The actual, legit Hunger Games Soundtrack

After I read The Hunger Games trilogy last year, I I fashioned for each book its own little soundtrack. As if intent on outdoing me, the forces behind The Hunger Games film invented "Songs From District 12 And Beyond," hands down one of the most amazing film soundtracks ever compiled. They put together an album strictly of brand new original songs by most of the biggest names in modern music. How did they even do it? I don't know. But I remain impressed. Almost every song on here is excellent, which is very rare even for compilation-style (i.e. previously released material) soundtracks, let alone new songs.

1. Arcade Fire – “Abraham’s Daughter”
2. The Secret Sisters – “Tomorrow Will Be Kinder”
3. Neko Case – “Nothing To Remember”
4. Taylor Swift featuring The Civil Wars – “Safe & Sound”
5. Kid Cudi – “The Ruler and The Killer”
6. Punch Brothers – “Dark Days”
7. The Decemberists – “One Engine”
8. The Carolina Chocolate Drops – “Daughter’s Lament”
9. The Civil Wars – “Kingdom Come”
10. Glen Hansard – “Take The Heartland”
11. Maroon 5 featuring Rozzi Crane – “Come Away To The Water”
12. Miranda Lambert featuring Pistol Annies – “Run Daddy Run”
13. Jayme Dee – “Rules”
14. Taylor Swift – “Eyes Open”
15. The Low Anthem – “Lover Is Childlike”
16. Birdy – “Just A Game”

Only three of the songs are actually featured in the film (and solely in the credits), but it's not simply a soundtrack, it's a bloody concept album. The majority of the record maintains a surprisingly legitimate folk music sound. I'm not talking about the Neil Young/Leonard Cohen "acoustic rock is folk music" mentality, I'm talking about the folk music you would hear at a Newport Folk Festival in the 60s, real old school chizz. In fact I'm pretty sure the implication is that these are songs actually being played IN District 12, by its downtrodden sub-depression denizens. Astoundingly, many of the songs seem to have been written specifically about The Hunger Games. Most notable among them is "Daughter's Lament," by The Carolina Chocolate Drops an iconically a capella (save a very subtle backdrop) powerfully belted folk tune detailing the day Katniss's father died. But the concept doesn't ebb quite yet. The grim, deadly serious tone of the album seems to embellish on the movie's content, filling in certain emotional blanks that the film adaption didn't have time to dig deeply into.

My Hunger Games soundtracks were based around the series' dichotomy between anthemic gore and maudlin aftermath, expressed by pairing fist-pumping heavy metal with melancholic ballads. You won't exactly find any Slayer or Mastodon on Songs From District 12, but interestingly enough, there is a stark dichotomy: the album is divided among organic folk music with a centuries' old feel, and modern indie rock. It even gets into genuinely heavy material with Glen Hansard's rip-roaring 'Danzig mixed with Pixies-styled' "Take The Heartland," quite possibly my favorite song on the album. In addition to getting class-A artists to write songs about The Hunger Games, I'm also curious how they coerced such jaw-dropping collaborations. Miranda Lambert teams up with Pistol Annies for the haunting and catchy "Run Daddy Run." Taylor Swift teams up with The Civil Wars -- themselves the masterful artisans behind another of the album's absolute best tracks -- for the tour de force of the record, "Safe & Sound." With icy folk picking and chilling phrases like "Don't you dare look out your window, darling everything's on fire," it's a beautiful and deadly track. It cultivates peace of mind amidst a bed of turmoil and perfectly fits with The Hunger Games.

With a first act like this, what could they possibly be planning for the companion albums to Catching Fire, and Mockingjay? Will the folk genre carry over or will it be completely different each time? In any case, if they intend to repeat the splendor of the original soundtrack, I can honestly say I'm more excited about the new soundtracks than I am about the new films! And that is, of course, saying something.


Here's what they SHOULD do, since I'm such a snotty little soundtrack compiler in my own right (let's ignore the fact that they already trounced me in the first round),

1- Continue to court Taylor Swift, The Civil Wars, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, and Glen Hansard. They provided the 'genius' moments on Songs From District 12 and should be strongly encouraged to do likewise again. But don't rely heavily on acts from the first record, the best track should be by new additions.

2- Grab those top-name artists you missed this time around. Katy Perry is actually more than adept at acoustic material. Paramore has done a variety of soundtrack work. Rihanna is a natural choice. Kelly Clarkson seems empowered enough to put out a self-assurance anthem at least as fitting as Eyes Open. Definitely drop Arcade Fire and The Decemberists for Bon Iver and MGMT. Add in Foster The People, Mumford & Sons, and Andrew Bird. I'm feeling Green Day, too. Throw a bone to some heavy artists as well such as Five Finger Death Punch, Lamb of God, and DevilDriver.

