Music as Torture

I finished Steve Coll’s The Achillies Trap last month. Good book. Readwise reminded me last week that I had saved the quote below about the use of music by the C.I.A. prior to the 2003 invasion to signal to Iraqi generals that the United States was ‘around.’ It reminded me of the story of how the C.I.A. used music both to help capture Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega (Bush the Elder) and to torture prisoners at Guantanamo Bay during the administration of Bush the Younger. Metallica’s Enter Sandman was apparently a favorite. According to Sgt. Mark Hadsell of the 361st Psychological Operations Company, “If you play it for 24 hours, your brain and body functions start to slide… that’s when we come in and talk to them.” This practice, of using western music as torture, eventually led to a Freedom of Information Act request by many artists who wanted to know if their music was used and why it was chosen. Interesting list of artists.

This illustrates an important philosophical and spiritual point, which is that music (and everything else for that matter) is not inherently pleasurable or horrible. It depends on the mind that perceives it and in this case, how often one hears it! You know, the first bowl of ice cream is usually pretty yummy, but being forced to eat 20 of them would make you sick.

In the end, I find that It is a sobering reminder that the same melodies that offer us liberation or comfort can, in a different context, be weaponized to break the human spirit.

4 Articles and a Song

I came across these 4 article and 1 song in my recent internet wanderings and wanted to share.

  1. This article is about how the exposure to fire influenced human evolution.

  2. Found this by browsing the always interesting blog of Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution. AI renting humans??

  3. Cato Institute study on immigrants. Turns out, immigration is good for America. Who knew? See summary of study below.

  4. Ever wanted to know the history of the United States and Greenland? Here ya go.

  5. Lettuce playing Breathe. Nice Estimated tease in there!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Top 20 Most Played Dead Songs and My Stats

I came across the list in the pic of the top 20 songs every played by the Grateful Dead. Because I am a QS nerd and have all my Dead shows tracked in a database, I was quickly able to see how many times I have seen each of those songs. Below is my list based on the 48 Grateful Dead shows I was lucky to witness between February 1991 and June 1995.

The Other One 10

Me and My Uncle 2

Rider 6

Playin' 11

Mexicali Blues 2

Truckin' 8

Tennessee Jed 10

Looks Like Rain 8

El Paso 5

Wharf Rat 5

Big River 2

Estimated Prophet 10

Minglewood 3

Loser 10

NFA 11

Black Peter 3

Brown Eyed Women 4

China Cat 6

Eyes of the World 8

B.I.O.D.T.L. 2

Making Some Noise

Bruce Hornsby has a new album coming out. Yesterday the title track and first single showed up on YouTube. It is called Indigo Park and I’m digging it. Check it out here.

In honor of Bruce continuing to make meaningful and beautiful music, here are some of my all time favorite Hornsby tunes.

  1. Sunflower Cat Can you hear that unmistakable Garcia riff? Sooooooo good.

  2. Levitate Nice quirky Hornsby!

  3. Take out the Trash This whole album is great. Stanky…

  4. Fortunate Son The studio version of this is beautiful, and so is this live pairing with a popular Pink Floyd tune. Sublime.

  5. King of the Hill This song rips. Here is a nice live version that segues into a very Hornsby version of Big Boss Man.

Let’s go Bruce! 🎶

Sounds About Right

The Kitchen Dwellers nailed it.

See the commentary and performance here.

The Kids Are Alright

My school has a hybrid schedule. Two days a week the periods are 90 minutes long. I usually take that opportunity to start those longer classes with what I call a ‘whip around’ question. These questions are meant to let everyone share their thoughts and for me to get to know my students better. This week I asked my students ‘What is something that you are really into right now?’ I got a wide assortment of answers (from new TV shows, to baking, to taking walks at night), including references to music. To my delight, in my 7th period class four students mentioned listening to the Grateful Dead. This was an amazing surprise, though it makes sense in the wake of Bobby Weir’s recent passing. It goes without saying that I was stoked to be able to talk about my love of the Dead for a few minutes. Students even asked if I’d shared some Dead tunes in Google Classroom. (Mission accepted!)

