And the winner for most torturous sounds to a jihadi’s ears is…..
Was the theme to “Sesame Street” really played to torture prisoners held at Guantanamo and other detention camps? What about Don McLean’s “American Pie”? Or the Meow Mix jingle? Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”?
A high-profile coalition of artists — including the members of Pearl Jam, R.E.M. and the Roots — demanded Thursday that the government release the names of all the songs that were blasted since 2002 at prisoners for hours, even days, on end, to try to coerce cooperation or as a method of punishment.
Dozens of musicians endorsed a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the National Security Archive, a Washington-based independent research institute, seeking the declassification of all records related to the use of music in interrogation practices. The artists also launched a formal protest of the use of music in conjunction with torture.
“I think every musician should be involved,” said Rosanne Cash in a telephone interview Wednesday. “It seems so obvious. Music should never be used as torture.” The singer-songwriter (and daughter of Johnny Cash) said she reacted with “absolute disgust” when she heard of the practice. “It’s beyond the pale. It’s hard to even think about.”
Other musicians, including Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and Tom Morello, formerly of the band Rage Against the Machine, also expressed outrage.
“The fact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity sickens me,” Morello said in a statement. “We need to end torture and close Guantanamo now.”
I agree Morello’s music is sickening. But do these moralizers understand what real torture is? And that Guantanamo today is the world’s most humane detention facility, thanks in no small part to their efforts in making it the most heavily scrutinized?
Admittedly, in its early days, Guantanamo had its share of problems. But that doesn’t hold true, today; nor has it been the case for quite some time, thanks to media sensationalism and world opinion outrage that did shed some light on some problems; and put the facility under a microscope.
Cusick, the NYU music professor, has interviewed a number of former detainees about their experiences and says the music they most often described hearing was heavy metal, rap and country. Specific songs mentioned include Queen’s “We Are the Champions” and “March of the Pigs” by industrial rockers Nine Inch Nails.
Another former prisoner, Binyam Mohamed, told Human Rights Watch that he had been forced to listen to the rapper Eminem’s song “The Real Slim Shady” for 20 days.
Joining in the call for the release of information were dozens of musicians, including David Byrne, Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and T-Bone Burnett.
For now, the artists are trying to find out what songs were played. They say they will explore legal options once the songs are known. It is unclear what, if any, recourse they may have.
Copyright infringement?
Well, my youngest son used to play “Tennessee Flat Top Box” by Roseanne Cash over and over and over when he was a little boy. It seemed like torture at the time but it certainly didn’t leave any lasting mental health problems.
The school in our area in Missouri competed in a national glee club competition, the music teacher bought one book and copied pages because the school couldn’t afford to buy every student their own book. They got in big trouble with Disney for doing that. Unless they were copying cds and distributing them it doesn’t seem like it would be the same thing.
This looks like a bunch of noise about nothing but, the artists are all grouped up and busy working for Obama, maybe they think this little uproar is somehow helping him.
I can empathize… really… My 16 yo son plays the snot out of Slipknot.
Believe me, after 15 mins of that crud, I’ll tell you ANYTHING you want to know. JUST MAKE IT STOP.
The Barney “I Love You” song has to be on that list.
Hmmmm… Here is a question. If I BUY a song, then I can do what I can play it for private use as far as I understand it. And how does this affect the government any differently?
Just asking because I can see where this could go.
Duh…I don’t think I would have the world know that my music is considered as an instrument of torture. I think it would impact my reputation a bit…dontchathink.
my thoughts exactly mandalis. Unless of course you are Wham! And they know their music is torture. In fact I am going to start a new band; my songs will only be sold to the u.s. for reasons they don’t have to tell anyone about. Anyone want to join? Knowing how to play an instrument doesn’t matter and the worse your voice sounds, the better. I have a feeling we could go platinum with this baby.
That little douche morello is a self described communist and an open hater of America. His music is a crime against humanity. I say let him spend some time in a cell with the terrorists and we’ll see what happens.
Trent reznor isn’t much better. His best music is clearly behind him. Interesting how it happened at the same time his BDS came to a head.
Gotta chime in here — slight OT but in same vein — most of the background music played in grocery stores, drug stores, even sporting goods stores and hardware stores is so bad that I am convenced it is on purpose to keep the shoppers on edge (subliminally) to keep moving and make more spur of the moment purchases – most is crap music – bad rythems – horrid vocals – etc etc — a looong waaay from the original “elevator music” back in the 60′s and 70′s that was almost totally instrumental and not intrusive — the current idea is to constantly attack the senses to disorient and sabatoge judgement capability — SAME with the ‘sound bite’ news media and all the last several campaigns where most of what was heard was sound bites and talking points – over and over –
Another variation on this is the load bar music intended to make people practically have to yell into each others ears and keep the thirst up along with all the salty free snakes — popcorn anyone?
Enough on this –
I find it hilarious that a musician is admitting that making someone listen to his music constitues “crimes against humanity”!!
Have you ever heard William Shatner sing “Mr. Tambourine Man” .. now that is torture.
The idea an “artist” could sue someone for the way they use their product in a private, non-commercial way, is actually kinda frightening. Think about it. Let’s say you’re the neighborhood Lothario who uses Bonnie Raitt albums to seduce and then abandon dozens of women. Using this wacky theory, Raitt, angered her music was used in such a chauvinistic manner, could sue the womanizer. Or, if you used Rosanne Cash recordings to scare cats off your back porch, then animal lover Cash could sue you for doing it.
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Personally, I think playing the “meow meow meow song” was a bit over-the-top extreme.
Playing this one would have been a lot more effective and humane (considering no one could last for very long hearing this):
Even liberals wouldn’t last for long to this version:
If these so-called “musicians” (They’re so horrible that I can’t even properly call them “musicians”) can sue for private, non-commercial use, then forget using the music to scare the cats off your porch, they can sue people for using the music in a party. A legal action for this would open the door to some unfair and nasty (and unnecessary) lawsuits, and I hope any judge with a right mind would dismiss the case. It would give too much power to musicians.
Sheer leftist lunacy.
Who would have thought that Reznor would get worked up over this. With songs like Closer, and Head Like a Hole, he should find it slightly humerous that his music delivered a sonic wall of sound to people, who if they had the chance would smash his musical instruments and cut his throat. Not much of a rebel, is he.
Morello is a left wing kook, always has been and always will. I couldn’t stand any RATM music. Johnny Cash was a tax evader. REM are a bunch of overblown windbags.
People have to start boycotting these musicians, actors and other politically correct clowns. They will stop this nonsense when they lose their toys, get evicted from their mansions and have to live like every one else. Don’t patronize the anti American zealots. Let them sing for quarters on the street.
Guess I’m gonna have to burn more of my music.
These leftist artists, athletes and actors, whether they know it or not, are having a Taliban like effect on my leisure time.
“I thought I was the master of torture, but this is Inhuman”. Plankton. From the Spongebob episoide F.U.N.