Music and torture. Music and war. Music and violence have been connected for thousands of years. But before music was used as a psychological tactic, drumbeats and trumpets transmitted sounds across battlefields. These rhythms were later transformed into marches intended to motivate troops and impose order.

It was the Chinese who first exploited the tactical power of music during the Korean War in the early ‘50s, and since then musical torture has become embedded in the culture of war.  

After learning that his beloved music was being used as a torture device at Guantanamo Bay, Sesame Street composer Christopher Cerf set out to uncover the true connection between music and violence in a documentary titled "Songs of War," directed by Tristan Chrytroschek.