Eric Schlich’s novel Eli Harpo’s Adventure to the Afterlife is a breathtaking debut, a brilliant satire that explores themes of queerness and religion.
At its heart Eli Harpo’s Adventure to the Afterlife is about a thirteen-year-old boy in crisis with his family, his faith, and his sexuality. My own musical taste (especially at thirteen) has always been pop-centric and tied to narrative. My first CDs were all soundtracks to movies and musicals. So here’s the soundtrack to the novel—one song per chapter, with nods to the other films, TV shows, and stage productions these songs starred in.
“God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys
(Prologue: Heaven Hoax)
A pop song about a co-dependent love (“God only knows what I’d be without you”). I see this as relating less to the romance in the novel (Eli and his husband Will) and more to the problematic relationship between Eli and his father, Simon, a Baptist minister who co-opts Eli’s near-death experience and supposed trip to Heaven in his self-published book, Heaven or Bust!. I imagine this playing over the novel’s opening credits, as it does in two of my favorite religious comedies/dramas—Saved! and Big Love.
“Forever Young” by Alphaville
(Chapter 1: New Jerusalem)
In the first chapter, Simon and Eli sell copies of Heaven or Bust! to the elderly residents of the New Jerusalem nursing home. The big selling point of Simon’s sermon is the “known as you are known” take on Heaven, in which everyone is young again in the afterlife. “Forever young / I want to be forever young…”
“Material Girl” by Madonna
(Chapter 2: Charlie Gideon)
The novel’s call to adventure arrives in the form of famous televangelist Charlie Gideon. He arrives on the Harpo doorstep to buy the rights to Heaven or Bust! and recruit the family into a scheme to build a new Heaven attraction at his Christian theme park, Bible World. Eli’s mother, Debbie, is suspicious of Gideon’s intentions, but Simon is starstruck. Debbie later teases him about having a crush on Gideon. “Cause the boy with the cold hard cash / is always Mister Right,” right? She’s being facetious, but we do live in a material world and the family really needs the money, especially with the medical bills piling up for Debbie’s cancer treatments.
“Footloose” by Kenny Loggins
(Chapter 3: Not Exactly Footloose)
Footloose features in Eli’s origin story, retold in this chapter via the meet-cute between his parents, Simon and Debbie. On their walk home together after a high school dance, Debbie misjudges Simon by drawing a comparison to the movie: “I’m surprised you were at the dance. I thought your church might have banned it.” Simon laughs: “It’s not exactly Footloose.”
“Scars” by Papa Roach
(Chapter 4: Creation Baptist)
“I tear my heart open / I sew myself shut / My weakness is / That I care too much / And my scars remind me / That the past is real / I tear my heart open / Just to feel.” Apt lyrics for the scene in which Eli must show off the scar of his heart surgery to the church congregation at Creation Baptist to save Simon from bombing his sermon and mortifying the whole family. Yeesh!
“Thank U, Next” by Ariana Grande
(Chapter 5: Ask Again Later)
A perfect song for this chapter in which Gideon breaks up with the Harpos and plans to move on to the next Heaven Kid on his list, only for Eli to beg him to reconsider, landing his family the deal of a lifetime. (…or is it?)
“Earth Angel” by The Penguins
(Chapter 6: Raptured!)
In a jump to college, we get a glimpse of Eli and Will’s courtship after they meet in the Atheist Student Union at the University of Kentucky. “Earth Angel” would be a fun tongue-in-cheek song to play over their flirtation. For Eli and Debbie’s Raptured! videogame marathon, I’d play “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” but we already have an R.E.M. song on this list. Coming up…
“Chicago” by Sufjan Stevens
(Chapter 7: Christ Talk)
Before the grand opening of the Heaven Realm at Bible World, the Harpo family goes on a press tour through the South. So no Chicago, but still—this song involves a road trip and plays in my favorite dysfunctional family movie of all time: Little Miss Sunshine. So I thought it’d be a nice track for when the Harpos hit the road, departing their hometown of Canaan, Kentucky.
“Losing My Religion” by R.E.M.
(Chapter 8: Gil Bright)
“That’s me in the corner / That’s me in the spotlight / Losing my religion…” Michael Stipe insists this song isn’t literally about losing your religion. The lyrics refer to an expression for “losing one’s temper or civility” or “feeling frustrated and desperate.” Nonetheless, I think it’s ideal for this episode in the book, when Eli meets the famous atheist Gil Bright in a deathbed conversion stunt and is rocked to his very core.
“Misbehavin’” (1989) by Aimee-Leigh, Baby Billy
(Chapter 9: Simon Says)
In a novel featuring a televangelist character, I gotta have a song from The Righteous Gemstones. And this one’s a hootenanny banger. I envision “Misbehavin’” playing over a montage—Eli telling outrageous lies about Heaven in church after church, after he watches the Simon Says videos and becomes disillusioned with his father’s entire evangelical enterprise.
