are you coming to the tree

——

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree?

Where I told you to run,

So we’d both be free.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met at midnight

In the hanging tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree?

[Movie line:] Wear a necklace of rope,

[Soundtrack line:] Wear a necklace of hope,

Side by side with me.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met at midnight

In the hanging tree.

————

So.

I was a big fan of the Hunger Games books <1st – awesome, 2nd – mediocre, 3rd – glimpses of awesome>.

I was a big fan of the first Hunger Games movie.

I was okay with the second Hunger Games movie.

I was sorely disappointed with the 3rd Hunger Games movie.

But.

In an otherwise wasted 2+ hours of my life <the 3rd movie> there is one spectacular scene which I am guessing the majority of the book readers most likely overlooked, as certainly not a spectacular moment, when reading the book.

There is a scene where Katniss is asked to sing a song … and she sings a song that Katniss learned from her father – the Hanging Tree.

Now.

Jennifer Lawrence, who I like, can’t sing worth a shit.
But that actually makes the song more personal and haunting.

It is a quirky dark song … that lingers in your head. It is a simple song which captures the complexity of the moment and situation. It is the perfect song for a badly overacted movie.

Among all the high tech production wizardry.

Among all the jump cuts and film edits.

Among all the panoramic sweeping anthemic camera moves.

Among it all … a simple a cappella song … sung by a non singer … surges above all the crappy film tricks they threw into the movie.

It is a reminder that sometimes simplicity creates a bigger impression than all the over thought over budget things you can think of.

It is a reminder that substance typically wins over style every day.

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Movie version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqhOzH8QcH4

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It is a pretty spectacular little song in a spectacular little moment.

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About The Hanging Tree

“The Hanging Tree” is a song performed by James Newton Howard featuring vocals from Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, the third installment of The Hunger Games film series.

The song did not appear on the original official soundtrack album for the film, but was added during the digital re-release of the official soundtrack for the film.

The lyrics were written by The Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins and originally appeared in her novel Mockingjay.

The music was composed by Jeremiah Fraites and Wesley Schultz of The Lumineers.

————–

And because they just couldn’t leave a good haunting song alone someone does a radio remix:

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Hanging Rebel Remix:

–

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTY27DDhURY

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