#bhgcf

okay, so this one is a lot more atmospheric and cinematic than...lots of other playlists i’ve done so i shall lead you through it like we’re going on an adventure, baby. 

Til the Casket Drops - ZZ Ward

A house made out of glass will surely shatter, So we built a fortress of red bricks and ladders, The ground, it started shaking, The bombs are falling, We could've walked away, We had a warning,

You asked me how long I'd stay by your side, So I answered with only just one reply,

'Til the casket drops, 'Til my dying day, 'Til my heartbeat stops...

Okay, so...I lied. In terms of the “journey” this song doesn’t really fit to go first, but--it’s such a good mood setter and was the first song I decided on for this playlist actually. It has always been a helle song, but it’s never really Fit anywhere. But what is a better opener than a song about death and devotion in the middle of a war? 

From the Wreckage Build a Home - The Wind and the Wave

We were racing down a road littered with crosses Right down to Jalama Beach and even though we missed the sunset We jumped over barbed wire and cacti Just to fall into the sea, skinny dippin' youngins, you and I We're built to last We're built to last Oh, we're built to last We're built to last Well now it's clear you're the wind and I'm the wave Oh together we can brave all the things we never knew So I'm making room on a boat I built for one We can sail into the sun, till our skin's as tough as diamonds...

The next three songs all have the vibes of running away. Of getting out of a desperation. Of being convinced to leave a situation for something better. Which is just such great imagery for thgau!helle. After all, last time, Belle had to convince Hades to join the Legion, to give him something new to fight for. “I’m making room on a boat I built for one” ugh...it’s just...the Vibes. This would be a great song for romance in District 4 but I’m stealing it.

Take Me There - Delta Rae

Baby, when you call my name It's like a warning There's danger in the things you say But I think I want it Every single move we make Feels like a chance to win So come on, baby, take me there...

THIS is the runaway song of my dreams. Less rebel/dystopian vibes. Though, it still has that vibe I’m going for with like...convincing your lover to run away with you. This one is just...probably the sexiest one? Ahaha. “There’s danger in the things you say / But I think I want it.” /grooves to this song. I’ve definitely posted this on Belle before and I will not apologize for reusing it. 

Out of the Badlands - Delta Rae

Don't trust the teachers Don't trust the preachers That the world is round We'll find out for ourselves Once we break past the shell On the edge of this town I got some twenties and tens In a Maxwell House can With the lid on tight To get us over the hot sand Out of the badlands Into the night Oh, there's a billion little stars Oh, let's pick out which one is ours Oh, girl, I need you by my side...

And now we are on the road. This is a great rebel song. “Don’t trust the teachers--We’ll find out for ourselves.” Love this part because it’s like...dystopian government trying to control education and Belle was a teacher giving her students illegal books. Also, the way they sing “there’s a billiiiiiion litttttttllleeee staaaars” ugh it gets me every time. 

There is also the like “oooh, ya oooh” which actually appears in a couple of songs. The vocalization I love because it’s like Emotional and also very folky, which is the vibe. 

Would That I - Hozier

With the roar of the fire my heart rose to its feet Like the ashes of ash I saw rise in the heat Settle soft and as pure as snow I fell in love with the fire long ago With each love I cut loose I was never the same Watching still living roots be consumed by the flame I was fixed on your hand of gold Laying waste to my loving long ago

So in awe there I stood as you licked off the grain Though I've handled the wood, I still worship the flame Long as amber of ember glows All the "would that I loved" is long ago...

I was really torn between Work Song and Would That I for Hozier on this playlist. Both are EXTREMELY helle songs. And EXTREMELY dystopian love song vibes. However, I went with Would That I because of the wood/fire imagery. Both because of Hades, obvs, but also District Six being Lumber/Mining and where helle comes from. 

It’s also something Hozier does so well which is like...love songs where both parties are active participants? If that makes sense? Like a lot of love songs is one person singing to another and that person...you don’t really know their response or their actions. But in this song--the fire and the wood are kind of two players on the same playing field. “So in awe there I stood as you licked off the grain” and “that the sound of the saw must be known by the tree” UGH. ugh. 

