Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars Team Up for The Hunger Games

The very first song from the soundtrack to the forthcoming film The Hunger Games debuted this morning and it's a big one! The song is a collaboration between mega country superstar Taylor Swift and alt-country/folk duo The Civil Wars called "Safe and Sound." Listen to it in the video above.

On first listen, I was struck by how absolutely haunting, breathtaking, and simple the song is and how well it matches the tone of the film (from what I've seen in the trailers) and the story. This sound will fit right in with the districts in Panem. And it almost goes without saying that this is one of the greatest vocal performances from Swift in her entire career.

I've listened to the track too many times to count at this point. I don't understand why Hunger Games fans are bickering over where and when this song will be used in the film. Who cares? The point is that the song is beautiful, fits well with the story, and will draw attention to the film in a big way. And big box office numbers mean second and third film installments to complete the trilogy will be a sure thing.

It remains to be seen if there will be other popular artists contributing songs to the soundtrack (thus creating a super movie album a la the Twilight franchise), but this song alone gives me even more confidence in the movie. The trailer made me cry within seconds and now this song is so beautiful and moving. March 23rd cannot come soon enough.