The patriarchal, white supremacist, capitalist, imperialistic world that I came up in has finally driven me to a break. This world is no longer tolerable and I truly need to get the fuck out. As a result, I've been studying exit strategies and would like to share them through an album entitled Breakage: A Hitchhiker's Guide to Babylon, The Musical.
This musical has 5 chapters, but exists in 3 parts: an introduction to Babylon, a breakaway from the bullshit, and finally, a realization of what the protagonist must do.
Trek 1: The Universal American Mainstream Love Song. Folks tell me I'd be more "successful" if I wrote music that was more "universal". Whatever universal story that makes everyone run and buy your music is not my story, so I can't tell it. What I can tell is this universal truth: that people are full of shit. This is the song about it.
Trek 2: No Direction Home, The Babylonian Encounter. After experiencing the Universal American Mainstream, the protagonist realizes that assimilation is not an option. Furthermore, identification with any superficial group is futile. The protagonist's sole purpose is to get the fuck out of Babylon. Help is appreciated. Non-sense is not. This piece represents a bastardization of everything that is indigenous, lovely, and human. It's a "backwards beauty".
Trek 3: Zombified: Meeting up Justin Bridges, fellow hitchhiker on the road, the protagonist pleads for direction from the zombies, only to realize that no one has the answers.
Trek 4: The Hitchhiker's Guide, Chapter 1: The protagonist, understanding that she cannot get answers from other hitchhikers who are in as dire straits as she, turns to her trusty guide and meditates. The guide knows the way.
Trek 5: Ode to the Neo Negro: The most deadly and destructive member of Babylon, the Neo Negro, has the powers to destroy the protagonist from the inside out. Though this Neo Negro seems to sympathize with the hitchhiker on the surface, once allowed to sing his anthem, the protagonist becomes clear that this traveler is to do her no good.
Trek 6: Bitches Be Trippin: A choir of sorts meets the protagonist on the road to remind her that Neo Negroes are not the only threat. Bitches and hos, in fact, are a leading cause of distraction on the road out of Babylon. You know them because they're broke, rightfully so.
Trek 7: The Hitchhiker's Guide, Chapter 2: A solidification of the lessons learned so far. A confirmation.
Trek 8: GTFOHWTBS: The protagonist finally sees Babylon for what it is and speaks out.
Trek 9: The Hitchhiker's Guide, Chapter 3: Feeling vulnerable from her most recent outburst, the protagonist refers once again to her trusty Guide. Sometimes, frequent checks are needed in uncertain terrain.
Trek 10: The Aristocrats: Babylonian captive Tasha Jones greets our protagonist on her journey. Having been in these parts for many years, she is familiar with the evil that dwells in the soil. Her passionate, forthright declaration and plea for freedom shakes our protagonist to the core, reminding her that her journey is neither in vain, nor for personal gain.
Trek 11: Spider Web: A playful tune. Our protagonist comes across an existential spider who wants to get in where he's not wanted. Politely, she tells him, "I will [kill you]."
Trek 12: The Rain Is Coming: Having met with a plethora of peculiar and wayward hitchhikers who have no idea what they're hitchhiking from (the road is rather crowded. All on it are generally confused), the hitchhiker reminds those who are Babylonian converts that their transgressions of old have, in fact, ill prepared them for the road ahead. Comrade Rasheed Jamal hears her proclamation and cosigns.
Trek 13: Don't Get Your Ass Beat: Every free radical has her fair share of encounters with the Order Keepers. Order Keepers do not work to uphold the common good. They merely work to uphold the status quo. In Babylon, the status quo is evil, and therefore, the Order Keepers are evil. But there are some precautionary measures that anyone can take to keep from having an encounter go sour.
Trek 14: The Hitchhiker's Guide, Chapter 4: So much has transpired since the last reference to her trusty guide. Our protagonist almost forgot where to turn for direction. However, just in time to prevent utter self destruction, the guide has returned with The Way.
Trek 15: The Cat Song: Our journey takes a turn and our protagonist begins to believe that she's gone crazy. How could it be possible that everyone she meets in Babylon is evil? Well, it's possible. And it's true. However, the escape is much less of a physical one than was originally predicted. Upon enlightenment, the protagonist turns to her fellow hitchhikers and begins to reflect on the internal struggles that are the key to the door that unlocks freedom.
Trek 16: Wandering: fellow traveler and sage Orlando Saxton creates the soundscape for what would forever be recognized as our protagonists' "breakthrough". Finally, she can see the light.
Trek 17: Paper Trail: Now that the light has been shown, our protagonist knows exactly what to do to get the fuck out of Babylon. With the help of Swami Lyfestile and soundologist Austin (Centipede) Carter, fellow hitchhikers are given good, sound, life saving information, specifically, to leave a paper trail, not just to satiate the Order Keepers, but to also provide clues for future Babylonian refugees.
Trek 18: The Hitchhiker's Guide, Chapter 5: "The force is within you!" Having learned the lessons needed to move forward, our protagonist is now prepared to take the unthinkable journey.
Trek 19: I'm Entertaining: But what's an unthinkable journey without a little entertainment? ......TO BE CONTINUED
This captivating 5 act musical chronicles the journey of 1 woman who struggled diligently to get the fuck out of Babylon. On the way, she meets a plethora of peculiar personalities, including the ill-fated, confused, yet righteously indignant inhabitants of Babylon, the clever, conniving Neo Negro, some wayward revolutionaries, an existential spider, and other disillusioned hitchhikers traipsing along the dry, blustering road (or wet if you're in Portland). In her pointed interactions with friend and foe, our adorable anti-hero learns a few lessons, shares a few laughs, and discovers that the journey of a million miles always lands you right back where you started...with yourself. As is customary on any hitch-hike, the traveler is strapped with her trusty guide which actually talks!! Amazing? Only one way to find out...
No animals were harmed in the making of this photograph. The coyote was killed in a car accident. He was allegedly doing 80 in a 40. Photo by Travis Stanton. Costume by MetroBoutique. Backdrop by the great state of Oregon
BUY BREAKAGE: A HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO BABYLON, THE MUSICAL on CDBABY
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