Our heroes are now in Enchantra and ready to fight for their cause!

Thistle & Weeds - Mumford and Sons

Spare me your judgements and spare me your dreams Cause recently mine have been tearing my seams I sit alone in this winter clarity which clouds my mind Alone in the wind and the rain you left me It's getting dark darling, too dark to see And I'm on my knees, and your faith in shreds, it seems Corrupted by the simple sniff of riches blown I know you have felt much more love than you've shown And I'm on my knees and the water creeps to my chest But plant your hope with good seeds Don't cover yourself with thistle and weeds Rain down, rain down on me Look over your hills and be still The sky above us shoots to kill Rain down, rain down on me But I will hold on I will hold on hope...

This song pairs SO well with Would That I, in my opinion. It was actually the inspiration for the title of helle’s two paras from last time: Thistle and Weeds. In terms of narrative, this song is when they are battle worn. It’s been years. Nothing has happened. 

The needle feels as if it has moved so insignificantly, but there is still hope...

Enemies - The Lone Bellow

Hear you singing in your sleep Song of the night bird calling me Spread its wings out like a flame Try my best to say your name Saw that bird up in that tree Where you carved out names so deep Feel the warmth inside it speak Try my best to hear you breathe We should've been enemies We should've been enemies Break the bones of something dead Feel it hold on to what is left Let the earth it's on give way Try to bury what we've made...

This is also one where all hope feels as if it is lost or slipping through your fingers. Where all the death and destruction starts to feel like...am I on the right side? Am I any worse than the enemy? But you always have the person you love pulling you back and reminding you what you’re fighting for. 

Also, the first part there with “singing in your sleep” and “spread it’s wings out like a flame” and “carved out names so deep” -- more flame and wood imagery, hella. 

Come Back Alive - Delta Rae

Call me back darlin' When you hear me call your name If I don't hear you I'll think somebody came If I can't find you I'll wait on down the hill And if you don't find me I'll think you been killed And if you don't find me I'll run on down the road...

Delta Rae is on here so much because they tend to handle subject matter that is like gritty and gothic and historical and very folky, in that folk for the revolution kind of way. This song is clearly about someone who is on the run, probably from a corrupt government -- honestly, it gives me big Jim Crow vibes (probably bc there are other songs that def reference that and Black Lives Matter.) 

It is about worrying they’ll come home safe and what has happened to them. Which...if that’s not at least one part of your dystopian love story...well... It gives me big “The Hanging Tree” vibes. 

Sons & Daughters - Allman Brown

And I, I'll wrap myself around your heart I'll be the walls of his heart And I, I'll keep a light on To call you back home And I'll build a fire, you fetch the water and I'll lay the table And in our hearts, we still pray for sons and daughters And all those evenings out in the garden, red, red wine These quiet hours turning to years And it's all to come for now we're still young Just building our kingdom but it's all to come...

And here we end on two songs that are a little more hopeful! We are not out of the woods yet, but the dawn is coming. We have waited years for this. There is a little house, with a family, and you are building your life up again. 

The Morning Comes (Acoustic Version)

'Cause the devil's in the details and he's taking his toll Sending good men down the foot trails of some lost lonely souls So I'm working the graveyard, I don't sleep till it's light Ain't calling in favors, I can't swallow my pride And the bank's on a mission, they want to read me my rights But they ever show up around here, they're going to be in for a fight 'Cause the devil's in my hometown and I ain't telling him no 'Cause it's my family, it's my love now, that I'm scared to let go

Can I be blamed if I'm angry? Can I be saved if I'm barely clinging to hope? I'm clinging to hope When I say oh, oh Rain don't change the sun Jealous is the night when the morning comes But it always comes...

This is one of my favorite Delta Rae songs and it just fits so well here. It is such a melancholy song, but a hopeful one. “Rain don’t change the sun / jealous is the night when the morning comes.” The acoustic version especially plays at my heart strings and I just love it.

