Very interesting take on this subject....your feelings????
Barry Manilow has now joined the ranks of Metallica and Barney the Dinosaur. They are all part of that exclusive group of musicians whose songs are used as torture. The controversial practice involves blasting music at ear-splitting volumes for hours on end. A truly annoying song helps. U.S. soldiers have used it on everyone from Manual Noriega to the prisoners locked up at Gitmo. Predictably, most songwriters don't dig this kind of use. It's not the kind of audience they had in mind when hoping for a hit.
Manilow hasn't made it onto the U.S. Armed Forces torture play list yet. But his songs have been picked up by city officials in Christchurch, New Zealand, who plan on blasting "Mandy" in the town mall to keep unruly kids away. Still, torture is torture whether in an Iraqi prison cell or Kiwi mall.
So now that Barry Manilow has joined the "Music as Torture" club, we thought we'd present the Top 10 List of Torture Tunes. Play them loud the next time you want those kids off your lawn.
Actually, the classic rock station in Harrisburg has a thing every afternoon called "Make it stop", where they play a song that once was a hit but now sounds awful and they play it until someone calls in with the correct artist and title.
Madonna can shove it. Better yet... Celine Dion can shove Madonna.
Like the songs or not isn't really the issue here. It's the sheer torture factor of the song in question. I like "Enter Sandman" and "Paradise By The Dashboard Light", yet I do not dispute the fact that they could be used to traumatize a person.
Being forced to listen to 'Don't Worry, Be Happy" at high volumes for hours on end would turn your brain into the equivalent of that gellatinous goo you find around a Spam.
-- Edited by Mad Mema at 11:21, 2009-03-12
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MM
That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.
Madonna can shove it. Better yet... Celine Dion can shove Madonna.
Like the songs or not isn't really the issue here. It's the sheer torture factor of the song in question. I like "Enter Sandman" and "Paradise By The Dashboard Light", yet I do not dispute the fact that they could be used to traumatize a person.
Being forced to listen to 'Don't Worry, Be Happy" at high volumes for hours on end would turn your brain into the equivalent of that gellatinous goo you find around a Spam.
-- Edited by Mad Mema at 11:21, 2009-03-12
Or you might just not worry & be happy.
Oh hey! Maybe I like it because it's the equivalent of musical Xanax....
I'm just saying that if your brain has turned to Spam goo, then you couldn't possibly be worried, you might be happy, but the greatest odds are you would be in a lithium like daze and drooling on yourself.
As far as 'Afternoon Delight', I'm all for the concept... just saying that at normal volumes the high notes send dogs into fits. Strap some poor bastage to a chair and blast that at them for hours on end... makes waterboarding look like a reasonable alternative.
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MM
That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.
You guys ever see the SNL skit where Will Ferrell & Helen Hunt hold Hanson at gunpoint in an elevator? They put headphones on, and play MMM-Bop over and over again until the guys would feel the pain that the world felt that summer. Hysterical. I just checked Youtube, but it doesn't appear to be on there.
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"Tell me, does it move you, Does it soothe you, Does it fill your heart and soul with the roots of rock & roll? When you can't get through it you can listen to it with a 'na na na na', Well I've been there before" -"Been There Before" by Hanson
You have an excellent point there, TG... I happen to like Truly, Madly, Deeply but can absolutely see where 3 or 4 times in a row would put someone over the edge.
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MM
That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.
I can't fight this feeling any MORE I forgot what I started fighting FOR its time to roll up to the SHORE through away the OAR FOR EV OR
god almighty that has annoyed me most of my life.....
It was our annoying secret requestor who annoyed me with that song! Every - freakin - day.
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"Tell me, does it move you, Does it soothe you, Does it fill your heart and soul with the roots of rock & roll? When you can't get through it you can listen to it with a 'na na na na', Well I've been there before" -"Been There Before" by Hanson
I can't fight this feeling any MORE I forgot what I started fighting FOR its time to roll up to the SHORE through away the OAR FOR EV OR
god almighty that has annoyed me most of my life.....
It was our annoying secret requestor who annoyed me with that song! Every - freakin - day.
Jane's Getting Serious. Back in the days where you could request the same song once every 4 hours. Some days I would hear it 3 times a day. And it went on for MONTHS!
I think really, if you take any song and play it over and over again, it will become torture.
Have I mentioned Jane's Getting Serious?
Overplay is the main culprit for me in most cases.
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"Tell me, does it move you, Does it soothe you, Does it fill your heart and soul with the roots of rock & roll? When you can't get through it you can listen to it with a 'na na na na', Well I've been there before" -"Been There Before" by Hanson
We always know how to hurt the ones we love. When Pambo gets mad at me she Rick Rolls me or trys a Madonna sneak attack. I retalliate by leaving One Night In Bankok on her voicemail.
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MM
That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.