A backward message (otherwise, but incorrectly, known as Backmasking) is a supposed message hidden in an audio recording that is only fully apparent when played backwards.
Fundamentalist Christians and other critics of rock and roll have claimed that rock music contains backward messages about sex, drugs, death, and religion. They allege that these messages can be understood subconsciously when a song is played normally and influence the listeners' behavior and opinons, or even incite them to acts of violence or self-harm. However, most people reject the idea that hidden messages or commands are recorded in rock music and the idea is widely regarded as an urban legend.
Alleged backmasking
Backmasking first became famous with The Beatles. Just before the band's break-up in 1970, DJ Russell Gibb initiated the infamous Paul Is Dead urban legend (a rumor that Beatle Paul McCartney had died) by playing certain Beatles records backwards to reveal hidden messages. One album in particular, The Beatles (aka The White Album) was said to contain backwards messages. Intentional gibberish at the end of "I'm So Tired" supposedly is "Paul is dead, man, miss him, miss him..." Likewise, the repeated words "Number nine, number nine, number nine..." in Revolution 9 is supposedly "turn me on, dead man, turn me on, dead man..." backwards.
The most famous alleged backward message in a rock and roll song is based on a lyric from the song "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin. When the words "If there's a bustle in your hedgerow [...] there's still time to change the road you're on" are played backwards, the resulting noise is a garbled phrase that some claim is actually the phrase "here's to my sweet Satan. The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan. He'll give you (give you) 666, there was a little toolshed where he made us suffer, sad Satan." However, it is highly improbable that the message is so clear as this.
The Eagles' "Hotel California" supposedly contains a backward message from the opening lyrics that goes "Satan, he organized his own religion...well, he knows he should...so nice it was delicious...it cooks it in a vat he fixed for his son whom he gives away."
The title of Queen's funk-rock hit "Another One Bites the Dust," when played backwards, sounds vaguely like "It's fun to smoke marijuana."
British heavy metal band Judas Priest was sued over a 1985 suicide pact made by two Nevada schoolboys. One of the two boys survived, and the lawsuit by their families claimed that a 1978 Judas Priest album contained hidden messages. The words "Do it" were allegedly audible when the record was played backwards, and the letters S U I (supposedly for "suicide") are in the sleeve artwork. The case was dismissed after evidence was introduced that the boys had grown up in "violent and depressed" surroundings, and after the band demonstrated that other, nonsensical, backwards messages could be found if one exercised enough imagination. Judas Priest members also commented that if they wanted to insert subliminal commands in their music, killing their fans would be counterproductive, and they would prefer to insert the command "Buy more of our records".
Even the nursery rhyme "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" does not escape criticism: playing it backwards will supposedly result in one of the lines becoming "I wish there was no Allah".
Other artists associated with backmasking include AC/DC, Styx, and Prince.
In Red Dwarf series 3, episode 1, the Red Dwarf crew travel to a universe where time runs backwards. One of the men in the pub insults the characters, who try and discover what he is actually saying. When the speech is translated it says "You are a stupid, square-headed, bald git aren't you? I'm pointing to you. But I'm not actually addressing you. I'm addressing the one prat in the country who's bothered to get hold of this recording, turn it round and actually work out the rubbish that I'm saying. What a poor, sad life he's got." The UK DVD of this series includes an option to play the entire episode backwards, so all of the reversed speech can be heard.
Backmasking and conservative Christians
Backmasking has been a great concern for some conservative Christians, and this was reflected in many of the allegations raised during the 1970s and 1980s. Some feared then (and often still do) that popular music, which often reflects values at odds with their own, could be a tool used by Satan to mislead or corrupt the world, particularly youth, who are more likely to listen to such music.
Conservative Christians (at least in the USA) tend to be suspicious towards secular studies if they conflict with Holy Scripture.
The lack of any Biblical teaching relating specifically to backmasking is, however, problematic for conservative Christians. As a result, a significant proportion of conservative Christians do not support the idea.
Some conservative Christians have said that the faithful should worry less about what song lyrics say backwards, and worry more about what the lyrics say forwards. Many popular artists sing openly about the same things that Christians feared were present in backward messages.
