Pop Songs The CIA Used To Torture Prisoners

Metal and country music were the musical genres used the most by interrogators seeking to extract information from detainees–as prisoners are often gently called. The Guardian reported this back in 2008. The newly released Senate Intelligence Committee torture report adds that “sound disorientation techniques” were a big weapon in the arsenal of American interrogators after 9/11. The mental disorientation this sound technique causes can be as serious as “waterboarding” and some of the more infamous tactics the CIA also used.

The report reveals that the Blues Brothers version of “Rawhide” was used to induce Pavlovian terror in the detainees, stating that the prisoner bin al-Shibh knew “when he heard the music… what is going to happen.” Justine Sharrock at Mother Jones compiled a list of the songs that American interrogators used often:

Deicide: Fuck Your God

Dope: Die MF Die, Take Your Best Shot

Eminem: White America, Kim

Barney & Friends: theme song

Drowning Pool: Bodies

Metallica: Enter Sandman

Meow Mix: commercial jingle

Janeane Garofalo/Ben Stiller: chapter from the Feel This Audiobook

Sesame Street: theme song

David Gray: Babylon

AC/DC: Shoot to Thrill, Hell’s Bells

Bee Gees: Stayin’ Alive