What do the Barney theme song, the cloying Meow Mix jingle (see above) and Matchbox Twenty's musical oeuvre have in common? All were used as punishment against detainees at U.S. military detention centers, including Guantanamo Bay, according to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by the National Security Archive. Former detainees confirmed a list of at least 35 songs and musicians mentioned in the request that were used as interrogation devices. On behalf of a coalition of musicians, including R.E.M., Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, and Billy Bragg, the Washington-based National Security Archive filed the FOIA petition seeking the declassification of all records related to the use of music played at high decibels in the futility method interrogation practices. "It seems so obvious," Rosanne Cash told the LATimes. said. "Music should never be used as torture."

It was probably a bad strategy for the United States military to use the work of a politically radical band like Rage Against the Machine and not expect blowback. "The fact that music I helped create was used as a tactic against humanity sickens me," guitarist Tom Morello of Rage, whose music is said to have been used at Guantanamo, told The Daily Mail. This raises all sorts of questions, like: Could a musician sue the U.S. government for the use of their music in torture? And, of course: Should they?