Meltdown (Stromae song)
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| "Meltdown" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Stromae featuring Lorde, Pusha T, Q-Tip and Haim | |
| from the album The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 | |
| Released | 17 November 2014 |
| Studio | |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:02 |
| Label | Republic |
| Songwriters | |
"Meltdown" is a song by Belgian artist Stromae featuring additional vocals from New Zealand singer Lorde, American rappers Pusha T and Q-Tip, as well as American indie rock band Haim. It was released on 17 November 2014 as the opening track for the soundtrack album of the motion picture The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. "Meltdown" uses the instrumentation of "Merci", taken from Stromae's second studio album Racine carrée (2013), which was produced by the lead artist, Thomas Azier and Aron Ottingnon. It was well received by music critics and charted at the top spot in several of Stromae's native charts.
"Meltdown" was written by Stromae, Lorde (credited under her birth-name Ella Yelich-O'Connor), Joel Little, Kamaal Ibn John Fareed, Terrence Thornton, and Este Haim, Danielle Haim and Alana Haim from the indie rock band Haim. It was released on 17 November 2014 as the opening track for the soundtrack album of the 2014 motion picture The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1.[6] The song was taken from "Merci", an instrumental track from Stromae's second studio album Racine carrée (2013).[7]
Melissa Locker from Time described "Meltdown" as a "dark synth dance track" and "an '80s-influenced kinetic earworm",[2] while NME called it a "bombastic electro stomp."[3] Exclaim described "Meltdown" as having a "propulsive pulse that spans hip-hop and pop" and Complex characterized it as a "piano-laced, drum pounding production" track.[4][5] Stromae explained that the song came together after Lorde called his manager to "get a track (for the Hunger Games: Mockingjay soundtrack)". Although the song was from Stromae's album Racine carrée, Lorde "decided to do a new track with it". Stromae said he was touched with how important it was for her to have his opinion, even with invited guests on the track. He described Lorde as being "human, simple and really nice".[8] At one point in the song, Pusha T calls out the film's "image-obsessed bourgeoisie of the Capitol" which Billboard described as "language that would be just as appropriate for real-life society". In his verse, he sings:
We're all tryna be somebody else
You can't hide your tears in wealth
When your heart knows you hate yourself[9]
