The Civil Wars Reunite by the Power of Taylor Swift

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As part of a four-song surprise release (dropped the midnight before the first Eras Tour date), Swift debuted “Safe and Sound (Taylor’s Version),” a re-recording of the original single featured on The Hunger Games’ soundtrack. The initial track featured Grammy-winning indie folk duo The Civil Wars, who broke up ten years ago due to “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition.”

Swift, who has been a fan of The Civil Wars since 2011, announced via Instagram Story that both members of the band, Joy Williams and John Paul White, would join her in re-recording the song. Fans quickly noticed that although both artists were tagged, they were tagged separately, suggesting that although they reunited, the band wouldn’t be releasing any music on their own.

Alongside “Safe and Sound” (which, by the way, won a Grammy for Best Song Written for Original Media), the country-turned-pop singer released “Eyes Wide Open (Taylor’s Version).” As both songs are a part of the official soundtrack for The Hunger Games, fans couldn't help draw connections to Netflix’s one-month-only streaming of all four films in the franchise.

Back in 2012, the original promotional campaign for the series made waves, being some of the first movies ever to utilize social media to engage a young audience and create buzz. Some fans speculate that marketing for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes may not stray far from the original technique as we near the November release of the highly anticipated film.

Photo via Getty/ Tommaso Boddi