Soundtrack To The Revolution

The Unofficial Soundtrack to The People's Republic of Retail 

I have been working on a novel called "The People's Republic Of Retail" since July of 2010. Since that time I have completed 4 chapters.

Don't judge. Writing is hard.

I have copious notes and I have completed gargantuan amounts of research and a whole slew of illustrations. My novel is a surrealistic view of my wasted & wanton years (15 to be exact) working as a retail wage slave for the world's largest big box store. It is also an allegory of an allegory, in that the frame of it is based on George Orwell's "Animal Farm". The two main characters - Eric George and Mary Allison Blair, are re-arrangements of Orwell's real name - Eric Blair - and a nod to his more commonly known pen name.

Since I grew up as a latchkey kid and the product of a broken marriage - I spent long hours reading comic books and watching cartoons, television and VHS tapes. My style of writing is basically a kitchen sink form. I do not mean the spare British view of the working class - I mean that I throw pop cultural references into virtually every paragraph.

This is a video introduction I made.

I have designed my novel to be a multi-media experience. It will work best in some future generation of e-reader that is capable of doing the things I will need it to do. I'll give two examples.

1. Headphones will be an essential part of the experience. If there is a thunderstorm in the text, you will hear thunder rumbling and the screen will flash with periodic lightning strikes.

2. There is a fictional talk radio station in my novel. Some place on the screen you will see a radio icon and be able to hear the broadcast at whatever time that you happen to click it.

Music will be an integral part of the reading experience. I would like certain songs to be played at certain times. There are many ways in which this can be accomplished - Spotify, Amazon MP3 or I-tunes. I'll leave that to the techno-heads to decide.

If the soundtrack were released as a double (perhaps triple) CD, this would be the jacket design.

I would like to do a fake ad campaign for it - advertising it as "exclusively available" at all defunct Sam Goody retail stores and outlets as a comment on consumerism.

Remember - Goody's Got It!

As I write this, I am listening to a playlist I have made of all these songs. So without further ado...

The Unofficial Soundtrack to The People's Republic of Retail

1. Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who

(plays during intro)

2. The Empty Raft - John Williams 

(plays during this animation sequence)

3. Re: Stacks - Bon Iver

(plays during Eric George's depression after breaking up with his fiance Jezebel)

4. Bring Out Your Dead  - Monty Python

(plays during black plague fantasy sequence - would be nice if original actors would reprise their roles)

5. Keoma - G and M de Angelis

(plays during spaghetti western fantasy sequence)

6. Elephant Talk - King Crimson

(plays during Eric George's day of hell)

7. Ben - Michael Jackson

(plays during Sparky in the battery cage scene)

8. L'Alba Dei Morti Viventi - Goblin

(plays during Zombi Apocalypse scene)

9. Ghost Town - The Specials

(plays while grief counselor sits in an empty breakroom after the death of Assistant Manager Wolff)

10. Getting To Know You - The King and I

(plays during Eric George and M.Alice's playdate)

11. In My Life - Johnny Cash

(plays after Eric George and M.Alice have ceased fighting over the radio in Eric George's car)

12. The Siege and Investiture of Baron von Frankenstein's Castle at Weisseria - Blue Oyster Cult

(plays after M.Alice buys a beret at the Women's Shelter Thrift Store)

13. Endless Supply of Poison - Joan as Police Woman

(plays after M.Alice decides to let Eric George meet her mother)

14. Punk Rock Girl - The Dead Milkmen

(plays during high school flashback scene of lil' Mary Allison's transformation into M.Alice)

15. The Distance - Cake

(plays while Eric George watches Bill Cox ride his Arctic Cola Seadoo on the intercoastal waterway)

16. Over The Rainbow - Ray Charles

(plays during Eric George's battle with Elphaba Phillips and the Eastboro Baptist Church)

17. Where The Streets Have No Name - U2

(plays during the flash forward sequence in which an older Eric George is killed after being hit by a car while trying to save a turtle and then, after the funeral, his daughter leads an impromptu march across America to kick the CON-A.R.T.-ists out of Washington and to re-establish democracy)

18. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - Gil Scott-Heron

(plays during the first meeting of the revolutionary council)

19. Fight The Power - Public Enemy

(plays during the Los Barbudos revolt)

20. Revolution Rock - The Clash

(plays during the victory celebration after the October Revolution)

21. Kung Fu Girls - Blondie

(plays after Eric George is thrown out of the compacter by M.Alice's Happy Sweaty Funtime Ninja Squad)

22. Wake Up - Rage Against The Machine

(plays after M.Alice/Mary Alice takes over and turns Utopia into Dystopia)

23. Don Quixote - Cherry Poppin Daddies

(plays during the scene where Eric George on horseback, followed by Rajiv on a burro, heads over to Dystopia to tear down the windmill)

24. Paper Planes - M.I.A. 

(plays during a slow mo scene after Eric George meets with M.Alice's mother to learn the truth about her father. He is so stunned by the revelation that he does not notice dozens of federal agents going past him to arrest Florida Governor Elect Alexis Chamberlain)

25. Sold American - Kinky Friedman

(plays during the scene in which the building that housed the former Mega Mart/Utopia/Dystopia collapses into a sinkhole)

26. Guess I'm Doing Fine - Beck

(plays in the final flash forward scene in which Allison decides to stay)

Fade To Black

Cue Credits