Deliberate backmasking
Several musicians have deliberately recorded backward messages into their songs, as a way of making an artistic statement, and also to have fun at the expense of their critics. On Pink Floyd's rock epic The Wall there is an intentional backwards message at the beginning of the track "Empty Spaces": "...congratulations. You've just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the funny farm, Chalfont," which refers to former lead singer Syd Barrett, who suffered a breakdown years earlier. On Roger Waters' 1991 album Amused to Death, he deliberately recorded a backward message critical of film director Stanley Kubrick, who had refused to let Waters sample a breathing sound from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The Beatles produced two of the first instances of backmasking in popular music in 1966_in_music, first on Rain_(song), the B-side of Paperback Writer, which contains the first line of the song played backwards at the end, and again on I'm_Only_Sleeping, which contains a backwards guitar line in the middle.
Another famous, deliberately recorded backward message comes from the beginning of the Electric Light Orchestra song "Fire on High," where the mysterious deep mumbling reverses to "The music is reversible, but time is not...turn back! Turn back! Turn back!", ostensibly a shot at the hysteria surrounding "reversed speech" at the time the album was released.
The Christian rock group Petra in their song "Judas Kiss" included the message "What are you looking for the devil for, when you ought to be looking for the Lord?"
The techno music group Information Society, in their cover of the Gary Numan song "Are Friends Electric?", concealed the message "Obey your parents, do your homework, winners don't do drugs".
Prince's track "Darling Nikki" contained "Hello, how are you? I'm fine. 'cause I know that the Lord is coming soon, coming, coming soon." at the end, following (or, in reverse, followed by) thirty-three "hah"s.
Not all intentional backward messages poke fun at concerns over backmasking. On their 1994 album Born Dead , heavy metal band Body Count intentionally put in a backward message on the song "Killing Floor", which when played backwards says "Body Count, motherfucker. Burn in hell!" Black metal band Darkthrone put a backward message at the end of the seventh track of their "Transilvanian Hunger" album, which said, "In the name of God, let the churches burn."
In the Pantera song "Avoid the Light," speech that has obviously been reversed can be heard during the intro and outro portions of the song. When played backwards, the singer, Phil Anselmo says "Satan's wrath is the only choice. His stillborn army is impeccable."
In the opening moments of Marilyn Manson's "Tourniquet", a clearly audible backwards voice says, "This is my lowest point of vulnerability"
The Sisters of Mercy's "Vision Thing" includes a reversed quotation from Apocalypse Now: "Only the Americans would build a place like this in middle of the jungle. Only the Americans would want to.". Their earlier song "Burn" has an entire verse reversed.
Unlike unintentional, alleged backward messages, which result from playing normal lyrics backward, deliberate backward messages are usually unintelligible noise when played forward.
At_the_Drive-In's song "300mhz" from the Vaya album has an entire verse backmasked.
The musical group tomandandy scored several pieces for the film version of The Rules of Attraction which were designed to be harmonic when the scenes occur both backwards and forwards (a technique which happens several times in the movie).
Two songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic employ deliberate backmasking; only one song of the two has a particular (albeit tongue-in-cheek) demonic reference. In "Nature Trail to Hell", from the 1984 album In 3-D, Al declares that "Satan eats Cheez Whiz". Later, in "I Remember Larry" from the 1996 album Bad Hair Day, Al lightly chastises the listener, remarking, "Wow, you must have an awful lot of free time on your hands."
Dread Zeppelin, a reggae Led Zeppelin cover band featuring an Elvis impersonator named Tortelvis, features some deliberate backmasking on their 1990 album Un-Led-Ed. At the beginning of the track Moby Dick, a reverse-speaking voice says "Whis (?) My name's Elvis". When played forward, it says "Trouble is going to come... to you".
The Beatles parody band The Rutles features a backward message in their song "Piggy In The Middle" (itself a parody of the Beatles' "I Am The Walrus"), prior to the bridge: played backwards, it reveals "This little piggy went to maaaaarket," spoken in a stereotypical Beatles voice.
