# Music as torture

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Music as torture," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/music-as-torture/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The use of recorded music played on indefinite loop as a coercive interrogation technique. Per John Kiriakou, the CIA's post-9/11 rotation ran to the Bee Gees and the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song, and the practice was not an invention of the war on terror — he places its use throughout the Vietnam War.*

- **Named recordings:** The Bee Gees; the *SpongeBob SquarePants* theme song
- **Method:** Playback on indefinite loop
- **Earlier use:** Throughout the Vietnam War, per Kiriakou
- **Authorization status:** Not among the named enhanced interrogation techniques

**Music as torture** is the playing of recorded music on indefinite loop as a coercive technique, which [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) describes as long-standing [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) practice rather than a post-September 11 innovation. Asked whether the agency had ever considered using music on prisoners, his answer was that it had already been done for decades: *"they did that all through the Vietnam War."*[1]

The two recordings he names from the later program are the Bee Gees and the theme song from *SpongeBob SquarePants*, both played on loop.[2] His account of why the technique works does not depend on the music being unpleasant. Told that the *SpongeBob* theme is a good song, Kiriakou agreed that he liked it too, and located the damage in the count rather than the material — *"but after you hear it 10,000 times, you start to…"*[2]

Music does not appear among the named techniques of the formal [enhanced interrogation](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/enhanced-interrogation) program, and Kiriakou discusses it in the same register as the [cold cell](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cold-cell) — practices applied in the field without the Justice Department cover that [waterboarding](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/waterboarding) received.[3][2]

## See also

- [Enhanced interrogation techniques](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/enhanced-interrogation)
- [Cold cell](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cold-cell)
- [Waterboarding](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/waterboarding)
- [Sleep deprivation](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/sleep-deprivation)

## Sources

1. Matan Confronts Kiriakou (Israel) (2026-05-17), at 20:10. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drZH5_d9Xg0&t=1210s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-17-the-matan-show-matan-confronts-kiriakou-israel/
2. Matan Confronts Kiriakou (Israel) (2026-05-17), at 20:40. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drZH5_d9Xg0&t=1240s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-17-the-matan-show-matan-confronts-kiriakou-israel/
3. Matan Confronts Kiriakou (Israel) (2026-05-17), at 19:05. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drZH5_d9Xg0&t=1145s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-17-the-matan-show-matan-confronts-kiriakou-israel/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/music-as-torture/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt