From the no-man’s land that separates sparring countries to the interrogation cells of counter-terrorism prisons, music has always been used as a tool in psychological warfare. Detainees accused of crimes during the War on Terror talked of CIA operatives blasting the songs of foul-mouthed rapper Eminem into their cells at full volume for 24 hours a day in the hope that they’d crack. Meanwhile South Korean troops used to play sunny K-pop music over loudspeakers facing the Korean Demilitarised Zone in the hope of eclipsing the propaganda being broadcast by their enemies in North Korea.

This is not a melee into which you might expect Old Harrovian and Radio 2-friendly crooner James Blunt to step. But the 47-year-old singer has inserted himself into the latest high profile example of music being used as a psychological weapon, albeit in a tongue-in-cheek way. And it’s all to do with lockdown restrictions in New Zealand.

For days, crowds have been gathering outside the country’s parliament in capital Wellington to protest against Covid-19 restrictions. The parliament’s Speaker, Trevor Mallard, has tried all sorts of tactics to disperse the protesters, including turning on the water sprinklers on the lawn where they were camped. This didn’t work so Mallard turned on the music instead. Barry Manilow, to be precise. 

Over the weekend, Mallard was hoping that blasts of Manilow’s saccharine hits, which include Mandy and Can’t Smile Without You, would send the crowds packing. Spotting a news story about the speaker’s novel approach, Blunt — always quick to ironically play up to his cheesy image as unpopular and cheesy — took to Twitter.

“Give me a shout if this doesn’t work,” Blunt tweeted, tagging the New Zealand police. Lo and behold, the sound system in Wellington was soon playing his 2005 mega-hit You’re Beautiful, a track that reached number four in the country’s charts. Rather than send the protestors home, footage emerged of them linking arms, waving flags and merrily singing along to Blunt’s cutesy hit.