The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (soundtrack)

The soundtrack received positive reviews following its release from music critics who praised its dystopian mood and Lorde's curation. It was included on several year-end lists. "Yellow Flicker Beat" was released as the lead single on September 29, 2014, and received generally positive reviews. It was nominated for Best Original Song at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards and Best Song at the 20th Critics' Choice Awards. "The Hanging Tree" is the only song included in the film's score. It was later included on the re-released soundtrack, and after the album's success was announced as the second single. The album debuted at number 18 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 21,000 units according to Billboard.^[1]

Release[edit]

The track list for the soundtrack was made public on October 21, 2014.^[13] All the track names were included except for the fifth track which was simply titled "Track 5". Lorde said that day that the unnamed track was not yet finished and it was not being kept a mystery for "secrecy's sake".^[14] Ariana Grande revealed in a livestream on October 29, 2014, that she and Major Lazer were the artists behind the fifth track. On November 2, 2014, the track's title, "All My Love", was announced, confirming Grande as the performer.^[15] The soundtrack was released on the Australian and New Zealand iTunes Store on November 14 and was released worldwide through Republic Records on November 17, 2014.^[16] On December 3, 2014, the soundtrack was re-released digitally with the addition of "The Hanging Tree" by James Newton Howard featuring Jennifer Lawrence as the album's 15th song.^[17] The song was originally released with the movie's score.^[18]

Writing and development[edit]

Lorde revealed that the process of working on the soundtrack took approximately two to three months while she was touring.^[19] She made it a priority to listen to music meant for the record. Her record label gave her full autonomy to curate the soundtrack. She also scouted the artists involved along with her publisher, Ron Perry. When selecting the artists, Lorde said that she tried to be "quite disciplined" to keep her focus on those who embodied the film and its story as well as her own writing.^[19] She left the track's direction "fairly open" to the contributing artist. Later, she advised them if the track needed improvements. Most of the tracks were recorded remotely, except "Meltdown", which Lorde sang in the studio with Haim.^[19]


In an interview with Billboard, Lorde said that it was important for the soundtrack not to sound like her own mixtape.^[11] In a Twitter Q&A, the singer acknowledged that most of the songs were "downbeat", saying that she felt it was critical to address the balance between the film's themes of adversity and strength. Lorde revealed that every artist on the soundtrack was either personally selected or approached by her.^[20] A collaboration between Tiny Ruins and David Lynch was to be included on the record but did not make the final cut. Lorde felt the song did not match the tonality of the rest of the soundtrack.^[20] She included her cover of Bright Eyes' "Ladder Song" on the soundtrack as she felt it was sung from the perspective of a "divine being [...] looking down at the events of Panem".^[20] Conor Oberst, the leading frontman of the band, had suggested Lorde cover his song, noting that she would do a "cool job" with it.^[19]

Singles[edit]

In the United States, "Yellow Flicker Beat" debuted at number 17 on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart. Lorde achieved the highest debut by a female artist on the chart since 1995 when Juliana Hatfield's "Universal Heart-Beat" also debuted in the same slot. The single also appeared on the Adult Alternative Songs at number 19 with 5.2 million radio audience impressions in the first-week.^[36] On the Billboard Hot 100, the single peaked at number 34.^[37] "Yellow Flicker Beat" also charted on several national record charts, including Australia,^[38] Canada,^[39] Ireland,^[40] and the United Kingdom.^[41] The single was a success in New Zealand, peaking at number four on the New Zealand Singles Chart.^[42] It was certified gold by Recorded Music NZ^[43] and gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).^[44] "Yellow Flicker Beat" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards,^[45] and Best Song at the 20th Critics' Choice Awards.^[46]


Initially released as part of the film's score, "The Hanging Tree" was included on a digital release with the song as the 15th track. It was later released as the second single from the album.^[47] The song debuted at number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for the week of December 13, 2014, and debuted outside the number 50 position (2.1 million U.S. streams) on Streaming Songs, charting at number two (200,000 downloads sold) on Digital Songs and received eight spins on U.S. radio. "The Hanging Tree" became the highest-charting song from The Hunger Games franchise on the chart, surpassing "Eyes Open" by Taylor Swift, which peaked at number 19.^[48] Lawrence became one of several Academy Award winning recipients to chart on the Hot 100.^[48] The song peaked at number one in Austria, Germany^[49] and Hungary;^[50] it peaked in the top five in Australia.^[51] It was certified platinum by Music Canada (MC) for shipments of 80,000 units and double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[52][53]