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\n\tOlivia Rodrigo channels her songbird best on this acoustic taunt, sung from the perspective of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds Snakes <\/em>character, Lucy Gray Baird, \u201c[She] is a character that I feel very connected to,\u201d Rodrigo said in 2022. She packs the song with a convincing sense of vengeance atop the kind of gorgeous melody that a mockingjay would love to repeat. In fact, the closing credits song was inspired by the film\u2019s final aerial scene of the fictional birds. \u201cThat was playing in a loop in my head over and over, and I was like, \u2018I want to write a song that captures what that feeling is.\u2019 That was the goal,\u201d she said. \u2014Maya Georgi<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n\n\nTinashe, \u2018The Leap\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"LOS](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Julian Hamilton\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
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\n\tTinashe didn\u2019t originally write \u201cThe Leap\u201d with the chaotic rebellion of The Hunger Games <\/em>in mind. It was meant for one of her own albums, but at the time, Lorde \u2014 17 at the time \u2014 was tasked with curating the Mockingjay \u2013 Part 1<\/em> soundtrack, and her team wanted to see what Tinashe might contribute. \u201cThe Leap\u201d provides a sharp and chilling parallel to the film. \u201cI\u2019m gonna set it all ablaze, watch it burn to ash and dust,\u201d calls to the destruction of Katniss\u2019 home, District 12. \u201cI was waiting on you, waiting on you\u201d calls to Petta being stuck in the Capitol. And \u201churry up, don\u2019t miss your chance\u201d nods to the harrowing secrets that come to light throughout the film. Even by accident, Tinashe hit her mark with \u201cThe Leap.\u201d \u2014L.P.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n\n\nJennifer Lawrence and Rachel Zegler, \u2018The Hanging Tree\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"Rachel](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Zegler-Lead.jpg?w=300\")
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\n\tThe first time we hear \u201cThe Hanging Tree\u201d in the Hunger Games<\/em>, it\u2019s in the soft tone of Jennifer Lawrence\u2019s voice. In Mockingjay,<\/em> the rebellion begins to take full shape with Katniss at its heart. It\u2019s a protest song for the ages. \u201cAre you, are you\/Coming to the tree\/Where they strung up a man they say murdered three,\u201d she sang. \u201cStrange things did happen here\/No stranger would it be\/If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.\u201d In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes<\/em>, when Rachel Zegler\u2019s Lucy Gray Baird sings its sweet melody, we learn it was written following an execution in District 12. The prequel film takes place more than six decades before the events of the first film in the original trilogy. \u201cThe Hanging Tree,\u201d like the mockingjay\u2019s call, is the musical thread that ties them together. \u2014L.P.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n\n\nThe Weeknd, \u2018Devil May Cry\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"DUBLIN,](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Weeknd.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Charles McQuillan\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
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\n\tIn Catching Fire, <\/em>Katniss Everdeen and 23 other former Hunger Games victors head back into the arena. It\u2019s an act of vengeance from President Snow, to show that even in victory, their lives still do not belong to themselves. The sob that breaks through when the format of the 75th Hunger Games is revealed in the film is unforgettable and devastating. On the sparse soundtrack cut \u201cDevil May Cry,\u201d the Weeknd offers a silver lining. \u201cIt won\u2019t be in vain\/To swallow all your pain,\u201d he sings. \u201cAnd learn to love what burns\/And gather courage to return.\u201d It\u2019s all the tributes-turned victors-turned tributes again have to hold onto. \u2014L.P.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n\n\nThe National, \u2018Lean\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"LUCCA,](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/the-national.jpg?w=300\")
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\n\tThe National originally titled their contribution to the Catching Fire <\/em>soundtrack \u201cDying Is Easy.\u201d On one hand, there\u2019s some truth to the title, especially in the context of the Hunger Games. A momentary distraction in the arena, a step off of the starting line just a second early, any hesitation \u2014 it could all end in a flash. On the other hand, the final title, \u201cLean,\u201d feels more apt to the theme of reliance that emerges throughout the song. \u201cDying is easy\/I believe my love and my love relieves me,\u201d Matt Berninger sings, later accepting the consequences of holding care in your heart in a battle as callous as the one in this story: \u201cLove will lead us all to smithereens.\u201d \u2014L.P.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n\n\nPatti Smith, \u2018Capitol Letter\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"CHICAGO,](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Patti.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Barry Brecheisen\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