Another cool thing happened at my school today. One of my former students, who is now a senior, organized a walkout and short march from our school to the district office. The whole thing lasted about an hour, but about 400 students participated. Needless to say, it is encouraging to see young people engage politically within the growing authoritarian environment we are all experiencing in the United States.

Rush is My Jam Show #12

The show would never happen in real life, but I would love it if it did. Lots of ‘tier two’ Rush songs that are top tier for me, including Vital Signs, Between Sun and Moon, The Big Money, and Losing It. How bout that post Neil trifecta at the end of the second set? So. Many. Good. Songs.

RIP Bobby

Well, it wasn’t the obit I was hoping for. Bob Weir, original member of the Grateful Dead, has passed away at the age of 78. It was something I think all Deadheads expected to happen at some point, but I am a bit surprised. He just seemed to keep on keeping on. Apparently he died of lung complications that arose from a fight with cancer.

The first time I saw the Dead was in February of 1991. I was blown away and have been a Deadhead ever since. The last time I saw Bobby perform was last May at the Sphere with Dead and Company. All together I think I saw him perform close to 75 times. Jerry got all the attention, but Bobby was also something special. It is crazy to think that he actually spent a bit more time playing Grateful Dead music after Jerry passed than he did with Jerry.

My favorite Bobby songs include the following:

  1. Feel Like a Stranger

This is my all time favorite Bobby tune. Didn’t see it live enough. When my mood is off I can put this on and I immediately feel better. My favorite versions are from the Fall of 1989 and Spring of 1990.

  1. Estimated Prophet

The studio version of this song was the first Dead song I fell in love with. This live version from Cornell is worth a listen, too.

  1. Cassidy

The lyrics to this song are sublime. John Perry Barlow wrote the lyrics, but Bobby wrote the music and sang the tune. My favorite version is the acoustic one from Reckoning.

  1. The Other One

Epic psychedelia. This is one of Bobby’s older tunes and I usually saw him perform coming our of Drums and Space. Always a welcome base line to hear coming out of the freeform madness.

  1. Jack Straw

Quintessential Grateful Dead. Always a great show opener. Bobby owned this tune. The version from Europe ‘72 is my fav.

  1. Truckin’

Bobby shares the lyrics with Jerry on this one, but his lines are canonical Dead. Hard to beat the studio version of this tune.

  1. Black Throated Wind

This not usually a top 10 song for most Deadheads. It was often tucked away in the middle of a first set. It always resonated with me though.

  1. Lay My Lilly Down

This tune was on Bobby’s solo record from 2016 called Blue Mountain. Wise Bobby music.

Fare-thee-well now

Let your life proceed by its own design

Nothing to tell now

Let the words be yours, I’m done with mine

5 Recommendations

It has been a while, so here are 5 recommendations for your consideration.

  1. This article by the YouGov folks documenting the sad dearth of reading in our society. To say it explains a lot is a large understatement. This is a deep dive loaded with easy to understand renditions of recent data.

  2. Musical Artist Miles Miller. I few years ago I came across a few of the tunes from his inaugural record and became a fan. I especially love Highway Shoes. Recently, at the Phish show I was lucky to see, his new album was played in it’s entirety pre-show. It also has some great tunes, like Stormy and Get Busy.

  3. Jeff Su’s tech YouTube channel. Su’s humor is self deprecating and his videos are both clear and helpful (assuming you use the software he teaches about). He has a newsletter as well that I subscribe to because I am deep into the Google ecosystem. His AI knowledge has also been helpful to me.

  4. The Achilles Trap by Steve Coll. This book was a Christmas gift and covers the background to the US invastion of Iraq. Probably not for everyone, but for history nerds and news junkies, it’s a great read. He does a fantastic job humanizing some of the big players, like the sadistic weirdo Saddam Hussein. (Did you know he wrote novels?) Considering the hubris we are seeing at the moment in present administration, this is relevant reading.

  5. A cool new blog with similar vibes to this one (but with better writing!). The author is a friend and I know his take on the world will be worth reading. Good luck Androsian!

