We've posted many times about the use of music in Psy Ops for torture and as a form of "acoustic bombardment" (annoyance) in siege situations like Waco and when Noriega holed up in Panama. Now, famous artists like Pearl Jam, REM, Rosanne Cash, and the Roots filed a Freedom of Information Act demanding that the US government list the names of the tunes that were used as soundtracks in interrogation situations. An article in the Washington Post mentions the theme to "Sesame Street," the Meow Mix TV commercial jingle, and The Boss's "Born in the USA" as examples. From the Washington Post:
"The fact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity sickens me," (former Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom) Morello said in a statement. "We need to end torture and close Guantanamo now....""Torture songs spur a protest most vocal"
A White House spokesman said music is no longer used as an instrument of torture, part of a shift in policy on interrogations that Obama made on his second full day in office.
"Sound at a certain level creates sensory overload and breaks down subjectivity and can [bring about] a regression to infantile behavior," said Suzanne G. Cusick, a music professor at New York University who has studied, lectured about and written extensively on the use of music as torture in the current wars. "Its effectiveness depends on the constancy of the sound, not the qualities of the music." Played at a certain volume, she said, "it simply prevents people from thinking."
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I can think of a few songs that if played over and over would make me go insane. Anything from the Fresh Beat Band. Parents of young children will know what I'm talking about.
They used the Sesame Street Song? That is truly creepy.
"Sound at a certain level creates sensory overload and breaks down subjectivity and can [bring about] a regression to infantile behavior,"
Devolution is real!
So, is that considered a public performance? Are the artists getting royalties from that?
Having to hear Pearl Jam or RATM is torture in any situation if you ask me.
Ten minutes of Rick Astley and I would tell them anything they wanted to hear.
Does this strike anyone else as kind of silly? Not that I approve of torture of any kind. It's just, does torturing someone with music count as a performance? And if it doesn't, what relevance does it actually have to the artists involved? If they are acknowledging that they were using loud noise for torture, what difference does it make what songs they were using?
"I just stabbed someone."
"I need to know. Was it with a knife that I made?"
"Why haven't you called the police yet? I just confessed to MURDER!"
hey those are catchy tunes, but then again im on meds at the time of listening to them...
"The fact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity sickens me,"
He is mistaken. His music was ALREADY a crime against humanity and has sicked lots of other people before Psyops used it on prisoners.
What is ASCAP and RIAA's stance on all this? Have they sued the army/CIA for public performance royalties?
Two words. Hamster Dance. 'nuff said.
This is a subject that has always fascinated me. The PSY OPS people, as you would probably guess, seem to have no imagination nor any desire to find truly interesting sound to annoy/torture their prospective victims. Metallica? Rage Against the Machine? Why would they think popular music to drive people out of a bunker?
Back when the Waco siege was happening, I was working at an independent music store that carried all the weird stuff that you couldn't find because there were no internets. We had an entire section of Japanese noise bands that at the time, I guaranteed would have had the Branch Davidians surrendering in minutes. I challenge anyone here to make through anything by Merzbow, Masonna, The Incapacitants, Hijo Kaidan, or even anything by Whitehouse played at high volume. I think it would be as tortuous as water-boarding.
I'm gonna sue, sue
Yes, I'm gonna sue
Sue, sue, yeah that's what I'm gonna do
I'm gonna sue, sue
Yes, I'm gonna sue
Sue, sue, that's right I'm gonna sue you
I'll sue ya!
I'll take all of your money
I'll sue ya!
If you even look at me funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIllRdSzSug
Once your music is released to the public, I don't think you have specific control over your customers or the specific circumstances under which it's played. Any other restrictions? Bar mitzvahs? Gay clubs?
Please please please let the musicians prosecute this as a copyright infringement, and please please please let the military brass counterfight as a "copyfight" fair use. OMG the ironies would be too damn delicious. "We're through the looking glass, people!"
Next up: RIAA vs the US Government for violation of performance rights.
