Note: This post contains spoilers. So if you haven’t read the books or seen the movies up to Mockingjay Part 1, you shouldn’t be viewing this. Might ruin it for you, even if you enjoy Simon and Garfunkel.

When Katniss and her compatriots arrive at District 13, they find themselves in an austere but welcoming atmosphere. After all, District 13 is the headquarters for the rebellion which is headed by their President Alma Coin. And it’s especially accommodating to escaped victors like Katniss, Beetee, Haymitch,and Finnick. I mean such people make great propaganda pieces against the Capitol. Of course, Coin ends up asking Katniss to be the Mockingjay, which she accepts with some demands. Still, while Coin might be a warm and fuzzy type nor seem fond of Katniss, initially, she at least appears all right enough for the two to get on. And as she agrees to be the Mockingjay, Katniss’s relationship with Coin seems to resemble an uneasy but working alliance. That is, at first.

For a good song about Coin’s welcoming disposition toward Katniss, I decided to go with “Mrs. Robinson” by Simon and Garfunkel.The song is famous for being featured on the 1967 film The Graduate, which is about a guy who’s fresh out college getting sexually entangled with a middle aged married woman who has all kinds of issues. In the Hunger Games version, I have Coin trying to be accommodating to Katniss after she agrees to become the Mockingjay. Well, in her own special way at least. She’s really not known for being affectionate or warm, in that matter. But compared to Snow, she seems like a reasonable authority figure, well, as far as we know.

“Here’s to You, Katniss Everdeen”

Sung by President Alma Coin

And here’s to you, Katniss Everdeen,

Peeta loves you more than you will know.

God bless you, please Katniss Everdeen.

It’s great that you’re now the Mockingjay,

Hey, hey, hey

Hey, hey, hey

We’d like to know a little bit about you for our files

We’d like to help you learn to help yourself.

Look around you all you see are sympathetic eyes,

Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home.

And here’s to you, Katniss Everdeen,

Peeta loves you more than you will know.

God bless you, please Katniss Everdeen.

It’s great that you’re now the Mockingjay,

Hey, hey, hey

Hey, hey, hey

13 is the hiding place where the Capitol never goes

Though within our pantry there’s no cupcakes.

It’s a little secret just the Rebellion’s own affair.

Most of all you’ve got to hide it from old Snow.

Koo-koo-ka-choo, Katniss Everdeen,

Peeta loves you more than you will know.

God bless you, please, Katniss Everdeen.

It’s great that you’re now the Mockingjay

Hey, hey, hey

Hey, hey, hey

Here’s a little job for you awaiting for you soon.

How about appear in District 8.

Laugh about it, shout about it

When you’ve got to choose

Every way you look at this you lose.

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio,

Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

What’s that you say, Katniss Everdeen.

Jolting Joe has left and gone away,

Hey, hey, hey

Hey, hey, hey

While Katniss becomes a beacon of hope for the rebellion as the Mockingjay, it’s not exactly a role she’s comfortable with. For one, at this point in the story, she’s an emotional wreck. She’s suffering from PTSD after having to participate in the Hunger Games 2 years in a row. District 12 has been bombed and Peeta is being held prisoner by the Capitol. Second, she doesn’t particularly care for the rebellion and only agrees to be the Mockingjay so Alma Coin wouldn’t do anything to Peeta. Well, that along with a desire for revenge against Snow (like wanting to kill him herself) as well as that she can’t just remain neutral and live her life. I mean she helped orchestrate the escape from the arena by shooting an arrow into the force field. With her hometown being destroyed, she has nowhere else to go but District 13 and what she might want might not matter as far as Alma Coin is concerned. Also, in some way she was responsible for starting a revolution, whether she intended to or not. But as a Mockingjay, she’s basically a pawn of Coin who she doesn’t really get along with.

A good parody describing her state of mind as the Mockingjay would be “Carry On, Wayward Son,” by Kansas. The original version describes a soldier’s thoughts as he questions the moral legitimacy of his actions in war. In the Hunger Games version, I have Katniss viewing herself as a revolutionary symbol for a cause she’s basically dragged in and doesn’t have much interest in. Well, other than personal perks like having Coin grant immunity to the imprisoned victors at the Capitol as well as the privilege to kill Snow herself.

“Carry On, Mockingjay”

Sung by Katniss Everdeen

Carry on you Mockingjay

There’ll be peace when it’s on its way

Lay your weary head to rest

Don’t you cry no more

Ah

Once I rose above the noise and confusion

Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion

I shot an arrow in the arena, but it knocked me out

Though my eyes could see I still was a blind girl

Though my mind could think I still was a mad girl

I hear the voices when I’m dreaming,

I can hear them say

Carry on you Mockingjay

There’ll be peace when it’s on its way

Lay your weary head to rest

Don’t you cry no more

Masquerading as a girl with a reason

My charade is the event of the season

And if I claim to be a wise girl,

Well, it surely means that I don’t know

On a stormy sea of moving emotion

Tossed about, as a tool for their motives

I play their game to free my Peeta,

But I hear the voices say

Carry on you Mockingjay

There’ll be peace when it’s on its way

Lay your weary head to rest

Don’t you cry no more

Carry on,

You will always remember

Carry on,

Nothing equals the splendor

Now your life’s no longer empty

Surely Peeta waits for you

Carry on you Mockingjay

There’ll be peace when it’s on its way

Lay your weary head to rest

Don’t you cry,

Don’t you cry no more,

No more!

