Poor Daryl Dixon went through a lot during Sunday’s episode of The Walking Dead, including eating dog food sandwiches and looking at a photo of his dead friend. But that wasn’t the worst of it — listening to the same song over and over and over again was. The Saviors played the obnoxiously chipper “Easy Street” by the Collapsable Hearts Club on repeat to keep Daryl from sleeping. It’s an effective form of torture, but the song’s writer, Jim Bianco, didn’t mind The Walking Dead associating his creation with cruel suffering.
“I think the show used it brilliantly,” he told the Independent, “Framing such an upbeat song as a torture device is a work of genius by the music supervisor. We’re happy to be a part of such creative use of music in such an iconic show.” Bianco, who said the track is inspired by Frank Sinatra, isn’t sure how The Walking Dead found his song, “but when they heard it, the show reached out and asked to use it. I didn’t really understand why a show like The Walking Dead would want to use such an upbeat over-the-top, in-your-face ‘happy’ song, but now I understand. To torture someone, of course.”
The Collapsable Hearts Club is in good company. Songs by Metallica, Queen, and Eminem have also been used to torture prisoners. Then again, so has the Barney theme song. That would drive even the sanest man to insanity.
(Via the Independent)
