Pop Rocks: CUT MY HAIR
By Jamie S. Rich.

While creating a soundtrack for CUT MY HAIR is a concept as natural as gravity pulling us down, it is actually a task that is daunting due to its many possibilities. There are a myriad of ways one can go with it. Any reader can craft his or her own soundtrack based on information in the book itself. The 25 chapters are all titled after songs, for instance. Or there are countless tunes mentioned in almost every section of the story. One could fill tape upon tape of the music discussed.

I also listen to music constantly throughout the creation of the book. I never write in silence. I always play something the background. A lot of these songs end up influencing the work and often entering it. Sometimes they show up in very blatant ways, sometimes really subtly. My writing would be nowhere without my stereo.

So, the way I am approaching this is I have one record - vinyl, naturally - two sides, seven songs per side. The goal is to choose material that works thematically with the book and in some ways, follows the emotion of the story from page 1 to page 236.

Side 1

1) CUT MY HAIR by The Who
This is an unavoidable choice. The song itself is the main inspiration for the book (obviously), and serves as a mini summary of it (if only I could put a soundchip on the back cover so you could listen to this track rather than read marketing hype). The song is one of the main components of The Who's Quadrophenia. It sets up the personal conflict of a character that wants to belong somewhere, who wants to identify with like-minded individuals. He attempts to do so at the risk of alienating everyone (and everything) else, ultimately to feel like he belongs nowhere. Plus, the chorus, with its talk of street fights, hints at the violence inherent in the subculture the character is joining.

2) NOT FOR THIS WORLD by Lara Michell
Lara is a Portland, OR, musician, as well as a friend of mine. This is one of her best songs, as it plays with the concept of feeling lonely while also knowing that there is likely someone out there for you. It's use of stars as a central image also speaks very much to one of my main character's anecdotes, and as a result, it is quoted at the start of CUT MY HAIR. (The song itself can be found on a compilation called MORE, put out by a small label, Hush.)

3) PRINCE CHARMING by Adam and the Ants
I know some Ants songs are mentioned in the book, but I don't think this one ever is. But, I recently rediscovered it, and it seems to fit so well. It perfectly goes with one of the characters, Tristan, who is a musician fighting to be heard as a sensitive voice in a violent scene. Also, its message of being true to yourself is probably something Mason, the narrator, could take to heart.

4) SICK BOYS by Social Distortion
Just a great punk anthem that describes the book's many characters and how Mason would like to be.

5) WAITING FOR THE NIGHT by Depeche Mode
This song has always been beautiful to me, and it is a centerpiece to the relationship of Mason and Laine. It's a wonderful piece about wanting to escape and just wishing things were perfect. The beauty of it, though, is it captures those desires and creates the illusion, while also keeping the fact that it is an illusion at the forefront. When day comes, things will be back to normal. She won't love you, you'll be back on your own.

6) BEAT ON THE BRAT by The Ramones
One of the punks chants, this in one of the more dastardly scenes in the book. It echoes the glee that some of my characters take to entering a violent situation.

7) IN A DIFFERENT PLACE by Ride
Another song not mentioned in the book, though the band is brought up once. I pick it because it was the song I heard in my head when writing the lyrics for Tristan's signature song. And I like how it matches the idyllic scene between him and Mason at the end of the summer, before everything changes... in fact, just as we switch to...

Side 2

1) HEAD ON by The Jesus & Mary Chain
I was actually going to go for something sappy and romantic here, but when flipping through the text, I noted that it was a song going through Mason's head when he was falling in love. I popped it on, and it just said, "Yeah." It's a song that aurally captures that rush of emotion you get when you meet that one person. "And the way I'm feeling tonight, I could die and I wouldn't mind." Says it all, don't it? (The Pixies murdered this song, by the way. For all their great accomplishments, I can't forgive them that one.)

2) OUT OF REACH by The Primitives
The single bought by Jeane on the first date, and similar in feel and theme as the Mary Chain song. It's a spiky pop number. Listening to it now, I realized for the first time how amazing a choice it was for a song to reference in that chapter. It talks about walking on the beach, and just not caring about all the things beyond your grasp now that you are with the person you love. It couldn't be more apt. (Strangely, it contains the lyrics, "Someone said, we were all dead, life means nothing at all; that's not true, I'm with you, and I've been here before." That theme of death being no big deal when you're heels over head is starting to become very prevalent.)

3) THE BEAT[EN] GENERATION by The The
The guys listen to this record at one point, and it sort of sums up the feeling of no hope, that they are all doomed.

4) THE VILLAGE by New Order
The line "Our love is like the flowers; the rain, the sea, and the hours" is quoted in the story, and it becomes the sweet description of the central romance of CUT MY HAIR.

5) THE GOOD SON by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
A song about a boy who is pure at his core, but again, the path he walks leaves no way out.

6) HOW MEN ARE by Aztec Camera
A true anthem for a sensitive boy (hell, it's even off an album called LOVE). Mason quotes it near the end. The song itself is about how men are selfish and do selfish things, and once they come out of the haze of their own bullshit, they find that love is the most important thing; unfortunately, to get there, they pretty much end up ravaging the emotion of the important female in their life.

7) ASLEEP by The Smiths
This song should end every album. It is the greatest closer of all time. It speaks of peace, of rest, and of finally finding some sort of contentment far beyond this earthly plain.

Bonus hidden track: Okay, I have to throw one more in here, because often the unlisted track is the rarest gem.

THRUPENNY TEARS by the Trash Can Sinatras
This song is actually the title of the final chapter, and though ASLEEP is a better end thematically, this song belongs here in the way CUT MY HAIR belongs up front. The Trash Can Sinatras are truly one of the most underrated bands in existence. Their songs are so alive, so amazing. THRUPENNY TEARS is a particularly clever narrative. A "thrupenny" is a three penny coin, which is no longer in use in the UK (the band is Scottish). So, essentially, it's a useless coin. The song is about a hopeless romantic, a "hero in hand-me-downs, struttin' to the strains of SEND IN THE CLOWNS." Like CUT MY HAIR, THRUPENNY TEARS is nearly a miniature epic that mirrors Mason's journey, ending in a nice, cathartic cry.