Olivia Rodrigo On Capturing Lucy Gray Baird’s Soul In ‘Hunger Games’ Oscar Short-Listed Song “Can’t Catch Me Now” – Crew Call Podcast

Anthony D'Alessandro and Katie Campione
·3 min read
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She’s about to turn 21 next month, but when it comes to matters of the human heart, singer songwriter actress Olivia Rodrigo is wise beyond her years.

When it comes to spinning poetry from fractured relationships and trampled hearts, Rodrigo is arguably in the same league as the mega Princess of Pop, Taylor Swift.

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“In my albums, they’re very diaristic in nature,” she tells Deadline’s Crew Call podcast in a special episode co-hosted by Katie Campione.

Nowhere is this more evident than in her Oscar shortlisted end-credits song from Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds Snakes, “Can’t Catch Me Now,” which is written from the point of view of Rachel Zegler’s nomadic bluegrass singer-turned-fierce pen fighter, Lucy Gray Baird and the emotional release and triumph she beams in after breaking off her romance with Hunger Games mentor Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), who we all now becomes the mega villain in the core Hunger Games canon.

Says Rodrigo, “I really was so inspired by her and her actions and the plot. I remember there was one scene in particular, there’s a scene in the movie, no spoilers, but something really intense happens. And there’s this overhead shot of all these birds in the trees that are just like ducking in and out. And it was like the climax of the movie for me. And I remember thinking, I really want to write a song that captures that exact frame.”

“Can’t Catch Me Now” features piercing passionate lyrics that vividly capture Baird’s spirit:

But I’m in the trees, I’m in the breeze
My footsteps on the ground
You see my face in every place
But you can’t catch me now
Through wading grass, the months will pass
You’ll feel it all around
I’m here, I’m there, I’m everywhеre
But you can’t catch me now
No, you can’t catch me now

Listen to our conversation with Rodrigo below

While Rodrigo was inspired by the Appalachian folks songs in Suzanne Collins’ tome, she wanted to make the end-credits song her own, yet still adhering to Hunger Games‘ folk themes.

Rodrigo talks with Campione about her rocket ship from Disney Channel thespian to landing her record deal, from the first time she picked up guitar on Bizaardvark to penning the song “All I Want” about her character Nini’s struggles with romantic love “but also kind of mirrored my own at the time,” says the songstress.

“That was kind of the first song that I ever wrote all by myself that I put out into the world and it’s how I got my record deal and sort of spawned this whole amazing journey that has been the last few years,” the Murrieta, CA native adds.

Rodrigo tells us that when she’s in need of creative inspiration, “I love listening to like OG singer-songwriters. I find that that’s an endless well of inspiration. I was listening to a lot of Simon and Garfunkel while making Guts and this Hunger Games song. I listened to a lot of Carole King and Joni Mitchell and people like that I feel like always move me.”

“So yeah, they’re on heavy rotation.”

Next up for Rodrigo this year is her Guts world tour, which kicks off on Feb. 23 in Palm Springs for 75 shows throughout North America and Europe this year at iconic venues such as Madison Square Garden, Kia Forum, Sportpaleis, The O2 and more.

Check out Rodrigo’s video below of “Can’t Catch Me Now,” which she co-wrote with her producer Daniel Nigro.

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