Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
59692
225928359
2008-07-16T01:43:10Z
72.201.69.18
/* Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said in popular culture */
{{infobox Book | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
| name = Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = [[Image:FlowMyTearsThePolicemanSaid(1stEd).jpg|200px]]
| image_caption = Cover of first edition (hardcover)
| author = [[Philip K. Dick]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = {{USA}}
| language = [[English language|English]]
| series =
| genre = [[Science fiction]] [[novel]]
| publisher = [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]]
| release_date = 1974
| english_release_date =
| media_type = Print ([[Hardcover]] & [[Paperback]])
| pages = 231 pp
| isbn = ISBN 0-783-89583-6
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
'''''Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said''''' is a 1974 [[science fiction]] [[novel]] by [[Philip K. Dick]] about '''Jason Taverner''', a genetically enhanced pop singer and [[television]] star who loses his identity overnight. The story is set in a dystopian version of the year 1988, in which America has become a [[police state]] in order to deal with a Second Civil War. The novel was awarded first prize in the [[Campbell award (best novel)|John W. Campbell Award]]s for the best [[science fiction]] novel of the year in 1975. It was also nominated for a [[Nebula Award]] in 1974 and a [[Hugo Award]] in 1975.
Soon after writing this book, Dick said he experienced a series of strange coincidences in his own life. He wrote about this in the essay "How to Build a Universe that Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later,"<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://deoxy.org/pkd_how2build.htm
|title=How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later
|first=Philip K.
|last=Dick
|year=1978}}</ref> included as the introduction to his short story collection ''[[I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon (collection)|I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon]].'' He would later expand these experiences into one of his later novels, ''[[VALIS]]''.
== Plot summary==
The novel is set in a [[dystopia]]n future [[United States]], albeit one which is entering a post-[[totalitarian]] era with prospects of future democratic reform. Set in a then-future 1988, it extrapolates events from the late sixties and early seventies. These culminated in a "Second Civil War", also called the "Insurrection", which led to the collapse of democratic institutions in the [[United States]] and elsewhere. The [[National Guard of the United States|National Guard]] ("nats") and US [[police]] force ("pols") re-established social order through instituting a dictatorship, with a "Director" at the apex, and police marshals and generals as operational commanders in the field. [[Compulsory sterilization]] of [[African Americans]] has sharply reduced their population, and, after the laws for sterilization were eventually reversed, increased their social status to the point where even verbally harassing someone of colour is considered to be a major crime. By comparison, radicalised former [[university]] [[students]] eke out a desperate existence in subterranean [[kibbutz]] communes. However, there appears to be no social barriers to the use of [[recreational drugs]] in this future, nor are some forms of [[paedophilia]] a crime.
After his former lover throws a [[Callisto]]-based [[parasite]] lifeform at him, celebrity entertainer Jason Taverner wakes up one morning to find himself to be completely unknown to the outside world. He has no identification, there is no record of him in the extensive databases of the police government, and neither his friends, nor do his former fans have any memory of him. As an ex-[[celebrity]] and an ex-[[citizen]], he has real problems. These are exacerbated for him as a "Six", a highly rated stratum of covert [[genetic engineering]] of humans that apparently began in the 1940s (although why this occurred, and who instigated this process, are left unclear).
Taverner's story is intertwined with those of Police General '''Felix Buckman''' and his hypersexual sister '''Alys Buckman''', who has an [[incestuous]] relationship with him, but otherwise seems to be [[lesbian]]. They have a son born of their union, Barney. After police surveillance detects his lack of identification, Felix interrogates Taverner, but then is forced to let him go, whereupon Alys invites him to stay at her apartment.
Alys is a heavy user of recreational drugs, including KR-3, a new reality warping variety. Initially, she also appears to be the only person left who recognizes Jason Taverner. However, the drug has a devastating metabolic side effect. After Jason takes [[mescaline]] himself, he is horrified to find Alys' [[skeleton]] and leaves her home, before meeting Mary Ann Dominic, a [[Pottery|potter]]. As they discuss his recent experiences in a [[cafe]], Taverner's existence returns to normal as the effects of the KR-3 that Alys took finally wear off posthumously.
