JUNE MIX by Ariel Schrag

ADAM: The Soundtrack

The following mix is made up of every song mentioned in my novel, ADAM. If there’s a section where music is playing, but no song is specified, I have decided what song that should be, here.

1. Karma Police by Radiohead
In the opening scene when Adam goes over to Kelsey Winslow’s house, this is the music Kelsey puts on and does a flow-y dance to prior to her and Adam getting high.

2. Rebel Girl by Bikini Kill
This is the song Adam and Brad hear Casey blast from her room while making out with her girlfriend, Sam.

3. Going Back to Dani: Mashup of Notorious B.I.G. and Red Hot Chili Peppers
When Adam first enters Casey’s Columbia dorm he hears a mixture of rap and rock wafting out from various dorm rooms.

4. Just Let Go by Fischerspooner
This is the “weird electronic music” Ethan puts on when Adam first meets him and the gang sets up their new Bushwick apartment.

5. The L Word Theme by Betty
The opening credits theme song that everyone, except Adam, sings along to at the L Word party.

6. King of Carrot Flowers Pt.1 by Neutral Milk Hotel
The song Ethan has too strong of an emotional reaction to when he and the others are pre-gaming at Boy Casey’s before The Hole.

7. Hey Ya! by Outkast
The pounding pop music Adam hears upon first entering The Hole.

8. Speed of Sound by Coldplay
The song that Luke Trevor uses in his FTM transitioning music video “Becoming Me.”

9. This is Halloween from The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack
The tune Adam and Gillian sing “M. Night Shyamalan” to.

10. Jolene by Dolly Parton
This is the song playing when Adam walks into Gillian’s bedroom for the first time.

Photo Credit: Chloe Aftel

11. 99 Problems by Jay-Z
One of the songs Brad and Colin are always going around quoting like they really relate.

12. Summer in the City by The Lovin’ Spoonful
From Gillian’s mix. Adam listens and imagines Gillian and him on Carlisle’s rooftop after the insanely hot day at the Gay Marriage rally.

13. How Does it Feel By Avril Lavigne
From Gillian’s mix. Adam listens and imagines Gillian and him walking around the BODIES exhibit, all the stripped-raw muscle-and-bones men staring at them.

14. Several Arrows Later by Matt Pond PA
From Gillian’s mix. Adam listens and thinks about how his mom, dad, Brad, everyone from is old life doesn’t understand him or want him the way Gillian does.

15. So Jealous by Tegan and Sara
From Gillian’s mix. Adam listens and is filled with jealousy over anyone who has ever been or will be with Gillian.

16. Rebellion (Lies) by Arcade Fire
From Gillian’s mix. Adam listens and thinks about the grand universality of lies.

17. Do You Realize?? by The Flaming Lips
From Gillian’s mix. Adam listens and imagines Gillian and him having sex, and how sometimes his mind will blur out and it feels like floating in space.

18. Drive by The Cars
From Gillian’s mix. Adam listens and thinks about Gillian and his unspoken, inevitable end.

19. I Want it That Way by Backstreet Boys
The song Lionel wants Adam to duet with him at Karaoke.

20. Different Drum by Linda Ronstadt
The song Gillian sings at Karaoke, shocking Adam with her talent and causing him to feel a sudden, desperate love and possessiveness.

21. Shameless by Ani DiFranco
The song Adam and Brad sing Karaoke to with Gillian and her gang, making them probably the only two straight teenage boys in existence to belt Ani DiFranco at the top of their lungs from a stage.

22. Words and Guitar by Sleater-Kinney
The music that groggy Adam wakes up to, crammed next to Riverrun in the back of Jackie’s car, on the way to Camp Trans.

23. The Life by Katastrophe
The song Adam and Gillian can hear faintly playing back at the Camp Trans dance party as they have sex on the bank by the lake.

***

— Ariel Schrag is the author of the graphic memoirs Awkward, Definition, Potential, and Likewise, and has written for television series for HBO and Showtime. Adam is her first novel. She lives in Brooklyn.