An intoxicating, sun-soaked fever dream, Emma Cline's The Girls was loosely based on the Manson Family and follows a teenage girl who gets sucked into a murderous, hippie cult in 1969. It was the hit novel of the year when it was released in 2016 and brought a new wave of literary interest in late-60s Hollywood (see: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Heroin - Lana Del Rey
The only modern song on this list, Heroin still feels like the most natural fit. With lines like 'Topanga's hot today/ Manson's in the air' and 'something about this sun has made these kids get scary/ writing in blood on the walls and shit' perfectly conjures up visions of sizzling sun, cult worship and endless California hills.
The End - The Doors
This song sounds like pure evil to me. It's like a bad trip. A twelve minute epic, this otherworldly track goes on a psychedelic journey with Jim Morrison hollering about killing his parents before finally ending with 'kill! kill! kill!' It's an incredible song, but it's about as nightmarish as popular music gets. You could absolutely see someone like Charles Manson latching onto this song back in the 1960s.
Helter Skelter - The Beatles
This is a cracking song by the Fab Four, and it's a shame it's been marred by the Manson story. The killers famously wrote the title (as well as another of their tunes, Piggies) on the walls in their victims' blood, believing Helter Skelter to be code for a race war that would ravage the earth. Aside from that unfortunate legacy, it's also famous for potentially being the first heavy metal song.
Rejoyce - Jefferson Airplane
A spookily hypnotic psychedelic track, this is the perfect fit for a book about a man who cast a psychological spell so strong that teenage girls were willing to kill for him.
Summer in the City - The Lovin' Spoonful
The Girls is one of those novels where the setting is another character. The intense heat of the California summer is an integral part of the book, and it's evoked fantastically in this psychedelic pop anthem.
You Only Live Twice - Nancy Sinatra
The sweeping instrumentation and intriguing vocals of this classic Bond theme give it a real Hollywood vibe that fits perfectly with the book. The book begins as bored teenager Evie becomes obsessed with a stranger called Suzanne, who ultimately initiates her into the killer cult, so the lyrics are a great fit: 'love is a stranger who'll beckon you on/ don't think of the danger'.
Hurdy Gurdy Man - Donovan
I don't know whether it's just the inclusion on the Zodiac and The Conjuring soundtracks, but this song has always given me serial killer vibes. It sounds so dark and unsettling, it's hard to believe it's actually about a flower child/street musician who 'comes singing songs of love'. Either way, it's both classic Sixties and super creepy, which makes it the ideal choice for a playlist inspired by a Hippie murder cult!
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