The hanging tree

This article covers the song The Hanging Tree , composed in 2014 . The American film of the same name can be found under the German title Der Galgenbaum . The theme song of this film is also called The Hanging Tree and was recorded by Marty Robbins in 1959 .

The hanging tree
James Newton Howard feat. Jennifer Lawrence
publication	November 21, 2014
length	3:38
Genre (s)	Folk
text	Suzanne Collins
music	Jeremiah Caleb Fraites, Wesley Keith Schultz
album	The Hunger Games - Mockingjay Part 1 (Soundtrack)

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Singles

The Hanging Tree ( James Newton Howard feat. Jennifer Lawrence )   DE 1 05/12/2014 (42 weeks)   AT 1 05/12/2014 (27 weeks)   CH 4th 11/30/2014 (19 weeks)   UK 14th December 06, 2014 (4 weeks)   US 12 12/13/2014 (17 weeks)

The Hanging Tree is a song from the soundtrack of The Hunger Games - Mockingjay Part 1 , sung by the lead actress Jennifer Lawrence .

background

Meaning in the book series

The song has its origins in the series of novels The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins . In the third volume Flammender Zorn , the heroine Katniss Everdeen recalls a song by her late father about the hangman's tree , the Hanging Tree . The author wrote the verses of the song herself and makes it a symbol of the uprising by letting the rebel think about its content and relate it to her situation.

“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 coming, are you coming to the tree,
where I told you to flee and free us?
Strange
things happened here, it wouldn't be stranger if we met at midnight in the hangman's tree. "

- Suzanne Collins : The Hunger Games - Flaming Wrath

Katniss and her lover Peeta had heard the song in their childhood, but had been forbidden to sing it for a long time because of its rebellious content. After her first memory, it appears again later in a key scene.

The prehistory of the song is told in the prequel novel The Hunger Games X - The Song of a Bird and a Snake , in which the song also appears.

Movie version

Jeremiah Fraites and Wesley Schultz of the Lumineers wrote a melody for the book adaptation . Flammender Anger was filmed in two parts and the song appears in the first part with the film title The Hunger Games - Mockingjay Part 1 . It appears in a scene that begins similarly to the book and then merges into the background of a propaganda video that appears in the film, but is not included in the plot beyond that. The song, which is three and a half minutes long in the soundtrack version, is sung by the actress of Katniss Everdeen, Jennifer Lawrence , herself in the style of a folk song. It begins with a cappella singing, which is accompanied by the onset of strings. Finally everything goes into choral singing before the orchestra takes over the piece in the final third. While the text was taken from Collins in the original, the German dubbed version uses a text that differs from the book version and is sung by Lawrence's voice actress Maria Koschny .

“If I see you tonight on the old path,
to be free, run away, that was my advice.
Strange things happened and it would be strange if we saw
each other on the tree where it was hanging. "

- The Hunger Games - Mockingjay Part 1 (only 3rd verse here)

After the film premiered in mid-November 2014, the soundtrack by film composer James Newton Howard was also released. Together with Sven Faulconer he produced the song The Hanging Tree and arranged it with choir and orchestra. In the download shops it was very much in demand and reached number 14 in the British charts and the top 10 in Germany and Austria. While the song fell back in the second week in most countries, it rose to the top 5 in German-speaking countries in December there was also a dance remix of the song for the radio stations. The Rebel Remix was released on January 13, 2015, and was so well received in Germany that the song rose to number one there in the second attempt.

In The Hunger Games - Mockingjay Part 2 song happens again, but only as an instrumental version.

For Jennifer Lawrence it was the second vocal contribution to the film series after she sang a piece called Rue's Lullaby in the first part , The Hunger Games - The Hunger Games .

Cover version

The Parisian duo Blankets hit the French charts in May 2015 with an electro-pop version of the song. The Voice of Germany winner Jamie-Lee Kriewitz released a version on her debut album Berlin in 2016 after she had already sung it live in the casting show in the "Blind Auditions".

Awards for music sales

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Australia (ARIA)	gold	35,000
Germany (BVMI)	platinum	400,000
Austria (IFPI)	gold	15,000
United States (RIAA)	2 × platinum	2,000,000
All in all	2 × gold, 2 × platinum	2,450,000

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} chart sources:
   • DE - AT - CH - US
   • The Hanging Tree in the Official UK Charts (English)
2. ↑ What Is the Origin of Mockingjay's Haunting Song, 'The Hanging Tree'? , Lindsey Weber, Vulture, November 24, 2014.
3. ↑ Jennifer Lawrence: Surprise success with "Hunger Games " song , Spiegel online, November 30, 2014.
4. ↑ Jennifer Lawrence's 'Hunger Games' song 'The Hanging Tree' Gets Dance Remix , Chris Payne, Billboard, December 18, 2014.
5. ↑ Hear Jennifer Lawrence singing for Mockingjay Part 1 , Jenny Jecke, Moviepilot, November 23, 2014.
6. ↑ The Hanging Tree from the blankets in the French charts
7. ↑ Laut.de: ESC-Mangagirl in the clutches of national hit producers.
8. ↑ ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2015 Singles. ARIA, accessed February 18, 2015 . 
9. ↑ Gold / platinum database. Federal Association of the Music Industry, accessed on June 19, 2020 . 
10. ↑ Gold & Platinum. IFPI Austria, accessed on March 22, 2015 . 
11. ^ Gold and Platinum. Recording Industry Association of America, accessed February 18, 2015 .