If you stuck around during the credits after your weekend showing of "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Part 2," then you probably heard a familiar lullaby: "Deep in the Meadow." The lullaby that Katniss sings to her baby girl at the end of "Mockingjay" is also the same song she sang to Prim -- and a dying Rue -- in "The ...
"Deep in the Meadow" (also known as "Rue's Lullaby") is a song sung by Katniss to Rue as the latter was nearing death (Marvel had speared her in the stomach). Because of her love of music, Rue's last request was to hear Katniss sing.
Katniss sings a lullaby from her district, and when she's finished, the mockingjays pick up her song. Rue dies and Katniss realizes just how much she hates the Capitol for doing this to Rue, for doing this to all of the tributes.
Katniss sings a song called “The Hanging Tree” about a man who has been hanged. In the song he calls out for his lover, still alive, to “flee,” but in the end, it becomes clear that he's asking her to die along with him, hanging from a tree.
In the prequel book, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, it's revealed that Lucy Gray Baird wrote the song after witnessing the murder of a man named Arlo Chance, who is hanged at a tree where executions take place.
How did Katniss's father know The Hanging Tree song?
Since the Covey were banned from ever performing again following the events of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, it is theorized that Katniss's father's parents or grandparents passed Lucy's songs down to him, which he then taught his daughter.
“The Hanging Tree” is mentioned periodically in the Mockingjay book as a song that was taught to Katniss by her father. But because of the song's haunting lyrics—(“Are you coming to the tree / Where they strung up a man they say murdered three”)—her parents banned her from singing it as a child.
Hangman's Elm, or simply "The Hanging Tree", is an English Elm located at the northwest corner in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. It stood at 135 feet (41 m) tall when measured c. 2000, and has a diameter of 67 inches (1.7 m).
Rue's dad doesn't start a riot in District 11 after his daughter's death. Haymitch doesn't convince the Game Maker to change the solo victor rule. The film annexes the briefly mentioned characters Madge Undersee, Mayor Undersee, Greasy Sae, and Venia.
Katniss rarely sings because it reminds her of her father, but she now remembers a morbid song that her father taught her: “The Hanging Tree.” This moment in the story is significant in multiple ways.
If you stuck around during the credits after your weekend showing of "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Part 2," then you probably heard a familiar lullaby: "Deep in the Meadow." The lullaby that Katniss sings to her baby girl at the end of "Mockingjay" is also the same song she sang to Prim -- and a dying Rue -- in "The ...
In The Hunger Games, the first tribute Katniss allied with was the twelve-year-old Rue from District 11. Katniss was drawn to Rue as she reminded her of her little sister Prim and sought to protect her in the Games.
Rue reminds Katniss very much of her sister, Prim. Katniss acts as the primary protector of Rue once the two become allies. In this sense, she continues the role that she formerly played with her sister, Prim. Katniss and Rue share food, supplies, and stories about their lives.
Her alliance with Rue serves her well, especially once the two of them start swapping knowledge and supplies. Not only does Katniss trust Rue, but she also sees some of Prim in her, too, which is a welcomed reminder of home.
"Are you, are you coming to the tree": This is the singer beckoning the audience to return not necessarily to a physical place, but rather a state of mind and remembrance of purpose (to be free) and who the "real enemy" is.
Joe Minter's title The Hanging Tree references the trees that were used to hang African Americans in many Southern towns. Between 1877 and 1950, 326 African Americans were lynched in Minter's native Alabama.
Was The Hanging Tree written for the Hunger Games?
As sourced in Suzanne Collins' prequel novel, Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) wrote “The Hanging Tree” inspired by historical events in District 12, which she and Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) both witnessed.
Whatever its literal meaning, “The Hanging Tree” has many possible subtexts. It expresses a yearning for freedom. It contains an invitation—to death, perhaps, or more specifically to martyrdom. As a cultural artifact co-opted and imbued with coded significance by the rebellion, it is a very plausible rallying cry.
Many actresses auditioned for the role of Katniss before Lawrence, fresh off of her first Oscar nomination for Winter's Bone, was chosen. When she landed the coveted part, she was 20 years old.
Lucy's reasons behind singing the song are very different to Katniss Everdeen's. Lucy sang it for her lover, to perform, and as a message for escaping District 12. Katniss sang it as a fighter to spur on the rebellion, and her version of “The Hanging Tree” is much rawer to reflect this.
