Bone Music

The Sound of Resilience

Imagine holding a piece of forbidden music—not on vinyl, but on a discarded X-ray film. The faint outlines of a ribcage or a broken limb serve as the canvas for the grooves of an outlawed melody.

This was “bone music,” a remarkable symbol of resilience and humanity’s unyielding need for art and connection.

In the Soviet era, Western music was banned and labeled a dangerous threat to the regime.

Yet music, as we know, cannot be silenced so easily.

Ingenious rebels repurposed discarded X-ray films, etching grooves into them to create bootleg records. Known as "ribs," these fragile discs carried the forbidden sounds of Elvis Presley, Duke Ellington, or The Beatles. Risking severe punishment, these ghostly records were secretly passed hand to hand, a lifeline to a world beyond borders and censorship.

These crackly recordings, with their distorted sounds and ghostly visuals, became more than music—they were lifelines. For a generation starved of connection to the wider world, bone music was a reminder that art and beauty could transcend borders, even when physical walls and ideological barriers stood in the way.

The story of bone music reminds us of something universal: our innate drive to seek meaning.

No matter the constraints, humans will always find ways to express themselves, to share stories, to preserve what matters most. Music, after all, is not just entertainment; it is an anthem for our shared humanity.

This extraordinary story inspired my piece Squelettes Joyeux. I imagined those skeletons spinning around on makeshift vinyl players, shaking off the dust of despair and regaining the joy of life. Their fragile dance embodies not only survival but celebration—a reminder that art, like life, always finds a way.

Listen to Squelettes Joyeux by clicking here.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend.

Claudio.