Kasama

Tom Morello

Earlier we have discussed the U.S. “torture play list” — the popular songs used by American torturers to torment captives around the world. Part of the discussion has been the response of the artists themselves to this use of their music. Saoirse has pursued an investigation into these responses.

by Saoirse

According to the Associated Press, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello has been especially forceful in denouncing the practice of systematically using loud music on hundreds of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. During a recent concert in San Francisco, he made a proposal for the government’s future plans for its Guantanamo Bay facilities. 

“I suggest that they level Guantanamo Bay, but they keep one small cell and they put Bush in there … and they blast some RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE,” he said to whoops and cheers.

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Here’s a piece that appeared in the metal press today (April 29):

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich appeared as a guest on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” on Monday night (April 27), where the liberal news commentator and the Danish drummer discussed living in San Francisco, Guitar Hero: Metallica, and politics (see video below). With the debate over the military and CIA’s use of torture front and center in the news lately, Maddow also asked Ulrich how he felt about METALLICA’s music being used to psychologically torture prisoners of war.

Lars Ulrich

“There is a lot of METALLICA music that’s helping a lot of scared 18-, 19- and 20-year-old kids out there who are out on the front lines and who are doing a hell of a job on behalf of you and me and the rest of us,” he said. “But obviously when you hear stories like the one you’re telling, it all seems so bizarre and so strange that METALLICA’s music, which generally sort of facilitates bringing people together, is used in these bizarre circumstances. It’s certainly not something that we in any way advocate or condone.” 

Ulrich also told Maddow that if someone really wanted to use music to torture others, there are groups out there that are way more extreme than METALLICA. “If there are people that are dumb enough to use METALLICA to interrogate prisoners, you’re forgetting about all the music that’s to the left of us,” he said. “I can name, you know, 30 Norwegian death metal bands that would make METALLICA sound like SIMON AND GARFUNKEL.”

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The German-language television network 3SAT spoke to METALLICA guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield last summer about the use of METALLICA’s music to torture Guantanamo Bay, Cuba prisoners.

“Part of me is proud is because they chose METALLICA,” Hetfield said about the reports that the band’s song “Enter Sandman” was used during the interrogation of Mohammed al-Qahtani — known as the 20th hijacker on Sept. 11 — and that listening to the track brought al-Qahtani to tears “because he thought he was hearing the sound of Satan.” James added:

“It’s strong; it’s music that’s powerful. It represents something that they don’t like — maybe freedom, aggression… I don’t know… freedom of speech. And then part of me is kind of bummed about it that people worry about us being attached to some political statement because of that. We’ve got nothing to do with this and we’re trying to be as apolitical as possible, ’cause I think politics and music, at least for us, don’t mix. It separates people, [and] we wanna bring people together. So, so be it. I can’t say ‘Stop.’ I can’t say ‘Do it.’ It is just a thing — it’s not good or bad.”

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One musician, however, who is proud that his music is used in interrogations is bassist Stevie Benton, whose group DROWNING POOL has performed in Iraq and recorded one of the interrogators’ favorites, “Bodies”.

“People assume we should be offended that somebody in the military thinks our song is annoying enough that played over and over it can psychologically break someone down,” he told Spin magazine. “I take it as an honor to think that perhaps our song could be used to quell another 9/11 attack or something like that.”