\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t sing when I\u2019m told. I sing when I\u2019ve got something to say,\u201d Rachel Zegler<\/strong>\u2019s Lucy Baird Gray declares in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes<\/em><\/a>. As the film\u2019s title would suggest, music plays a central role in the new Hunger Games<\/em> prequel<\/a>, which is set roughly 60 years before the events of the original trilogy.<\/p>\n When she\u2019s selected to participate in the 10th annual Hunger Games, Lucy Gray\u2019s act of defiance is to sing \u201cNothing You Can Take From Me.\u201d When she\u2014spoiler alert<\/em>\u2014returns from the arena, she croons a song called \u201cPure as the Driven Snow.\u201d At another point, Lucy Gray offers the original version of \u201cThe Hanging Tree,\u201d a folk song Jennifer Lawrence<\/strong>\u2019s Katniss would eventually perform in 2014\u2019s Mockingjay: Part 1<\/em>.<\/p>\n Readers of Suzanne Collins<\/strong>\u2019 novels will recognize the lyrics to Lucy Gray\u2019s songs, which are largely taken directly from the book. But their melodies were written by executive music producer Dave Cobb.<\/strong> \u201cLuckily, they were crazy enough to hire me,\u201d says Cobb, referring to director Francis Lawrence<\/strong> and executive producer Nina Jacobson<\/strong>. His songs work in tandem with a film score by James Newton Howard<\/strong>, as well as a soundtrack that features artists including Olivia Rodrigo<\/strong> and Molly Tuttle<\/strong>, who plays Lucy Gray\u2019s guitar in the film.<\/p>\n Though Cobb revisited the existing films, none of them have much in-universe music. He got more guidance through expansive conversations with the filmmakers and Collins, whom he calls \u201cthe most brilliant person I\u2019ve ever talked to.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you talk to her, this isn\u2019t in a book\u2014this is a universe she\u2019s created,\u201d he explains. \u201cWhen she\u2019s telling you about each character in the series, she\u2019s got a backstory behind a backstory, behind a backstory.\u201d Collins told Cobb that her version of dystopian Appalachia was inspired by several sources, including the English Civil War and turn-of-the-century mountain music. \u201cSuzanne is a historian. I\u2019m a history buff,\u201d Cobb continues. \u201cIf you talk about the history, I\u2019m in. I can read for days about it. She definitely schooled me and I went down a deep dive.\u201d<\/p>\n That excavation process also involved a dive into his own personal history. \u201cMy granddaddy was a bluegrass musician. I grew up Pentecostal. My grandmother was a preacher, and she sang like Snow White.\u201d It\u2019s a funny reference, he knows, because Zegler herself plays the princess<\/a> in Disney\u2019s upcoming Snow White<\/em> remake\u2014\u201cbut she sang beautiful 1930\u2019s melodies. I think a lot of these songs all harken back to hymnals,\u201d says Cobb, noting that Collins was also well-versed in this genre. \u201cShe was a country music DJ at one time, so she knew exactly what she was talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n Though he was guided by the folksy mountain music one would expect from Appalachia, Cobb wasn\u2019t allergic to more unconventional influences as well. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of The Smiths in there,\u201d he reveals. \u201cI figure by the time we got to the future, [the characters] probably heard this stuff. It\u2019s definitely a melting pot. We tried to stick to these very traditional roots, but there\u2019s a lot of curveballs.\u201d<\/p>\n