“Tune in, freak out”: The songs mentioned in Hunter S Thompson’s ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’
“That was the only tape we had, so we played it constantly, over and over, as a kind of demented counterpoint to the radio,” writes Hunter S Thompson’s semi-autobiographical Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. That throwaway line about the Rolling Stones’ ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ not only forms a plot point for Thompson’s gonzo masterclass, but it also summarises the inherent rebellion at the heart of the counterculture age. Artists like The Rolling Stones and writers like Thompson offered a much-need counterpoint to popular culture.
Rock music is virtually inseparable from the era of 1960s counterculture; indeed, it was the art form that managed to bring the cultural revolution into the hearts and minds of young people all over the world. So, when gonzo journalist and leading countercultural figure Hunter S Thompson started work on his ‘savage journey into the heart of the American dream’, music became an invariably important accompaniment. Throughout the tale, music is employed by Duke either to lament the complacency of mainstream culture, signal his own drug-fueled paranoia, or capture the zeitgeist of the time period.
Interestingly, the actual text of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas does not mention a plethora of songs specifically. Although the 1998 film adaptation boasts an extensive soundtrack akin to a counterculture compilation album, Thompson’s wonderfully chaotic acid and grapefruit-ridden anecdotes often move too quickly to focus on specific tracks or artists. At one point, for instance, Duke describes how “A good Kristofferson tune was croaking out of the radio,” which could describe countless different efforts by the outlaw country icon.
Nevertheless, Thompson does make room for a handful of specific songs over the course of the tale. In fact, the influence of music over his work becomes immediately clear in the book’s acknowledgements, which include a dedication “To Bob Dylan, for ‘Mister Tambourine Man,’” a song which is later referenced in Duke’s trip.
Arguably, the most important song mentioned in the novel is The Rolling Stones’ magnum opus, ‘Sympathy for the Devil’, one of only two cassette tapes acquired by Duke and Dr Gonzo throughout the story. The song is mentioned multiple times, but is also used as a method for Thompson to put across some of his countercultural philosophies.
“No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind,” he writes in the book. “Buy the ticket, take the ride…and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well…maybe chalk it up to forced consciousness expansion: Tune in, freak out, get beaten.” That short quote acts as a perfect summary both for Fear and Loathing itself and the inherent manifesto of Thompson himself.
Another notable musical inclusion in the text is Jefferson Airplane’s ‘White Rabbit’. In one of the most memorable moments from Thompson’s work, an incredibly paranoid Dr Gonzo demands Duke throws a toaster into their hotel bathtub at the exact moment that Grace Slick’s stunning vocal performance reaches its peak. Interspersed within this tense scene, Thompson weaves in multiple moments of praise for the Airplane’s groundbreaking album Surrealistic Pillow.
Not all of the songs mentioned in the text are viewed favourably by Duke, though. For instance, the radio lands on ‘Power to the People’ at one point, leading our protagonist to declare, “John Lennon’s political song, ten years too late.” Later, upon encountering ‘Joy To The World’ by Three Dog Night’, he remarks, “First Lennon, now this, I thought. Next, we’ll have Glenn Campbell screaming, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”
Throughout the text, music is employed as a means of reflecting Duke’s mental state at that particular moment. ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, despite its gentle sound, invokes a nasty bout of drug-fueled “Flashing paranoia,” with the writer asking, “What kind of rat-bastard psychotic would play that song–right now, at this moment?” At that moment, he yearns for the sweet sounds of Bob Dylan to offer him some relief, reflecting the hope that Dylan provided to the counterculture generation on the whole.
Thompson’s writing has always gone hand-in-hand with music, and although Fear and Loathing does not mention an extensive range of tracks by name, the music that accompanied his magnum opus brilliantly reflects the changing tides of American society at the time. Both the revolutionary power of counterculture and the complacency of mainstream ‘peace and love’ idealism is portrayed within the novel. As such, the playlist curated throughout the text tells a vital story of American cultural history in its own right.
Every song mentioned in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas:
- Bob Dylan – ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’
- Brewer Shipley – ‘One Toke Over The Line’
- The Rolling Stones – ‘Sympathy for the Devil’
- John Lennon – ‘Power to the People’
- C Company feat. Terry Nelson – ‘Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley’
- Three Dog Night – ‘Joy To The World’
- Jefferson Airplane – ‘White Rabbit’
- Bob Dylan – ‘Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again’
- Simon and Garfunkel – ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’
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