Thomas Pynchon’s self-curated ‘Inherent Vice’ playlist
Peace and love’s days were numbered. The zeitgeist had stepped one toke over the line, and as the 1960s turned to the ’70s in psychedelic Los Angeles, the onset of paranoia was apparent. This is the schism where Thomas Pynchon‘s novel, Inherent Vice, takes place. It is part noir thriller/part satirical commentary about what happens when the dreamy side of society suddenly turns nightmarish, awash in the aftermath of Charles Manson’s carnage and a hundred other unfortunate horrors.
It is, therefore, essential that music – the medium that clung to the times like an intoxicating miasma – was central to the novel and interacted with the characters. As Pynchon writes in parody: “Dealing with the Hippie is generally straightforward. His childlike nature will usually respond positively to drugs, sex, and/or rock and roll, although in which order these are to be deployed must depend on conditions specific to the moment.”
This simplification is then expanded upon by fracture snippets of life from the era that come to the reader like a voyeur. He writes song lyrics throughout the novel that cut through like encapsulations of the era outside of the fictional web that he weaves. And ultimately, it was an era recognising the importance of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.
So, there’s romance in the book, music, and the quip: “As long as American life was something to be escaped from, the cartel could always be sure of a bottomless pool of new customers.”
We know little of Pynchon himself. The private writer has made that so; however, within the eclectic nature of the music he mentions in his works, we can get a tiny insight. Throughout his books, he also litters fictional songs that fans have often tirelessly tried to tie to real melodies; alas, a playlist that he curated himself for Amazon upon the release of Inherent Vice is the most direct glimpse into Pynchon’s record collection that we may ever get.
Amid his fixation with time, songs stand as weird strands of metaphysics that dictate possibilities. As he sort of explains: “Like a record on a turntable, all it takes is one groove’s difference, and the universe can be on into a whole ‘nother song.“
These are the whole ‘nother songs that make up the world of Inherent Vice (NB some of these are fictional and may or may not exist purely in Pynchon’s head—at any rate, they certainly don’t exist on Spotify for the playlist below).
Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice playlist
- ‘Bamboo’ by Johnny and the Hurricanes
- ‘Bang Bang’ by The Bonzo Dog Band
- ‘Bootleg Tape’ by Elephant’s Memory
- ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ by The Beatles
- ‘Desafinado’ by Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto, with Charlie Byrd
- ‘Elusive Butterfly’ by Bob Lind
- ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ by Frank Sinatra
- ‘Full Moon in Pisces’ by Lark
- ‘God Only Knows’ by The Beach Boys
- The Greatest Hits of Tommy James and The Shondells by Tommy James and The Shondells
- ‘Happy Trails to You’ by Roy Rogers
- ‘Help Me, Rhonda’ by The Beach Boys
- ‘Here Come the Hodads’ by The Marketts
- ‘The Other Side’ by Tiny Tim
- ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ by Pink Floyd
- ‘It Never Entered My Mind’ by Andrea Marcovicci
- ‘Just the Lasagna (Semi-Bossa Nova)’ by Carmine & the Cal-Zones
- ‘Long Trip Out’ by Spotted Dick
- ‘Motion by the Ocean’ by The Boards
- ‘People Are Strange (When You’re a Stranger)’ by The Doors
- ‘Pipeline’ by The Chantays
- ‘Quentin’s Theme’ by Charles Randolph Grean Sounde
- Rembetissa by Roza Eskenazi
- ‘Repossess Man’ by Droolin’ Floyd Womack
- ‘Skyful of Hearts’ performed by Larry ‘Doc’ Sportello
- ‘Something Happened to Me Yesterday’ by The Rolling Stones
- ‘Something in the Air’ by Thunderclap Newman
- ‘Soul Gidget’ by Meatball Flag
- ‘A Stranger in Love’ by The Spaniels
- ‘Sugar Sugar’ by The Archies
- ‘Super Market’ by Fapardokly
- ‘Surfin’ Bird’ by The Trashmen
- ‘Telstar’ by The Tornados
- ‘Tequila’ by The Champs
- ‘The Big Valley’ by Beer
- ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’ by Ethel Merman
- Vincebus Eruptum by Blue Cheer
- ‘Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)’ by Domenico Modugno
- ‘Wabash Cannonball’ by Roy Acuff & His Crazy Tennesseans
- ‘Wipeout’ by The Surfaris
- ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ by The Beach Boys
- ‘Yummy Yummy Yummy’ by Ohio Express