3 - Dig slightly deeper into the past. You have a lot of the best modern names already. Older acts are less likely to come out with a new good song, but can you imagine a Hunger Games soundtrack populated by legends such as Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Paul McCartney, Mariah Carey, Pearl Jam, and Sonic Youth. Bruce's epic working class sentimentalism is born for The Hunger Games. And if you really want to do something to beat the spectacle of this first record, try reuniting Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, and heck....... Pink Floyd.

Battle Royale

Battle Royale is a 1999 Japanese novel and year 2000 film, as well as a sequel and manga series. Despite international controversy, it is one of the most respected and most popular films in Japanese history. It is sometimes considered an uncredited inspiration for Suzanne Collins' stunning The Hunger Games trilogy. The fervor over the possible connection has taken this reputable Japanese film from the curio section of anime conventions (alongside other bizarrely violent films like Suicide Club), and into the consciousness of a million Hunger Games fans -- in fact the film has just now been officially released in the US for the first time. And as a Hunger Games devotee, I was really curious to experience Battle Royale. To my great delight, Battle Royale isn't the senseless fodder of the dime-a-dozen blood & guts bargain bin, this is a truly brilliant film.

I originally was going to read the book, because I'm sure that just as in every other circumstance, the novel is superior to the film. But it occurs to me that the violent, actiontastic  premise doesn't appeal to me enough to invest in a whole book. What first drew me to The Hunger Games wasn't its grisly deathmatch, it was the intense devotion it had won in my friends whose taste I greatly trust. Specifically, I bought the first Hunger Games novel after one of my friends sat and watched the MTV Movie Awards for 3 hours just to see a 20 second teaser trailer for the then-upcomming film adaption.

I'm not at all a fan of the type of action/drama film that Battle Royale is, generally they're just not to my preference. So Battle Royale had a bit of an uphill battle, and yet it still managed to blow me away. I loved every minute of it. It's probably one of my favorite movies.

I might be ridiculously oversimplifying (like any idiot who thinks The Hunger Games is about "the dangers of big government.") but I would guess the film is a commentary on the brutal pressurized scholastic society in Japan, where the fight for top grades is so intense children kill themselves. It's almost as if kids are pitted against each other in a death match, while apathetic adults pull the strings and kill their wards.

But the social commentary is secondary in Battle Royale. The Hunger Games and Battle Royale may share a premise, but everything from the demographic and style to their point and purpose are starkly opposed. While The Hunger Games focuses on crafting a vivid and intricate portrait of this dystopian society in order to gleam masterful satire from its depths, Battle Royale sets its sights on the battle itself, painting with sage-like strokes the true horror of the experience. The Hunger Games novels do a decent job of expressing the scarring terror experienced in the arena, but ultimately the emphasis is on telling its story and making its very powerful myriad of social commentaries. In regard to the harrowing deathmatch, it can't touch Battle Royale's grim and heartbreaking portrayal.

In Battle Royale, the ill-fated kids are even younger: middle school age, and they are given no forewarning of what's about to happen to them, unlike the tributes in The Hunger Games. What's more, they're all kids in the same class, who have years of history and baggage between them. This is one of the most compelling elements in the story, as unhinged individuals use the circumstance to enact revenge for past emotional scars, while many groups of friends try to band together and ride out the storm as one. The other amazingly compelling element is the very realistic and believable variety of reactions the kids have after entering the battle. Only a few are hardened enough to buckle down and try to "win" in order to spare their own life, most are shattered by the event and either kill themselves or try to make peace and not engage in the bloodbath.

The only blemish on the film, and it's a small one, is that the violence sometimes slips into campy, overdone territory. I've heard this is Quentin Tarantino's favorite movie. Some people say The Hunger Games should have been rated R so it could be more bloody like Battle Royale, but in reality the stylized violence in Battle Royale takes me right out of the gritty realism of the content and into the ironic escapism Tarantino is master of. Luckily, the dramatic craft in Battle Royale is so strong that the movie is unspeakably harrowing despite the less-than-ideal violence. Beyond that, the film was produced beautifully and affectingly.

The long and short of it is: The Hunger Games is a superior sci-fi/satire and Battle Royale is a superior action/drama. The Hunger Games is a far richer story and Battle Royale is a more harrowing experience. Any bickering between the two is asinine, you'll never be forced to choose between The Beatles OR Michael Jackson, The West Wing OR iCarly, The X-Men OR Akira. The Hunger Games, having three novels to its credit and therefore much more space, is able to wield wonderfully powerful drama and action of its own accord. But to overlook Battle Royale would be to overlook a genuinely brilliant work.

I may just have to go and read the book now, even though the premise itself still doesn't appeal to me. But if it led to a movie this good, I have to at least consider reading.