June 23, 2009

“Torture”: The Song

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Nearly two decades ago, lyricist Ellen Fitzhugh and composer Jan Hammer wrote a ditty called “Torture” for a Star Wars musical that never came to light. The tune was supposed to be crooned by a robot controlled by Darth Vader. Instead, it’s being released to lament the robotic torture policies controlled by Vader’s doppelganger, Dick Cheney, for Friday’s U.N. International Day in Support of Torture Victims and Survivors.

Today, the words ring eerily true. Sample lyric: “For you it’s just a pain/For us it’s justified/But you’re too self-absorbed/To see it from our side.”

Watch the song’s YouTube treatment—set to creepy old cartoons—here:

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