My Most Recently Added Tunes and Top 25 Most Played Tunes (in Apple Music)

As we get closer to the end of the year, the QS nerd in me kicks into gear. Apple Music makes it easy to capture a few stats, including what has recently been added and All Time Most Played. Screenshots below shine a light on my musical tastes. I’ve been using Apple Music for about 20 years, so the All Time list goes pretty far back. Another detail to note is that the pop music in the recently added pic are songs downloaded by my daughter, who uses an iPad that is signed in to my Apple ID. Oh well. I’m glad she is developing her own taste in music, though. She definitely knows what she likes and what she doesn’t.

5 of My Favorite Studio Phish Tunes

With a show on the horizon, I have Phish on the brain. They are all about the jams and the live experience. However, there are a few of their studio versions that I love. Here are a few:

  1. Devotion to a Dream off Fuego

  2. Undermind off Undermind

  3. Petrichor off Big Boat

  4. Ocelot off Joy

  5. Twist off Farmhouse

I have not seen Petrichor, so I don’t know first hand what the live experience is like. However, Devotion to a Dream hasn’t translated live for me. The other three never fail to deliver in person.

Pouring Its Light...

I saw Grateful Dead play 48 times and only once did I see them play Dark Star. It was 32 years ago tonight. The version I saw was nothing to write home about and it was only the first verse (they finished it up a few nights later, but alas, I was not there). Nevertheless, I still remember the feeling the opening notes elicited in my mind. Fans devoted to a jamband will know the feeling.

In honor of my only Dark Star, here is a favorite version from 1971, by the sorely missed YouTuber chasefukuoka61.

Dark star crashes

Pouring its light into ashes

Reason tatters

The forces tear loose from the axis

Searchlight casting

For faults in the clouds of delusion

Shall we go?

You and I while we can

Through

The transitive nightfall of diamonds

Mirror shatters

In formless reflections of matter

Glass hand dissolving

In ice petal flowers revolving

Lady in velvet

Recedes in the nights of goodbye

Shall we go?

You and I while we can

Through

The transitive nightfall of diamonds

Revisiting an Old Foolish Heart

Today the dear leader tried to insult Fed Chair Jerome Powell by noting his affinity for the Dead. My initial thought was ‘you know, if he is insulting you, you’re definitely doing something right.’ But then I started thinking about the Dead. What immediately came to mind was how great it was to see the Dead at Cal Expo in Sacramento (I was lucky to see 9 shows there in the early 90s). Then the June 8, 1990 Foolish Heart came to mind. These links in my mind are inexplicable, but with technology what it is, I was listening to it within minutes. I wasn’t actually at this show, but I know it was a good friends' first show. Good times!

My Music Streaming Highlights of 2025

I have never subscribed to Spotify. I’m fully ensconsed in Apple ecosystem, so that means I listen to music through Apple Music. That said, I am grateful that Spotify created their ‘wrapped’ feature, because Apple Music does something simlar and the QS nerd in me loves it.

The most played artist for me in 2025 was Bohren & Der Club of Gore. I love having them on while I am reading in the evening. I got turned on to this unique jazz outfit from my student teacher last year and have written about them before. Apparently, I was one of their 500 top streamers in the world. Despite that, and despite my daughter listening to her favorite music on an iPad where she is signed in as me, rock music was my top genre. Not surprising. Goose was the top rock band that I listened two (after being my top overall artists that previous two years). Indeed, Goose was my top artist for four months this past year and their album Live at the Capitol Theatre was my top album overall. Taylor Swift topped my streaming in both February and October, though that was mostly my daughter. That said, I’ve got to admit that I like some of her music. C’est la vie.

The way things are going I suspect Goose will regain the crown as most listened to artist in 2026. We’ll see.

As It Should Be

I recently came across this funny quote in the YouTube comments of a video I watched. Not much else to say.

Rush is My Jam Show #11

The ultimate imaginary Rush tour rambles on. Show #11 drops several of the major hits that would make most people very pleased. Tour rats who hit this show would be rewarded with the first Halo Effect of the tour. Xanadu encore would be epic, as would a Big Money set two opener. That tune always ripped my face off in real life.

