Rules.

So, I've now heard the song Rules by Jayme Dee at least 10 times, and it just hit me. I always vaguely knew what it was about, but I wasn't really listening until just now, and OH MY GOD. Yet another perfect Song from District 12.

Let's do another line-by-line analysis, shall we?

You say you know love, but you are just reflecting words you hear

No iron in your veins to give you any sense of pain or fear

Hokay, so it's obvious from the first two lines that this song is from Peeta's perspective. Which is good, because we've got a bunch from Katniss's perspective, one from Gale's (or so I interpret it to be), and even one from the Capitol's perspective.

It's just another lie, it's just another calculation

And when the power's out, we're just another old sensation

This so accurately depicts how Peeta feels at the end of the first book, when he says, "It was all for the Games, how you acted." He goes from thinking Katniss is in love with him to thinking she doesn't actually care about him at all and was only calculating how to win the Games.

This blood keeps me alive, but what is it that runs through you?

Electricity and wires, dictating everything you do

This kind of shows how harshly Peeta judges Katniss at the end of the book, but he's still asking questions about her because he still loves her. THE NEXT LINES ARE MY FAVORITES:

You tell me that you hear me and all your memories are real,

But how do I know you don't just feel what you've been told to feel?

GAH. *breathes* These lines are so perfect. "Memories"-- "I don't want to forget"-- He wants her to remember them as real too, but he's afraid she only thinks of them as steps toward a destination. Also, the whole memory thing applies beautifully to Mockingjay, but I can't say how. And then the word "real," obviously, applies to Real or Not Real, which is SO PERFECT I CAN'T HANDLE IT. And then "how do I know you don't just feel what you've been told to feel" is kind of obvious, but I'll explain anyway. Peeta has just figured out that Haymitch has been telling Katniss to be in love with Peeta for the audience, so he doesn't know if her feelings are, you know, Real or Not Real (not a Mockingjay spoiler, don't worry).

Then there's the chorus:

We run around the rules

We run around the rules

We run around the rules

Round and round, two by two, we run around the rules

Running around the rules is exactly what Peeta and Katniss do, from the moment they held hands in their flaming chariot, to the moment they put the nightlock berries to their lips and get the Gamemakers to allow two victors.

There's water in your eyes, and I know I'm the reason that it's there

But still I don't feel bad, because I know that you have more to spare

On some level, Peeta knows it wasn't "all for the Games," but he's too upset to care. And he knows that Katniss isn't (figuratively) going to cry out all of her tears over this. She has "more to spare" for other things, like Rue and all the fallout from the Games.

And just behind your eyes are switches that can turn back on

To clear away today 'til all your memories are gone

He's convinced that she's going to "try to forget," which means leaving behind all memories of Peeta from the Games. She's not going to remember that part of it was real. Again, he's being harsh because he's hurt, so he sees her as a kind of emotional lightswitch-- flip the switch, and she loses all emotional attachment to him.

And then it repeats the chorus twice, emphasizing how heartbroken Peeta is. He's like, yeah, we run around the rules, but what do I have to show for it?