The Haunting George Harrison Song That Opens 'Weapons'
Weapons debuted at No. 1 at the box office this weekend — what's the haunting classic rock song that opens the chilling new mystery horror film?
The movie — written and directed by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin, Julia Garner and Alden Ehrenreich, among others — follows the baffling case of 17 children from the same classroom who all run away on the same night, seemingly abducted by an unseen force.
"Last night at 2:17 a.m. every child from Mrs. Gandy's class woke up, got out of bed, went downstairs, opened the front door, walked into the dark," the Weapons release poster says. "... And they never came back."
Weapons begins, accordingly, with the kids running out of their houses in the middle of the night. (Not a spoiler!) And their mysterious exodus is soundtracked, fittingly, by George Harrison's "Beware of Darkness."
"Beware of Darkness" appeared on Harrison's 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass, opening its second disc. As with many Harrison songs from that era, it's achingly beautiful but vaguely foreboding — and it's in that second light that the lyrics perfectly suit the premise of Weapons.
"Take care, beware of the thoughts that linger / Winding up inside your head / The hopelessness around you / In the dead of night / Beware of sadness," Harrison sings in the second verse. In the following verse he warns: "Watch out now / Take care, beware of soft shoe shufflers / Dancing down the sidewalks / As each unconscious sufferer / Wanders aimlessly / Beware of Maya."
"Beware of Darkness" warns against allowing illusion to get in the way of one's true purpose, reflecting the philosophy of the Radha Krishna Temple and its influence on Harrison's own life. The ex-Beatle wrote the song around the time he invited some members of the Hare Krishna movement to stay at his Friar Park estate in spring 1970, helping him restore the house and gardens to give the home a new spiritual atmosphere.
"'Beware of Darkness' was written at home in England during a period when I had some of my friends from the Radha Krishna Temple staying: 'Watch out for Maya'," Harrison wrote in his 1980 memoir I, Me, Mine. (In Hinduism, "Maya" is the supernatural power wielded by gods and demons to create illusions.) "The lyrics are self-explanatory."
Plenty of uninitiated listeners will get acquainted with "Beware of Darkness" if Weapons' box office receipts serve as any indication. The film opened with an estimated $42.5 million this weekend, beating the other new release Freakier Friday, which bowed with $29 million.
Source: Bryan Rolli/Bryan Rolli