Help on the Way

I came across this clip from CBS Sunday Morning on Youtube. It was about Metallica’s charity organization All Within My Hands, which donates money for scholarships for young people wanting to earn ‘blue collar’ certificates. As a life-long Metallica fan, it was satisfying to watch because I am proud that this NorCal metal band that I fell in love with when I was 13 was positively impacting many, many people in America. I was also happy about what I was hearing because as a high school teacher, it is clear to me that the push to pressure all students towards college, while well-meaning, is terribly misguided.

Seeing the video recently coincided with Trey Anastastio’s charity run at the Beacon Theater in New York City. The shows marked the five year anniversary since the legendary and top-shelf gigs he put on during the fall of 2020, during the pandemic. At that time, he played in the Beacon to an empty house, actually facing away from the seats. Phans streamed the shows and the musical magic was palpable. Those shows, and the ones this past week, were vehicles for raising money for Trey’s project, the Divided Sky Residential Recovery Program in rural Vermont. Trey is in recovery so the project is near and dear to him. Phish’s Waterwheel Foundation is also out in the world (and visible at Phish shows) doing good.

Of course, one of my other favorite bands, Widespread Panic, has been raising food for local food banks for years. Their efforts actually started as a fan organized movement called Panic Fans for Food. According to their website, they have raised over $279k and 43,000 pounds of food. Pretty cool!

The Grateful Dead, the OGs, created the Rex Foundation back in 1983. Since then they have written more than $10 million worth of grants.

All these examples make me proud to be a part of these fanbases. It goes to show the power of music and the power of community.

Odd and Unpredictable

Bruce Dickinson is one of the most fascinating people in the world. He is most famous for being the long time lead singer of Iron Maiden, one of the best heavy metal bands of all time. However, in addition to that, Dickinson is also an author and a pilot, eventually flying the band around the world on their tours on their plane, Ed Force One. He is also a world-class fencer! His wide-ranging intellectual interests can be seen in the songs he has written over years. For instance, Alexander the Great is a great history lesson and Rime of the Ancient Mariner a great homage to Coleridge’s epic poem of the same name. Hell, I was first introduced to the novel Dune because of Maiden’s tune To Tame A Land.

The quote below is from his memoir What Does This Button Do? I saved it because I thought it was a great sounding sentence. I also saved it because I manages to convey a complex reality, very neatly.

Is the band interrupting your conversation?

On Easter Sunday this past Spring, I celebrated with my family and friends by seeing Phish at the Moda Center in Portland. Natch. It was the first home town Phish show I had seen since 1999. The show was super fun, especially because I could sleep in my own bed afterwards and because I got to hang with a lot of my crew.

One of my buddies wore a shirt admonishing ‘chompers’ to be quiet during the concert. Someone behind us snapped a picture at set break and posted it on Facebook and it kind of went viral. A month later when we saw the Dead & Co. in Vegas, he wore the shirt again and people commented on it, making it clear to use that they’d seen the post from April. The usual reaction to the shirt is ‘right on, cool shirt!’ Two days ago, scrolling the Phish subreddit, I saw the picture again: More than 6 months later the message is still making the rounds.

The message on the shirt resonates because there are often so many people at concerts who basically talk through the show. Now, I get it. People are often out friends who they maybe don’t get to hang out with a lot, they are probably drinking, and the music is loud. They figure no one can hear them, that it’s no big deal–it’s a party, right?! However, the fans of the bands I tend to see are often obsessed with the band and the music. Jambands also play different shows every night, so the songs are often not always played and people who can only see a few shows a year want to hear the music. Some people are chasing particular tunes that are not often played. Phish, for instance, is not like a typical Top 40 band, rolling out the same set list every night.

In the end, I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments on my friend’s shirt. If you want to yap, go into the hallway and have at it. Let those who want to hear the music, hear the music. Tickets aren’t cheap these days, you know?

Rush is My Jam Show #10

We are getting deep into this imaginary tour and it keeps cooking. Natural Science opener would kill. First Main Monkey Business of the tour would delight, as well. Second Set highlight for me would be the rarely played Freeze! Sweet double encore, too.