The CIA has declassified a list of songs they used as part of their systematic methods of torture and interrogation. The surprising list features songs by Prince, Matchbox Twenty, Eminem, The Bee Gees and Metallica.
While the knowledge that the CIA utilise popular music in their torture techniques is not new, this exact list of songs has been uncovered following the release late last year of the CIA’s Torture Report – a comprehensive document that discloses new details about the CIA’s torture practices.
As reported by Oyster, such songs include Prince’s Raspberry Beret, the theme from Sesame Street, Bluesfest act David Gray’s Babylon – reportedly for its Biblical connotations – Christina Aguilera’s Dirrty, Drowning Pool’s Bodies, Eminem’s Real Slim Shady and Metallica’s Enter Sandman.
The use of Metallica music as part of CIA interrogation was reported in 2013, when in an interview with Esquire the US Navy SEAL credited with shooting and killing Osama Bin Laden commented that the band had contacted the US military and requested that they cease using Metallica records as an instrument of torture. Metallica denied this claim.
Other songs included are The Bee Gees’s Saturday Night Fever, Matchbox Twenty’s Cold and Neil Diamond’s America. According to TWC, the CIA Torture Report also mentioned The Beautiful People by Marilyn Manson and a commercial jingle called the Meow Mix.
This report is not the first time it’s been revealed that popular music was employed during government torture techniques. In 2009, artists including Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, and Nine Inch Nails launched a campaign protesting the use of their music during torture at Guantanamo Bay.
Last year, upon hearing similar reports that the CIA had utilised an unidentified Red Hot Chili Peppers track as part of a torture technique, drummer Chad Smith and bassist Flea said the band was unaware of such activities and do not approve the CIA’s use of their music.
“It is absolutely heartbreaking to hear Rhcp music has been used by the CIA to torture human beings,” Flea wrote on Twitter. “Anything we can do to stop that we will.”
Watch: Prince – Raspberry Beret
http://youtu.be/xATUw_ZVTzQ
