#Smashmouth im a believer skin#

But I could have told you that without listening to it for 40 hours. Truly one of the most annoying things I've ever done. Listening to it was really annoying, yes. I'm writing this at the end of my 'I'm a Believer' week and, honestly, don't really have anything to say about the experience. I sat staring at my screen for almost the length of an entire 'I'm a Believer', soaking in the fact that I'd just sent an email about the Shrek soundtrack to an intellectual heavyweight who has done actual studies on the effects of music on, like, people in Auschwitz.

people who have been literally tortured), I have control over my circumstances. She emailed back, declining my interview request and pointing out that, unlike the people she studies (i.e. To get more clarity on whether hearing 'I'm a Believer' for eight hours a day would count as torture, I reached out to an expert in the field. Music, when used as a weapon, can have devastating psychological effects on people, including hallucinations, disorientation, physical illness and depression.

During the Waco siege in the 1990s, the FBI tried to drive the Branch Davidians out of their compound by blasting 'These Boots are Made for Walkin'' out of loudspeakers, etc., etc. In Chile, under Pinochet, jailers harassed prisoners by playing music including Julio Iglesias at high volume for days at a time. The US used it on detainees during the War on Terror, blasting them with songs that would either annoy them ('The Real Slim Shady', 'I Love You' by Barney the Dinosaur) or offend their conservative religious beliefs ('Dirrty', some death metal song called 'Fuck Your God'). Music has long been used as a method of torture. Because how could it not be different?įirst on my agenda was figuring out whether something like this would, as I'd initially suspected, constitute a human rights violation.

#Smashmouth im a believer skin#

The skin around her eyes told me that, if she weren't at work, and I weren't a stranger who might potentially be a mystery shopper or a member of Smash Mouth, the answer would be very different. 'Is it unbearable? Or do you just tune it out?'īut it was the kind of smile that only involved her mouth. 'Jesus,' I said to the other woman, as the song launched into its funky surf bass breakdown. But she hates it,' she said, gesturing to a coworker. 'Is this the only song that plays in here?' I asked. I went over to one of the women working there. It faded out.Īnd then: ' D-DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO! I THOUGHT LOVE WAS ONLY TRUE IN FAIRY TALES-' Capitalism is evil, duh, but it's not force-workers-to-listen-to-'I'm-a-Believer'-by-Smash-Mouth-for-an-entire-shift evil. Something that would only have been possible if they were repeating the song.īut no, I thought.

After maybe four minutes I realised the song was still playing.