Songs

"The Hanging Tree"
"'Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where they strung up a man they say murdered three.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be, if we met up at midnight in the hanging tree."

"Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where the dead man called out for for his love to flee.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be, if we met up at midnight in the hanging tree."

"Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where I told you to run so we'd both be free.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be, if we met up at midnight in the hanging tree."

"Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Wear a necklace of rope side by side with me.

Strange things did happen here.

No stranger would it be, if we met up at midnight in the hanging tree."

History
This was taught to Katniss Everdeen by her father, Mr. Everdeen, when she was young. Her mother, Mrs. Everdeen heard her singing the song and making necklaces of rope to go with it. Fearful, Mrs. Everdeen yelled at Mr. Everdeen and told Katniss to forget the song lyrics. This caused Katniss to run into the woods crying, and of course remember every word of the song. After Mr. Everdeen's death the song played itself over and over in Katniss's head.

When she was younger she didn't know what it meant, but eventually she understood that the person singing the song is a dead man, calling for his lover to come join him in death. It meant that the life of torture must have not been worth living. At one point in revelution Katniss really understands what this means, because she knows that being tortured by the Capitol is a much worse fate than death. Katniss sings this to Pollux after he was playing with the mockingjays, and this song occurs many times through out Mockingjay.