What's The Song In The Jojo Rabbit Trailer?
When writer-director Taika Waititi dropped the officially official (and did we mention official?) trailer for his latest project, the big-B bizarre World War II satire Jojo Rabbit, everyone expected it to be as weird and witty as every other feature the New Zealander filmmaker has made before. What they probably weren't expecting, however, was to hear an oddly familiar tune playing over top the new footage.
So, what's the song in the new Jojo Rabbit trailer, you ask? We've got the answer.
The reason why the track sounds like something you've heard a million times before is because it kind of is. The song in the new trailer for Jojo Rabbit is "Mit all deiner Liebe" by Jack White — a German-language cover of "I'm a Believer," originally composed by Neil Diamond and recorded by American pop-rock band The Monkees, later famously covered by Smash Mouth for the Shrek movie soundtrack.
Considering it's in a foreign language, "Mit all deiner Liebe" obviously has different lyrics than the original song. We know the chorus of "I'm a Believer" discusses a person's sudden revelation, upon seeing the face of their soulmate, that true love is real. When it comes to the German tune sung by White, the chorus goes like this: "Aber dann kamst du, mit all deiner Liebe / Dann kamst du, und alles war schön / Diese Welt — mit all deiner Liebe / Ich hoffe, sie bliebe immer bestehen." Translated to English, the lyrics mean something along the lines of, "But then you came, with all your love / Then you came, and all was beautiful / This world — with all your love / I hope it always exists."
An adorable sentiment, for sure, but one that carries a very different meaning when remembering what Jojo Rabbit is about. The flick isn't about young love and butterflies in your stomach and all that mushy-gushy stuff — it's about a young boy named Jojo "Rabbit" Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) living in Nazi Germany during World War II, who survives each day spent training for war and talking politics with guidance from his imaginary friend, a goofy version of Adolf Hitler (played by Waititi). With this context in mind, one can easily see that the person coming in with all their love as sung about in "Mit all deiner Liebe" wouldn't apply to Jojo's schoolyard crush; in actuality, it's applicable to the Hitler Jojo sees in his head, whom he consults about everything. Definitely dark when you think about it, but strangely humorous — and very, very on-brand for Waititi.
Jojo's blind love for his country and the dictator who once led it won't last forever, despite what the trailer's song suggests, as the young boy soon finds out that his mother, Rosie (Scarlett Johansson), has secretly been allowing a Jewish girl named Elsa Korr (Thomasin McKenzie) to live in the attic of their home. Jojo makes the startling discovery one afternoon, and slowly realizes that the nationalism his elders have instilled in him may not be who he truly is.
Also starring Sam Rockwell as Captain Klenzendorf, Rebel Wilson as Fräulein Rahm, Stephen Merchant as Captain Deertz, and Alfie Allen as Finkel, Jojo Rabbit is set to hit theaters on October 18.