Noah Kahan released a brand new song, “Draw You Out,” on Oct. 2 for the new Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping film coming to theaters on Nov. 20. The song’s lyrics are heartbreaking and beautiful, and many of them allude to plot points in the Sunrise On The Reaping novel that we’ll likely see on the big screen later this year. Spoiler alert: Spoilers for the Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping novel follow.
When speculation about who was going to be on the Sunrise On The Reaping soundtrack started months ago, fans began to theorize about who could possibly be the voice behind the lead single. Artists who had worked with the franchise before included Lorde (“Everybody Wants To Rule The World”) and Olivia Rodrigo (“Can’t Catch Me Now”). Noah Kahan is known for his powerful lyrics and songs that connect to his experiences living at home, which fit perfectly with the Sunrise On The Reaping story, and fans concluded he would be a great addition to the Hunger Games universe. With his songs like “The View Between Villages,” “No Complaints,” and “End of August,” fans said his folk sound and tone blend with Haymitch’s character well, and would create a theme worth remembering.
All the theories paid off in the end, when Kahan announced he was on the soundtrack on Sept. 22, posting a snippet of the new song to his Instagram with the caption, “Ladybug, fly away home.”
After diving into the “Draw You Out” lyrics, fans of the book will have a lot to think about. The song opens in classic Noah Kahan form, and starts with heavy-hitting lyrics right off the bat: “I carry you on with me / I promised you I would, and I do.” Haymitch and Lenore Dove’s love story is one of tragedy, but it empowers a lot of Haymitch’s motivations during the first trilogy. But for those who haven’t read SOTR, it’s just not something the reader understands until they read Haymitch’s story. The rest of the chorus goes: “And I float around, show up unannounced / In the places that you knew / I draw you out from the edge of my mouth / It feels good to say your name / It’s all I have now, what a wonderful sound it makes.” Haymitch remembers Lenore Dove every day, and when he speaks to Peeta and Katniss about her in the epilogue of the book, they realize that there might be more to his story than they know.Â
The main verse of the song is packed with callbacks to the book, too. “I wait around for them to take my place / And say, ‘Love, we’re free now.’” This could be a reference to how Haymitch was actually never supposed to be a tribute in the first place: he and Lenore Dove had been planning to run away together to escape the Capitol. And when Kahan sings, “No one tells you just how long you’ll last / Some go slowly, and some far too fast / I’ve got time I never planned to have / I got years and years of it…” This could be seen as speaking about the terror that is the Hunger Games in general: You hope and pray you’ll survive, and if you do, you didn’t expect to. Maybe you killed your friends to get there, or maybe you watched them die. You’re living with that PTSD the rest of your life. Haymitch says in the books, specifically Catching Fire: “Nobody ever wins the games, period. There are survivors…there’s no winners.”
The Sunrise On The Reaping movie comes out on Nov. 20 alongside the film’s 27-song soundtrack, featuring new music from Hozier and Lizzy McAlpine as well. It’s an exciting time, and I can’t wait to see this book come to life on the big screen.Â