTARY
By BRIANNA ROSS @ITSBRIROSS
“Get Out,” from writer and director Jordan Peele, is a horror movie with a modern twist.
The breakout film provides a unique approach to the horror movie genre while also addressing racial and social issues in present-day America.
If you listen closely, you can hear how Peele infused the movie’s soundtrack with an inconspicuous message that ties in perfectly with the story of the film and serves as an ominous warning to the public.
In a recent interview with GQ Magazine, Peele explained his reasoning for the main music in the film.
In addition to featuring black artists such as Donald Glover on the soundtrack, Peele enlisted Mixed-race composer, Michael Abels, to create a score that had “distinctly black voices and black musical references (…) but in a scary way, which you never really hear.”
Abels came up with the idea for the main title of the film to feature the Swahili song “Sikiliza Kwa Wahenga,” which translates to “listen to your ancestors.”
The message sounds even scarier when the whispered lyrics are incomprehensible to the audience. This was the intention of both Peele and Abels.
Translated to English, the voices whisper, “brother, listen to the elders. Run! Brother, listen to the truth. Run, run far away! Save yourself.”
This eerie message played during the beginning and end of the film did an excellent job of instilling a creepy sense of urgency and terror into the film as well as the audience.
“I wanted Michael Abels to create something that felt like it lived in this absence of hope but still had [black roots],” said Peele. “The words are issuing a warning to Chris. The whole idea is ‘Get out!’ – it’s what we’re screaming at the character on-screen.”
Consider the message received, Mr. Peele.