LimeWire Music Blog

We’ve all heard the skin-crawling stories about the questionable interrogation techniques at Guantanamo. We’ve all seen conservative pundits try to argue that waterboarding isn’t torture. And it isn’t news that guards have used incessant, loud American pop music as a way of breaking down detainees. But now, a coalition of musicians are speaking out to support Barack Obama’s plan to close Guantanamo and oppose the use of their work as a torture device. The BBC reports that The National Campaign to Close Guantanamo includes such artists as R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Jackson Browne, Steve Earle, Roseanne Cash, Billy Bragg, Bonnie Raitt and Rage Against The Machine have signed on.

“We have spent the past 30 years supporting causes related to peace and justice,” said R.E.M., in a press statement. “To now learn that some of our friends’ music may have been used as part of the torture tactics without their consent or knowledge, is horrific. It’s anti-American, period.” The campaign also includes a “Freedom of Information Act request seeking classified records that detail the use of loud music as an interrogation device.” Whether the musicians get their documents or not, here’s hoping the fuss they’re raising is enough to ensure that music is never used in such a horrifying way again.