One of the most exhilarating rituals in college sports, which even gets this sixty-something grandmother jumping up and down in Lane Stadium, is Metallica's "Enter Sandman." Here's the link for the video. (There was a problem with the embed code, so I am not posting the video directly.) If Virginia Tech didn't originate this ritual, then it was among the first to use it. You have to be there. It's way too much fun.
And so it is with dismay that I read (more) about another use of music: Torture. Read about it here. We'd learned some of this before, but more details are emerging. Musicians are banding together (however belatedly) to oppose the use of their music to torture those imprisoned (whether for real crimes or actual terrorist activities) in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. We had heard vaguely that they were doing this. But the specifics are a little clearer with a new story about details.
"Enter Sandman" and other songs, even that insufferable Barney (kids) song have been used to drive prisoners insane.
Other material comes from the following, among many others:
"Bodies" by Drowning Pool
"Shoot to Thrill," AC/DC
"Hells Bells," AC/DC
"Born in the USA," Bruce (did the torturers not get the irony in that song?)
"White America," Eminem
And even the Sesame Street Theme.
A military contractor, Donald Vance, caught up in an Iraq prison because he reported illegal arms sales (!), reported that he was fed a steady diet of heavy mettle, rap and even Sesame street. Soon, he says he was suicidal. But as he acknowledges, hard as that was, at least Americans are used to that music. Iraqi's, Afghans etc are not. Indeed those living under the Taliban in Afghanistan are forbidden to listen to music at all.
Vance reports that prisoners forced to listen to "metal" day in and day out became so agitated they would scream and ram their heads against walls. I doubt most Americans could withstand constant exposure. I doubt even teenagers would survive very long if they received such an overdose at top volume, as it was "presented" courtesy of American torturers.
Of course, I strongly support arresting and punishing anyone involved in terrorism. We have no choice but to take a strong stance and assure those who commit such crimes are prevented from doing so again. But we do have a choice about methodology.
There is no legitimate purpose for using such tactics, for they are more than likely to force false confessions, as do other torture methods. Such tactics tells us a lot about what we have become at the hands of the current administration. And it's a far cry from an "explosion" of energy that marks a grand "Sandman" entry where tens of thousands, some even feeling young again, jump up and down for fun.