If you’re a tribute from a non-Career district in the Hunger Games and don’t have a lot of charisma or fighting ability, it’s best that you spend as little time as possible in the Cornucopia when the Games begin with a loud gong. And if you’re a tribute in general, don’t step off your platform during the 60 second countdown or you’ll be blown up by landmines. Nevertheless, once the Games begin, most tributes make for the Cornucopia to find food, water, weapons, tools, and other useful items. The most valuable and useful stuff often placed closest to the Cornucopia itself. Not surprisingly, the initial competition for supplies usually results in intense fighting with a significant number of tributes killed in the first few minutes or hours of the Games. Tributes from the lower districts tend to be the most vulnerable because Careers usually band together in alliances that were agreed upon beforehand and are considered brutally aggressive. After the bloodbath, they pursue other tributes one by one until they’re the only ones left to fight each other. The death toll of the Cornucopia bloodbath is usually 8-12 on average.

A good song for the Cornucopia bloodbath scene would be Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust.” Written by bass guitarist John Deacon, this song was the band’s best selling single with over 7 million copies sold. The phrase “bite the dust,” usually means killed or taken out of the competition as well as failure. And in the context of the Hunger Games, any meaning fits quite nicely when it pertains to the Cornucopia bloodbath. Because the Hunger Games is a fight to the death and tributes who die are automatically taken out of the competition. But in the Hunger Games version, I changed some of the lyrics to fit how a bunch of tributes are being taken out in quick succession. I also have it in Katniss’s point of view in which she knows she has to grab something and get out of Cornucopia quickly before the Careers go after her.

“Another One Bites the Dust” (Hunger Games Edition)

Sung by Katniss Everdeen

Oh! Let’s go!

Tributes rushing for their supplies
For the cornucopia way down low
Careers are very vicious and allied
So get a backpack and go

Am I ready, hey, am I ready for this?
Am I fleeing from the carnage you see?
Out in the arena a cannon blasts
To the sound of the beat

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, they’re gonna get me, too
Another one bites the dust

How do you think I’m going to get along
Where everyone wants me gone?
I’ve got to use everything that I have
And live it out on my own

Are they happy, are they satisfied?
How long can I stand the heat?
Out in the arena a cannon blasts
To the sound of the beat

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, they’re gonna get me, too
Another one bites the dust

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust

There are plenty of ways that you can kill a man
And bring him to the ground
You can beat him, you can spear him
You can shoot him bad and leave him when he’s down

But I’m ready, yes, I’m ready for them
I’m running with my own two feet
Out in the arena a cannon blasts
Repeating to the sound of the beat

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, they’re gonna get me, too
Another one bites the dust

For a musical on the Hunger Games, I’m rather astonished that I don’t have many songs featuring Effie Trinket. And for a lot reasons, it’s kind of a shame since Effie is the kind of character who’s well suited for a musical since she has a rather cheerful disposition. Sure she hates her job being stuck as escort for District 12, which is the lamest district by the way. But she nevertheless tackles her vocation with enthusiasm and gusto, which you know is bringing kids to die for entertainment of the masses. Because if she does her job right, she might get a promotion. Yet, because her job is escorting kids to the Capitol where they’d almost always die for entertainment, she can be rather cheerful at a time when it’s most inappropriate to the point of obliviousness that she’s more upset about Katniss stabbing a table than almost stabbing Haymitch’s hand. And she can be kind of a ditz or at least has no idea of how Still, she’s one of the series’ best known and well beloved characters. I mean people don’t dress up as her for nothing. Sure she might seem like a frivolous, apathetic bitch, but later on you get the impression that she genuinely cares about Katniss and Peeta. Yet, sometimes it might not seem to be the case. And eventually, Katniss comes to realize that Effie’s shallowness is a defense mechanism to cope with the Games. Still, in a series that’s filled with violence and dark themes, Effie can always offer a few lines that would make people chuckle, even when she’s completely missing the point.

When choosing a good song for Effie Trinket, I went with “Put on a Happy Face” from Bye Bye Birdie, a musical that was loosely based on Elvis Presley getting drafted. The original song was sung by Dick Van Dyke and Janet Leigh in the movie, in which the former is telling her to cheer up. Still, it’s a rather familiar tune even though people have no idea where it came from. In the Hunger Games version, I have Effie Trinket trying to cheer up Katniss and Peeta who are legitimately not happy with facing almost inevitable death at such a young age. It also shows how rather insensitive that she can sometimes seem to be.

“Put on a Happy Face” (Hunger Games Version)

Sung by Effie Trinket

Gray skies are gonna clear up,

Put on a happy face;

Brush off the clouds and cheer up,

Put on a happy face.

Don’t try to think of your own tragedy,

It’s not our style;

You’ll look so good that you’ll be glad

Ya’ decide to smile!

Pick out a pleasant outlook,

Stick out that noble chin;

Wipe off that “impending death” look,

Slap on a happy grin!

And spread sunshine all over the place,

Just put on a happy face!

Put on a happy face

Put on a happy face

And if you’re feeling that your odds aren’t great

Don’t sit and whine

Think of some tasty chocolate cake

And you’ll feel fine

Don’t you two look so gloomy

At least you get some dessert

If you put enough pressure

Then coal turns into pearls

So spread sunshine all over the place

And put on a happy, happy face

Put on a happy, happy, happy face

Oh, come on you two, smile it’s the Hunger Games