“Take Me to Church” by Hozier
(Chapter 10: PFLAG)
This song is forever tied in my mind to its viral music video—a homophobic attack on gay lovers, shot in black and white. I’ve placed it here, in the chapter in which Debbie takes Eli to a PFLAG meeting in Atlanta and he fails to come out of the closet in a church basement full of strangers. But really if I had to nominate a single song to be the anthem for the entire novel, this would be it. Every lyric is like an arrow aimed at Eli’s poor, tortured heart: “Take me to church / I’ll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies / I’ll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife / Offer me that deathless death / Good God, let me give you my life.”
“Two by Two,” from The Book of Mormon
(Chapter 11: Orlando)
One of my favorite scenes in The Book of Mormon is the doling out of missionary assignments. Elder Price is hopeful he’ll be sent to Orlando (“Orlando! I love you, Orlando! / Sea world, and Disney! / And putt putt, golfing!”)—but ends up in Uganda instead. It’d be fun to play that bit over shots of the Harpos’ arrival in sunny Orlando.
“Personal Jesus” by Depeche Mode
(Chapter 12: Shalom!)
Here we have the scene of Simon and the boys’ arrival at Bible World. Who’s there to greet them? Why—Jesus, of course! Meeting the actor playing Jesus is extremely awkward for Eli since he’s been having recurring sex dreams about the “real” Jesus he met in Heaven. The movie in my mind plays this song as the Harpos approach the Shalom! Welcome Arch where Jesus waits for them. And when Jake, Eli’s younger brother, yanks a fistful of Jesus’s beard—like a mall Santa’s—to make sure it’s real. “Reach out and touch faith.”
“Everyday” by Buddy Holly
(Chapter 13: Realm to Realm)
“Every day, it’s a-getting closer / Going faster than a rollercoaster / Love like yours will surely come my way.” Another montage song. Played as the Harpos explore the Realms at Bible World with attractions like Noah’s Ark Park, The Red Sea Aquarium, and Crucifixion Corner.
“Sitting in Limbo” by Jimmy Cliff
(Chapter 14: Green Room)
Fitting for a chapter that takes place backstage in the green room before The Charlie Gideon Hour. Eli’s definitely in limbo—torn between fulfilling his promise to his mom by going through with the Heaven charade or freeing himself once and for all. Will his faith lead him on?
“You’ll Be in My Heart” by Phil Collins
(Chapter 15: The Charlie Gideon Hour)
While on her deathbed, Debbie sings this song to Eli. It’s a very sad moment in the book. Since she won’t be at many of the milestones in his life, she plants future memories for him. She imagines his future wedding and picks this song for their mother-son dance.
“Superstar,” from Jesus Christ Superstar
(Chapter 16: The Throne Room)
The novel’s climax takes place in The Throne Room of the Celestial Palace in the Heaven Realm at Bible World. Eli is plopped down on Jesus’s lap and ends up (spoiler alert!) kissing him to shock the Christian reporters and get Gideon to finally fire the Harpos and cast them out of the park. I imagine this song playing over the chaos that ensues: “Jesus Christ / Who are you? What have you sacrificed?”
“Father and Son” by Cat Stevens
(Chapter 17: It Gets Worse)
Cat Stevens is my dad’s favorite singer; his music is the soundtrack of my childhood. This is a beautiful song that always makes me tear up, especially now that I have a son of my own. In a novel about the strained relationship between a father and son this song has to feature. I’d place it here, in the fallout chapter, when Eli finally breaks away from Simon and his homophobic family: “From the moment I could talk / I was ordered to listen / Now, there’s a way and I know / That I have to go away.”
“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” by Blue Öyster Cult
(Chapter 18: Graduation)
This falling action chapter shows another glimpse of Eli’s college life. His brother Jake comes to visit for graduation and Eli feels the distance between the world he left behind and the one he occupies now. He misses his family, but he doesn’t regret his choice. He’s in a much healthier place now, forming a new queer family with Will. Love is the only thing that conquers death: “Baby, take my hand (don’t fear the reaper) / We’ll be able to fly (don’t fear the reaper) / Baby, I’m your man.”
“Heaven is a Place on Earth” by Belinda Carlisle
(Epilogue: Heaven Hoax Redux)
I’ll never forget this song playing at the end of my favorite Black Mirror episode, “San Junipero,” also about afterlives, but of the digital kind. The perfect pop song to bookend the novel with The Beach Boys opening. Play it over Eli’s final departure from Bible World and the end credits. “Baby, I was afraid before / But I’m not afraid anymore.”