David Scott Hay’s Playlist for His Novel “[NSFW]”

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.

Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others.

David Scott Hay’s novel [NSFW] is as marvelously unsettling as it is innovative, fitting for a book pitched as “The Office meets A Clockwork Orange.”

Kirkus wrote of the book:

“Hay’s tonal mimicry of Fight Club (1996) author Chuck Palahniuk is astonishing. Those unfamiliar with the flat, declarative sarcasm of the 1990s can use this piece as a how-to pamphlet… A potential cult classic that all but demands a second read.”

In his own words, here is David Scott Hay’s Book Notes music playlist for his novel [NSFW]:

Howdy howdy, folks. Since nobody asked… I make a playlist for every project. It starts off as a temp soundtrack / expensive needle drops. This helps me find the emotional structure of a piece. I also listen to music almost every waking hour. It also helps mask my chronic tinnitus, while contributing to it. Ah, ouroboros.

But since that temp soundtrack has its own story flow, it’s not conducive to writing since WIP scenes and music don’t synch up but for a few minutes. (Though on one project I played SAIL by AWOL Nation 200 times in a row. Not kidding.)

My original writing playlist for [NSFW] was 99% Radiohead – a few specific songs, but mostly for their vibe of creepy, poetic, angsty studio magic. I’ve kept the key songs on here, but this list is my needle drop version. As the saying goes, writing about music is like dancing about architecture, so the notes are haphazard and scattered like my brain.

Also sprach Zarathusa (2001: A Space Odyssey). IIRC ,the monolith in 2001 was a version of the cinema screen according to Kubrick, staring into the imagination, etc., but turned it on its side, precipitating the vertical perspective ubiquitous to SM videos. Plus, it’s just a classic cinematic build. And I wanted that feeling when the new device in the story is introduced. The office workers are essentially early man from the opening of 2001. Story wise, this should be in a different spot in the place list, but I like it here.
Everything in its Right Place (Radiohead) – This is the book’s theme song. That sense of creeping dread, equilibrium teetering on the brink of disaster and dissonate chords and trippy studio effects was perfect.
Singin’ in the Rain (Gene Kelly) – classic fun singalong, but for those who have seen A Clockwork Orange, it has dark undercurrents. And a subtle history of cinema is woven into [NSFW] so this connects a view more dots for the discerning reader.
Ring of Fire (June Carter) – @Sa>age and @Jun1p3r fall in love. Classic song, but I’ve gone with the original June Carter version instead of Johnny’s horn version. My lovers deserved a deeper cut.
Fake Empire (The National) – My characters are, among other things, stuck in the horror of their work / commute/ home loop. I listened to this song repeatedly when I did that commute in Chicago. Dream imagery, perfect train commute lullaby. Also, collapse rears its head.
Burn (NIN) – I should just copypasta the lyrics here. They so encapsulate the inner rage of my MC. What happens when trauma is repressed only to resurface at a moment with consequences on a scale that cannot be ignored?

Anarchy in the UK (Sex Pistols) – more fun to singalong with than Singin’ in the Rain. The quintessential fuck you song. “…and other cunt-like tendencies.” While Burn ignites the fire, Anarchy is the joy watching the flames devour the falsehoods.
Windfall (Son Volt) – One of my favorite songs ever. A throw back to my youth of road trips, driving in shifts, while the co-pilot sleeps to the lullaby of the wheels underneath you. Finding those stretches of no light pollution, and turning off the headlights for just a few seconds on a straightaway. Discovering a radio station cutting through the static until the signal weakens and your search continues. Quiet confessional conversations.
Do you Realize?? (Flaming Lips) – I knew of these guys back in high school. We’re from OKC. It is the perfect modern love song for my characters, once they are past the falling in love phase. But also recognizing it will all end. Love hard now.

Exit Music for a Film (Radiohead) – perfect title as this has its own rise and fall and fade out. Complete with ocean sounds. I can see it. I can see it all. Because this is a love story.

BONUS TRACK
Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung (Flaming Lips) – trippy cinematic journey, this song matches with the easter egg chapter at the end of the book. Spoiler alert, while that chapter (chapter one of The Aquarist of Ganymede) is attributed to Raymond Gunn Sr., an Afro-Russian sci-fi writer, I wrote this.

Hence the remarkable parallels to the main story. I did this to give myself a challenge of writing a pulp story with no formatting gimmicks. Pure story. I’ve gotten a few emails, including one from a PhD in Lit candidate asking where they could find the entire novel. Heh.

The song however is a bit more uplifting than my book and elevates this final chapter, which I believe lifts up the entire novel, for those that come back and read it. H/T to Alan Moore.

NOTE:

Sun Ra and Karlheinz Stockhausen are both referenced in the book, but I found their music too dissonate for writing and/or chilling.

DSH is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. As a novelist, he is a 2x Kirkus Prize nominee and active member of the HWA and SFWA.

He currently lives with his wife and son and dog and chickens and a dozen typewriters in a valley between the ocean, the mountains, and the desert.

[NSFW] is his second novel.

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