The debate over whether or not “the U.S. gov’t may owe royalties on the song that has been blared over and over and over again to weaken detainee’s” at the Guantanamo Bay may finally have an answer, no. The song you might ask is none other than one of my all time favorites: David Gray’s hit from 2000, ‘Babylon.’ No matter how much I like the song, Gray agrees “that is nothing but torture.” He told the BBC: “That is nothing but torture. It doesn’t matter what the music is - it could be Tchaikovsky’s finest or it could be Barney the Dinosaur. It really doesn’t matter, it’s going to drive you completely nuts.”A spokesman from Gray’s record label said that the company does not license to military bases. And, given the circumstances of the base itself it is unlikely that with ASCAP relying on the user of their content or third parties to pay the royalties, that they’ll be seeing any kind of compensation for all the times ‘Babylon’ has been blasted over their speakers (can you really blast that song anyway, what a strange choice?).

If you are curious to find out what it sounds like to be a prisoner at Gitmo just cover your head with a bag, handcuff yourself in your bathroom, turn the lights low and grab a copy of ‘White Ladder’ by David Gray.


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