Hunger Games Soundtrack: Composer, Songs and Albums

James Newton Howard scored every Hunger Games film, from The Hunger Games (2012) through Catching Fire, both parts of Mockingjay and the prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023). He is the only credited composer across the five films, and that is unusual for a saga that changed directors after the first installment.

Film by film, the albums run as follows. The Hunger Games (2012) has "The Hunger Games: Original Motion Picture Score" on Universal Records (2012, 18 tracks), plus the song album "The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 and Beyond" on Universal Republic Records, released March 19, 2012. The cues people search for are "Katniss Afoot", "Reaping Day", "The Train", "Horn of Plenty" and "The Countdown".

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) has "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: Original Motion Picture Score" on Universal Republic Records (2013, 29 tracks) and "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" on Lionsgate, released November 18, 2013. Look for "Daffodil Waltz", "The Tour", "Fireworks" and "Mockingjay Graffiti" on the score album.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (2014) has "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1: Original Motion Picture Score" on Republic Records, released November 21, 2014 (23 tracks), and a song album on the same label, released November 17, 2014. The best known cues are "The Mockingjay", "Snow’s Speech", "Please Welcome Peeta" and "Incoming Bombers".

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2015) has "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" on Republic Records, released November 23, 2015 (19 tracks), which holds the score. Its standout cues are "Prim Visits Peeta", "Sewer Attack", "Your Favorite Color Is Green" and "I Made It Up".

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has the largest score album of the series, "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Original Motion Picture Score" on Sony Classical, released November 17, 2023 (40 tracks). Cues include "The Dark Days", "Coryo in the Capitol", "Hunger is a Weapon" and "Department of War".

If you want to hear how the series sounds from the reaping to the prequel, start with "Reaping Day" and finish on "The Dark Days". For the performers on screen, see the Hunger Games cast, and for the order the films arrived in, see Hunger Games movies in order.

The signature songs of The Hunger Games films are "Atlas" by Coldplay, "Yellow Flicker Beat" by Lorde, "The Hanging Tree" (sung by Jennifer Lawrence in Mockingjay Part 1 and by Rachel Zegler in the prequel) and "Can't Catch Me Now" by Olivia Rodrigo. Of those, "Yellow Flicker Beat" and "Can't Catch Me Now" were written for their films. Each film is covered in release order.

The Hunger Games (2012): the companion album is "The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 and Beyond" (Universal Republic Records, March 19, 2012). Its 16 tracks include "Safe & Sound", "Abraham’s Daughter", "Take the Heartland", "Tomorrow Will Be Kinder" and "Daughter’s Lament". The film's own music is the James Newton Howard score on a separate album.

Catching Fire (2013): the album, "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" (Lionsgate, November 18, 2013), has 16 tracks. The headline songs are "Atlas" by Coldplay, "Silhouettes" by Of Monsters and Men, "Who We Are" by Imagine Dragons and "Gale Song" by The Lumineers. The album also carries "Elastic Heart" by Sia featuring The Weeknd and Diplo, "We Remain" by Christina Aguilera, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Lorde and "Mirror" by Ellie Goulding.

Mockingjay Part 1 (2014): the album, "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" (Republic Records, November 17, 2014), has 14 tracks, and "Yellow Flicker Beat" by Lorde was written for the film. The same album holds "Meltdown" (Stromae, Lorde, Pusha T, Q-Tip and HAIM), "Dead Air" by CHVRCHES, "Scream My Name" by Tove Lo, "All My Love" by Major Lazer and Ariana Grande, "Kingdom" by Charli XCX and Simon Le Bon, "Lost Souls" by Raury, "The Leap" by Tinashe and "Original Beast" by Grace Jones. Other songs credited to the film are "Ladder Song" by Lorde and "This Is Not a Game" by The Chemical Brothers and Miguel. Katniss sings "The Hanging Tree" while her team films her in District 12, and later rebel forces in District 5 sing it as they attack a hydroelectric dam.

Mockingjay Part 2 (2015): the featured song is "Deep in the Meadow", performed by Jennifer Lawrence. It plays over the end credits as the film closes, so Katniss does not sing it on camera.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023): "Can't Catch Me Now" by Olivia Rodrigo was written for the film and plays over the end credits. Rachel Zegler performs "The Hanging Tree" as Lucy Gray: she sings it with a guitar as Snow finds her in a field in District 12, and again as she runs away from him while mockingjays repeat it. For the character, see Lucy Gray Baird.

Who sang "The Hanging Tree"? Jennifer Lawrence performs it in Mockingjay Part 1 and Rachel Zegler performs it in the 2023 prequel, so the song exists in two versions across the saga.

Our picks: the best songs in the The Hunger Games films (opinion)

• "The Hanging Tree" (Jennifer Lawrence): in my opinion, the best use of a song in the saga, because rebel forces in District 5 sing it as they attack the dam.
• "Yellow Flicker Beat" (Lorde): it was written for Mockingjay Part 1, and that gives it a firmer place in the story than a licensed track.
• "Atlas" (Coldplay): the lead song of the Catching Fire album, and the one I would play first for a newcomer.
• "Can't Catch Me Now" (Olivia Rodrigo): written for the prequel and placed over the end credits, where it closes the film without interrupting it.
• "The Hanging Tree" (Rachel Zegler): the guitar scene in the field in District 12 is where the prequel introduces Lucy Gray as a singer.
• "Deep in the Meadow" (Jennifer Lawrence): a quiet choice for the end credits of the final film, which suits the close of the saga.
• "Gale Song" (The Lumineers): a Catching Fire album song with a title tied to one character, which is unusual on a pop heavy album.