Felix discovers that Alys had a [[lesbian]] affair with Heather Hart, another elite "Six" (and one of Jason's ex-lovers). KR-3 caused her brain to become "unbound" from her own alternate reality, so she could perceive and interact with those of an adjacent world, where Jason Taverner did not exist. She fixated on Taverner due to her appreciation of his musical talent. Jason surrenders himself to the police, so that he can be cleared of Alys' death, which duly occurs. Heartbroken, Felix then travels to the countryside to mourn the loss of his sister and lover.
In an [[epilogue]], the final fates of the prior characters are disclosed. Felix Buckman retires to [[Borneo]] where he is assassinated for writing an [[investigative journalism|exposé]] of the global police apparatus. His son Barney becomes a police officer as well, but is invalided out of the service, and becomes an [[antiques]] [[Collecting|collector]]. Jason Taverner dies of old age after a lifetime of [[hedonism]], while Heather Hart abandons her celebrity career, and becomes a recluse. Mary Anne Dominic's [[pottery]] wins an international award and her works become of great value while she lives into her eighties. Ultimately, the revolutionary students give up and voluntarily enter forced-labor camps. The detention camps later dwindle away and close down, the police-state government no longer poses a threat, and police marshals are abolished in 2136 CE.
For Dick, such a decisive [[narrative]] resolution is unusual in his extended fiction. His novels usually end ambiguously for the central characters.
The themes of celebrity, genetic enhancement, altered reality, and drugs are interwoven with discussion of the value of love and the meaning of identity.
=== Origin of title ===
The title is a reference to ''[[Flow my tears]]'', a piece by the 16th century composer [[John Dowland]], setting to music a poem by an anonymous author (possibly Dowland himself). The poem begins:
:''Flow, my tears, fall from your springs,''
:''Exiled for ever, let me mourn''
:''Where night's black bird her sad infamy sings,''
:''There let me live forlorn.''
==Mystical claims made about the work==
In his article 'How to build a universe that doesn't fall apart two days later'[http://deoxy.org/pkd_how2build.htm] Dick describes how in describing an incident at the end of the book (end of chapter 27) to an Episcopalian priest, the priest noted its striking similarity to a scene in the [[Acts of the Apostles|Books of Acts]] in the Bible. In Dick's book, the police chief Felix Buckman meets a black stranger at an all-night gas station, with whom he uncharacteristically makes an emotional connection. First of all he hands the stranger a drawing of a heart pierced by an arrow. He then flies away but quickly returns and hugs the stranger, after which they strike up a friendly conversation. In the book of Acts (chapter 8), the disciple Philip meets an Ethiopian eunuch sitting in a chariot to whom he explains a passage from Isaiah and then converts him to Christianity.
In his article, Dick then notes that a few months after writing the book, he himself uncharacteristically came to the aid of a black stranger who had run out of gas. In particular after giving the man some money and then driving away, he then returned to help the man reach a gas station. Dick was then struck by the similarity between this incident and that described in his book (approaching a black stranger, and returning again). In all cases, the event of a white man approaching a black stranger (in a car related situation) may seem insufficiently rare to justify Dick's assertion that the entire world is an illusion and that we are in fact living in the time of the book of Acts.
== ''Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said'' in popular culture ==
*[[Gary Numan]], in his song "Listen to the Sirens" (from his band's self-titled debut album ''[[Tubeway Army (album)|Tubeway Army]]''), clearly makes a reference to the novel with the opening lyrics, "Flow my tears, the new police song".
*The band [[Liars (band)|Liars]] have a song called "Flow My Tears the Spider Said" on their album ''[[They Were Wrong, So We Drowned]]''.
*The bassist [[Stuart Hamm]] recorded a song called ''Flow My Tears'' on his first solo album [[Radio Free Albemuth (album)|Radio Free Albemuth]] (also the name of a Dick novel).
*The New Jersey [[grindcore]] group [[Discordance Axis]] based their song of the same name (from their second LP, ''Jouhou'') on Dick's novel.
*There is a discussion of the book as well as Dick's later essay "How to Build a Universe that Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later" near the end of [[Richard Linklater]]'s film ''[[Waking Life]]''.
*[[Subway to Sally]] included the song in their song "Syrah".
