A Perfect Spiral of consumption
"Capitalism" (1988 Boing Alive Version) - Oingo Boingo
this has been the theme song of the entire book basically forever. if i had to cut a trailer for hunger's bite and could use any song freely it would be this, and particularly this version. i love the extended intro. the anticipation of the drums, the hints of the bass line, the build up of the trumpets and guitar--it's perfect! a perfect introductory song. it is THE honeycutt song.
the original title of this playlist was "when's the last time you dug a ditch, baby?"
it also won't surprise anyone that, aside from ted danson, i think danny elfman (especially current day old man danny elfman) would make a great voice for honeycutt. like my actual Ideal adaptation would be stop motion and if you're gonna get anybody to score your stop motion horror YA and voice the villain.........
"Smiling Faces Sometimes" - The Undisputed Truth
straightforwardly, this is a "don't trust anyone that wants too much to be your friend" song. and that's how we meet honeycutt! all smiles, all friendliness. honestly, it's not much deeper than that. i said this one was gonna be pretty straightforward!
"Sympathy for the Devil" - The Rolling Stones
another one where it's just, like, you know why this is on here. of course honeycutt has sympathy for the devil on his playlist. he's a man of wealth and taste. and it's just a good fit for the overall Sound of the playlist, i tried to keep it the front half in this like.. old, rock and roll sort of sound. music you can imagine this guy listening to in a car while he grins at you from the window.
"Puttin' on the Ritz" - Bing Crosby
song for seducing the people around you into glamour and comfort and wealth. i'm SORRY he's just SO completely straightforward. he's the cartoon villain! he has no growth arc! he does what he do!
"Toxic Love" - Tim Curry (from FernGully)
i had to really consider whether i wanted this song on the final playlist because it's almost Too embarrassingly surface level. it's a greedy villain song on a greedy villain playlist. wow! but like. how could i not have this on the honeycutt playlist, man. it has to be on the honeycutt playlist.
but i hope you enjoy tim curry saying "a special kind of horny"
"Soup is Good Food" - The Dead Kennedys
the narrator is just honeycutt. that's just him. that's all things he would say. it's barely off from what he DOES say.
how does it feel to be a budget cut? you're snipped. you no longer exist :)
i believe my friend ryan suggested this to me when i was trying to fill out/finalize the playlist. thanks ryan.
"Gallow's Pole" - Led Zeppelin
he's the hangman.
"Parasites" - Daniel Kahn & the Painted Bird
technically honeycutt views himself as a predator, not a parasite, but the spirit is there. and it's just a genuinely fun song lol.
"Paint it Black" - London Symphony Orchestra
i usually try very hard not to include two songs from the same source on one playlist, because what's the fun in that, BUT i will make exceptions for extremely disparate covers. and i think an orchestral cover (by an ACTUAL ORCHESTRA do not ever give me that midi synthetic 'epic version' shit) is suitably different.
this is the point where the playlist starts switching into instrumentals, and starts getting a little eerier. perhaps this is what the band was playing when neeta met him for dinner?
so i didn't realize until after the book was out that this was from the 2019 remake of suspiria. i have another suspiria (1977) song on the playlist. sometimes that happens.
anyway isn't this track fuckin creepy. good song for a fuckin creepy dude like honeycutt.
"Waltz to the Death" - Danny Elfman
god i doubled up three times on this playlist. anyway. this is actually what's playing when neeta comes to dinner. obviously.
"Sighs" - Goblin (from Suspiria 1977)
creepy music for a creepy dude!! song for a man making people eat each other! song for things getting incredibly bad incredibly fast! waugh!
suspiria will make your skin crawl for like three different reasons, BUT, if you're an utena head and you can handle 1970s gore, i highly recommend it. bare minimum, i recommend listening to the full soundtrack.
"Note to Self" - Theodore Shapiro (from Severance)
song for the scariest man on earth following you into the rotted out belly of the ship, getting bigger, hungrier, laughing at you, dropping fur coats and pearls and new shoes as he pursues you deeper and deeper into the darkness, laughing at you, laughing at you.
i don't have a super strong justification for this one beyond "what's good for business/is good for us all" but it feels like the Mood of him trying to maintain order on the ship and failing to turn everyone away from rescuing emery + the others. this song is the color of that scene to me, do you understand.
"The Hell of It" - Paul Williams (from Phantom of the Paradise)
HAHA IDIOT YOU DIED AND NOBODY MISSES YOU!! goodbye! goodbye! goodbye! i also just really like this movie and particularly really like paul williams. love that little guy.