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\n\tThis is \u2026 the mocking as the jay, or rather, Patti Smith\u2019s unique interpretation of Katniss as her character helps set the rebellion aflame in the Catching Fire<\/em> film. The punk rock poet offers her best spoken-word couplets on this smoldering, folky take that\u2019s less in the vein of \u201cPeople Have the Power\u201d and more of \u201cEaster.\u201d Leave it to Smith to tap into her political heart to speak truth to power, even when it\u2019s about a fictionalized tyranny. \u2014M.G.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n\n\nGigi Perez, \u2018Favor\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"Gigi](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Gigi.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Maria-Juliana Rojas\/Rolling Stone\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
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\n\tGigi Perez is somehow able to balance yearning, loss, and tenderness through the husky, low pitch of her voice, and she brought all those feelings to \u201cFavor,\u201d a haunting, folk-driven cut from The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping <\/em>soundtrack. The acoustic track is emotional as it captures the goodbye between Haymitch and Lenore. Perez gets to the core of longing and missing someone, singing, \u201cWhen you ar\u0435 lonely, know I\u2019m awake, listen for me and the song that we sang.\u201d \u2014Julyssa Lopez<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n\n\nBella Kay, \u2018See It Coming\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"AUSTIN,](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Bella-Kay.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Rick Kern\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
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\n\tBella Kay continues the tradition of young, breakthrough singer-songwriters lending their musical and emotional expertise to The Hunger Games<\/em>. \u201cSee It Coming,\u201d from the Sunrise on the Reaping <\/em>soundtrack, is a refusal to be blindsided: \u201cTell me you run, I\u2019m beggin\u2019 you, hide\/They\u2019re gonna hurt you, so give \u2019em a fight,\u201d Kay sings, the distinct country twang that only occasionally slips through present in her tone. \u201cA little revenge, an eye for an eye\/We can call it a draw.\u201d It cuts to the heart of the Hunger Games <\/em>musical universe: to still feel and love deeply even in the face of impossible survival. The opening verse takes us back to the beginning while looking towards an uncertain future. \u201cSwear to me now you\u2019ll remember me hummin\u2019,\u201d she sings. \u2014L.P.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n\n\nCharli XCX, \u2018Kingdom\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"WEST](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/charli-hunger-games-list.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Michael Kovac\/Getty Images\/MISTR\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
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\n\tAppearing on the Mockingjay Part 1 <\/em>soundtrack, this Charli XCX contribution feels like an ember of hope hidden underneath the rubble of the Second Rebellion of Panem. Led by a cascading piano melody, Charli assumes the role of Katniss near the end of the original Hunger Games <\/em>series; she\u2019s bruised, beaten, and grief-stricken, but must go on. For a brief moment, Duran Duran\u2019s Simon Le Bon appears to support her on the Rostam and Ariel Rechtshaid-produced rallying cry. \u201cI\u2019m lost, but I can\u2019t slow,\u201d Charli coos, before leaving the listener with an inspiring message: \u201cI\u2019m lost, but not alone.\u201d \u2014Jaeden Pinder<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n\n\nMiranda Lambert, Pistol Annies, \u2018Run Daddy Run\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t![\"UNCASVILLE,](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/miranda-lambert-pistol-annies.jpg?w=300\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images\/Roadside Bars and Pink Guitars 2019 Tour\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t<\/p>\n
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\n\tUshered in like a gospel prayer, Miranda Lambert recruited her Pistol Annies bandmates Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley for \u201cRun Daddy Run,\u201d which appeared on the first Hunger Games<\/em> soundtrack. It soon moves into a menacing warning: \u201cDaddy, can you hear the devil drawing near\u201d the trio sings in a gorgeous but unsettling harmony. \u201cLike a bullet from a gun, run daddy run.\u201d It\u2019s a haunting warning that captures the alarm of the first film. \u2014Marissa Moss<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n\n\n
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