Wow, the irony of using "Born in the U.S.A." to torture people in a war in which our boys are coming back dead, wounded (either physically or mentally) is astounding. So many people think it's a "These colors don't run!" Patriotic little ditty, because they don't bother to actually listen to the lyrics. It couldn't be anything further from that.
No one it's getting it. It's the prolonged sleep deprivation that's actually, real torture, not the music.
Dude, I like Merzbow. Wolf Eyes, on the other hand, is a little too much.
I don't think it's the same thing. Knives are in some cases designed to injure, or are at least known to be dangerous in that regard. Music is made to entertain or enlighten people.
I would be pissed to, if I were in Tom Morello's shoes. And it's especially appaling since it goes directly against RATM's political stance, their music being complicit in such activities.
Oh, and having to hear that Meow Mix jingle at high volumes for an extended period of time would make me PERMANENTLY FUCKING INSANE.
They might not be a formal written list to get through FOI. Different songs were used with different people. This wasn't morning drive-time radio with 15 hits in a row. It was all day frustration with one song 150 times in a row.
Now maybe there is a mention of the song in papers relating to each guy. One song per guy. But A) you'll have to request each document separately and B) the documents are probably classified. If you already know enough to know what document to ask for, you probably already know the song.
BTW, I once had a roommate who would obsess with a different song every few weeks and play it continuously (night and day) for 3 days each time. I wouldn't term it torture, but maybe justifiable homicide.
Reminds me of that Milennium episode where they kidnapper plays 'Love is Blue' on repeat at high volume. I'd go insane too if I to listen to muzak over & over.
I was sort of assuming the knife was made for some benign purpose, as many are. My point is that talking about the music being used and the artists "involved" distracts from the actual victims: The guys who had music blasted at them so they wouldn't be able to think.
How different is this from store owners who play barry manilow to keep teenagers from congregating nearby? Is that torture? Bright lights and colorful decor in fast food restaurants are designed to make customers eat and want to leave quickly - is that torture? I find it ridiculous that a non-physical tactic is not considered viable in a siege or hostage situation.
I guess if I were in any of those bands, I'd be concerned that the US Gov't had used my music to torture people, too.
Those teens have the option to move away from the noise. If you tied them to the speakers for days on end it would be.
And to think, a lot of up and coming bands would be delighted to have their music used as a torture device! (I kid, but I'm probably telling the truth)
Anyway, though...the Meow Mix jingle...that's punching below the belt.
"I do think certain kinds of music can make you violent. Like, when I listen to Nickelback, it makes me want to kill Nickelback." - Brian Posehn
Reminds me of working retail over the Christmas season...
I really find the irony of using RATM music just plain delicious. Whose idea was it to use music which as often as not rails against the government, the cops, capitalism, etc as a means of torturing those accused of terror against the US? It's like that old saying that military intelligence is an oxymoron. (the irony is almost as delicious as tank crews blasting War Pigs [an anti-war song] as they roll into Baghdad)
It's be great if the artists could band together against torture and their unwilling role in it by releasing a compilation or something.
It would be creative, constructive, raise awareness, and could even be used to raise funds to help victims of torture.
I guess that's what I would do if I found out my creative works were being used for such a purpose.
Sound is physical though. It's air-pressure waves effecting your eardrums, etc. Therefore sound at too high a volume (SPL- Sound Pressure Level) can be physically damaging, and should probably be considered physical assault.
Would you personally mind being blinded somehow by a flashbang? I mean, it's just light, right?
Nice comment system, guys. What's the point in me hitting the specific reply link next to a post, rather than the generic reply link, if it won't quote the comment to which I'm replying? Especially when I'm replying to Anonymous #whatever, and you've ditched the comment numbering.
I mostly like the redesign, and use blocking features on the parts that I don't, but the commenting system isn't as robusto as it perhaps could be...
wow...and here i thought rage against the machine had been torturing people with their music YEARS before Guantanamo