*[[Built to Spill]] has a song "Nowhere Nothin' Fuckup" on the album ''[[Ultimate Alternative Wavers]]'', the same title as Jason Taverner's song in the novel.
*In the film ''[[Southland Tales]]'', the character Bart Bookman (played by [[Jon Lovitz]]) is a policeman who says "Flow my tears" after killing an unarmed couple (played by [[Wood Harris]] and [[Amy Poehler]]). Additionally, two characters in the film have the surname "Taverner;" Roland Taverner is familiar with the work, as is the character Pilot Abeline. The two served in Iraq together, as detailed in the film's graphic novel prequels.
*Indie shoegaze band Nowhere Nothing is thought to take their name from the novel. Their album "hiccup" is supposedly a play on the title of Jason Taverner's hit single "Nowhere Nothin Fuckup" (Nowhere Nothing - hiccup). They also have a demo called "Taverner" released digitally under a separate band name. Additionally, there is a reference to Philip K. Dick's work in general on their album "collection five" with a song titled "Future according to PKD".
==Stage version==
[[Mabou Mines]] presented the world premiere of their adaptation of ''Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said'' at the Boston Shakespeare Theatre from June 18-30, 1985. The play received mixed reviews and a lot of attention from the [[Boston]] media. Linda Hartinian, a personal friend of PKD's, adapted the novel to the stage and designed the set (she also played Mary Ann Dominick, and read Phil's 1981 "Tagore Letter" at the end of the play).
[[The Boston Phoenix]] quotes Hartinian on the subject in an interview before the play opened: "He was someone I admired and looked up to, and I knew he had always wanted one of his works to be adapted. One day when I came to visit him he jumped up and grabbed this manuscript and said 'I want to give you something, but I don't have anything, so I'm going to give you this manuscript, and someday its gonna be worth a lot of money.'" The Phoenix continues, "It was a draft of ''Flow My Tears'', and as Hartinian discovered when she sat down to adapt the book, it contained many passages that had been cut from the published text, including a discussion of ways to remember deceased writers that was to prove prescient. Naturally Hartinian based her script on her private edition."
The play was directed by Bill Raymond, Hartinian's husband. "It was in response to Linda's loss that we chose ''Tears''," he told the Phoenix, "because ''Flow My Tears'' is in fact a novel about grief, and not necessarily just about loss of identity." The play has been performed by Mabou Mines in Boston and [[New York]] and by the [[Prop Theatre]] in [[Chicago]]. It was published by the [[Dramatic Publishing Company]] of [[Woodstock, Illinois]], which also leases stock and amateur acting rights to the play.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.philipkdickfans.com/pkdweb/FLOW%20MY%20TEARS.htm|title= FLOW MY TEARS|work=PhilipKDickFans.com|accessdate=2007-02-09}}</ref>
==Film version==
In [[February 1]], [[2004]], ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' announced that [[Utopia Pictures & Television]] had acquired the rights to produce three of [[Philip K. Dick]]'s works: ''Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said'', ''[[VALIS]]'' and ''[[Radio Free Albemuth]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117899328?categoryid=13&cs=1&query=utopia+and+pictures&display=utopia+pictures|title=Variety.com - Utopia picks Dick works|date=[[2004-02-01]]|work=Variety.com|accessdate=2006-08-14}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
*Philip K. Dick, ''Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said'', ISBN 0-679-74066-X
== External links ==
*[http://www.philipkdick.com/works_novels_flowmytears.html Summary at official PKD website]
*[http://pkdickbooks.com/SFnovels/Flow_my_tears.html ''Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said'' cover art gallery]
*[http://theopencritic.com/?p=51 ''Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said''] reviewed at The Open Critic
{{Philip K. Dick}}
[[Category:1974 novels]]
[[Category:Dystopian novels]]
[[Category:Novels by Philip K. Dick]]
[[Category:Science fiction novels]]
[[Category:John W. Campbell award winner]]
[[Category:Existentialist works]]
[[de:Eine andere Welt]]
[[es:Fluyan mis lágrimas, dijo el policía]]
[[fr:Coulez mes larmes, dit le policier]]
[[it:Scorrete lacrime, disse il poliziotto]]
[[hu:Csordulj könnyem, mondta a rendőr]]