'Torture' - The Song

Ironically, this song was not written in relation to current events. Here is the story:

In 1992, Tony-nominated lyric writer, Ellen Fitzhugh, and Jan Hammer, who wrote the music for "Miami Vice," were hired to write the songs for a projected "Star Wars" musical. The song, "Torture," was written to be sung by a robot under the direction of Darth Vader, but the musical went nowhere, and the song went nowhere with it.

In 1992, no one expected that a song entitled "Torture" would ever be timely. No one expected that we would have a vice-president who would frequently be likened to Darth Vader. No one expected torture to become standard operating procedure for the treatment of America's suspected enemies. And no one expected that after the torture administration left office, the next president, President Obama, would refuse to try the torturers for possible breaches of American law.


"Torture" is written from a gleeful, pro-torture point of view, as befits a song meant to be sung by a soulless robot of The Empire. But it is the position of Ms. Fitzhugh and Mr. Hammer that citizens of a democracy should not be soulless robots, and that a full public debate about torture (the practice, not the song) is an absolute necessity. With that in mind, they have released this song, in the hope that it will help to keep this issue before the public.