But none of the Knightley boys ever got Reaped. And they were never quick enough to volunteer. Year after year went by, and while they trained, none of them ever had to face the horrors of the Arena.

Except for Primrose.

Rosie got Reaped just two years ago — after all her older brothers had aged out. Everyone in District One wanted to give the Knightleys a chance for glory, considering they hadn’t  been able to in previous years. And she would’ve had a chance — she was deadly with an axe, just like her mother, and she was quick and cunning. But there was some bloody Tribute from Six who charmed his way into getting a devastating bit of Fey’s and he burned down the Arena without mercy.

Phillip watched his little sister burn to death on the screen.

14. Eric Andersen (District 5) 

Last year’s winner honestly bored me, I am so sorry. I actually booked a vacation during this one because I just felt I really needed some TLC. On a side note — I cannot recommend the District 1 mountain chalet resort enough! 

13. Martin Ambrosius (District 2)

He gets slight points for that jawline. But too shrimpy for my tastes, alas. 

12. John Smith (District 1)

This is just a guy. 

11. Jake Rogers (District 4)

This is also just a guy. Plus one for that scruff. 

10. Thomas Harrington (District 5)

This is also just a guy. Plus two for those sweet baby blues and arms that could bench press me. 

9. Elsa Sommers (District 1)

Okay we are finally starting to get into interesting territory here, but I am going to be perfectly candid — there can only be one gorgeous blonde in my life, and that is myself, I am very sorry Ms. Sommers. 

8. Ren Dubhuir (District 5)

A little more interesting here! A little more flavor! Always had iconic looks! Adds some much needed zest! 

7. Jessica Rabbit (District 6)

Gorgeous, has that classic beauty to her. Love her energy, love her magnetism. 

6. (Suta) Shere Khan (District 4)

A bonafide silver fox. Very beachworn and weathered — in a hot Hemingway way. 

5. Gem Morey (District 6)

Hot. Literally hot. 

4. Jane Darling (District 4)

I love a woman who could murder me (and all of tthese ladies can!) but there is just something particularly don’t fuck with me that Jane has that really gets me going. 

3. Susan Webb (District 3)

Susan has everything Jane has but stepped up to the extra level of sex appeal and I would be very honored if she stepped on me.

2. Dodger Jones (District 5)

Those tattoos… need I say more? No, but I will. Something about that rustic farmboy look…. I would love to show him the big city… 

1. Reza Mueller (District 3)

No one, really, in District Five was lucky, but Tom was more unlucky than most.

After all, he was reaped at only twelve years old. Everyone thought he was done for. So sad, they said. His father dead and two of his sisters aged out of the reaping, unable to put in tesserae for their family. The boy didn’t have a chance. 

There were a few things they didn’t account for: that Tom loved his sisters more than anything and knew that his death most likely meant theirs too, that he had already been an apprentice at a butcher’s shoppe since he was ten, and that those with a lot to lose are more determined than any other Tribute in the arena. He won hearts easy during his interview, crying real, scared tears while he was on stage. The Capitol was endeared to the young boy--as they usually were to the young ones (though, they never bet on them.)  

When he survived the Cornucopia, a few more people started to pay attention to him. The next night, when he stole an axe from a sleeping Career and split their skull before dashing off into the night, the sponsorships started pouring in. 

Tom’s axe was an extension of his own arm: he knew just where to slice to hit an artery, knew just how to cut to kill someone fast or kill them slow. He hadn’t intended it--he was just trying to survive--but there was no denying he put on a show. Each of his kills where bloodier than the last and when he finally finished off the last Tribute and the Capitol came to pick him up from the arena, he was so drenched in it that it dripped from him onto the shiny chrome platform they made him stand on as they crowned his bloody curls.

He found out later that while he was in the Games, he had earned the nickname “the Bloody Butcher.” It wasn’t incorrect. Tom went home. Tom mentored. Tom did whatever the Capitol wanted of him, but he was a husk of his former self. He earned a reputation for having a temper and many in the District tend to leave him to himself.