HE Playlist Song Five: The Inspiration for HE

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I’ve written before about my writing being “found art;” that is composed of things I’ve seen, conversations I’ve overheard, people I’ve met, and dwelling in the general milieu of ‘gay chaos.” This is true of my latest novel, “He,” as well but HE is also heavily influenced by music.

Kitt has a cat named Frankenstein:

“…Taking her place, a ragged black cat with an angry-looking scar on his forehead hissed at us. “Frankenstein, come,” Kitt barked without turning around. The cat cast us a baleful glance then stalked away behind Kitt on its silent cat feet.”

The cat wasn’t originally part of the story; he came into being after I heard Sam Cooke’s “Another Saturday Night,” on the radio while I was writing HE.

Another fella told me he had a sister who looked just fine
Instead of being my deliverance, she had a strange resemblance
To a cat named Frankenstein

In an earlier post, I wrote about how Whitney Houston’s “My Love is Your Love” a line of which chorus refers to the historical rebellion on the slave ship, Amistad, representing an unbreakable love that is so strong it overcomes even the most formidable obstacles and tragedies—something Jackson and Oren do repeatedly throughout the book.

In this post, I want to focus on the unlikely song and accompanying video that informed one character in the book and formed the backbone of one of HE’s most pivotal scenes. That song is Diamond Rio’s “It’s all in Your Head,” released in 1996. For some reason that song has always stayed with me and  very much influenced “HE.”

Jackson’s father, Reverend Jack is based on the reverend portrayed by Martin Sheen in the song’svideo:

Daddy was sidewalk, soapbox preacher
Looking forward to the end of the world
Every Friday night he'd pick a Jesus fight
Down at the local pool hall
Racking up souls condemning all those
Caught behind the eight ball

The following lines heavily informs Oren and Jackson’s journey to find their truth and each other:

It's all interpretation
To find the truth you gotta read between the lines
Work out your own salvation
That narrow path is hard to define
Heaven's more than a place
It's a state of mind

But it is a later line in the song on which the novel pivots. Through a mix of grief and guilt, Jackson questions his own truth—his love, his orientation, his relationship with Oren. His doubt destroys everything:

In his quest for truth
Daddy was moved by the spirit
To take up a snake
In a moment of doubt the venom turned out
Stronger than daddy's faith

Yet, his mistake, his doubt—like the Amistad’s chains—cannot ultimately hold him and Oren apart.

WATCH the video for “It’s all in Your Head.”

Photo by GraciousAdebayo on Unsplash


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