The Rutles' spinoffs of backwards messages didn't end there. In their mockumentary All You Need Is Cash, the words to "Sergeant Rutter's Only Darts Club Band" (a song that exists in name only), is supposed to reveal the message "Stig has been dead for ages, honestly" (referring to the rumor that the Rutles' guitarist Stig O'Hara was dead - a reference to the Paul Is Dead rumors). In fact, as the narrator (Eric Idle) points out, it's much more similar to "Dnab Bulc Strad Ylno Srettur Tnaegres."
British heavy metal band Iron Maiden's 1983 album "Piece Of Mind " features a backwards message between the songs "The Trooper" and "Still Life". When played backwards, the listener can hear a drunk Nicko McBrain, drummer for the band, say: "Hmm, Hmmm, what ho sed de t'ing wid de t'ree bonce. Don't meddle wid t'ings you don't understand", followed by a belch. McBrain later admitted this to be his "famous" impression of Idi Amin Dada. It translates to the following: "What ho said the monster with the three heads, don't meddle with things you don't understand." The message is aimed at religious conservative critics(mainly in the southern United States, who critisised the band and accused them of devil worship due to the lyrics and cover artwork on their 1982 album "The Number Of The Beast".
Another alleged deliberate backwards message by Iron Maiden is on the live version of the song "Drifter", which is on the B-Side of their second single, Sanctuary, saying: "I want you to sell your soul to Satan!" However, this was later proved to in fact be bassist Steve Harris using another microphone saying: "(th)'anks a lot! See ya guys, see ya 'morra. Cheers!"
Musical references to backmasking
Musical group Mindless Self Indulgence released a song titled "Backmask" on their 2000 album Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy. The song speaks degradingly about angsty teenagers who look for backwards messages in music, and ends with backmasked lyrics instructing the listener to "clean your room," "do your homework," "eat your vegetables" and other such anti-rebellious activities.
In their song "Lift Your Head Up High (and Blow Your Brains Out)", from 1996's One Fierce Beer Coaster, The Bloodhound Gang includes the verse: "I hope you take this the wrong way / And misinterpret what I say / Rewind and let me reverse it / backwards like Judas Priest first did". What follows is a backwards message, which, when reversed, says: "Devil shall wake up and eat Chef Boyardee Beefaroni."
Styx's song "Heavy Metal Poisoning" contained the phrase "Annuit Coeptis Novus Ordo Seclorum" (God favours the new world order) at the beginning and a intentionally garbled message in the middle, which sounds like either "Satan has the secrets" or "Sparky holds the secrets" (Sparky being the dog mentioned on the album Paradise Theatre.) To add to the humor, the album (Kilroy Was Here) was packaged with a sticker from the MMM (Majority for Musical Morality, a fake advisory board taken from the album's concept) advising the listener of offensive content.
The B-52's also parodied backward masking in the song "Detour Through Your Mind" on the album "Bouncing Off The Satellites " (1986). One of a few songs poking fun at psychedelia, the end contains some backwards words that when run forward say: "I buried my parakeet in the backyard. Oh no, you're playing the record backwards. Watch out, you might ruin your needle."
They Might Be Giants released a song called "On Earth My Nina" on the album Long Tall Weekend, which was the song "Thunderbird" (which appeared later on The Spine) simply played backwards. Also, in the song "Subliminal" on the album John Henry, at the end of the song, it promply starts to play itself in reverse, an obvious joke on how some people feel that there are messages embedded in rock music.
Skepticism
It is worth noting that, given a randomly generated series of syllables spoken in a variety of accents, a two-syllable pair that can be liberally interpreted as "Satan" is very easy to generate. Therefore, any individual with a small amount of creative interpretation skills could play virtually any song with vocals backwards and uncover "Satanic messages". This fact has been exploited by defense attorneys in "backwards messaging" court cases, who often disprove allegations by "uncovering Satanic messages" in songs by Christian artists, most famously Amy Grant.
In many movies, the voice of a Satanic character is made by reversing and reducing the speed of any voice. Thus one might suppose that either this technique started from backward messages, or that a voice played in slow motion has a Satanic tone in American culture.
Vokey and Read study
In 1985, university psychologists J. Vokey and J.D. Read conducted a study using Psalm 23 from the Bible, Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust," and various other sound passages made up for the experiment. Of the 300 people tested, less than 10% claimed they could hear any messages. When a particular phrase was cited beforehand and the subjects prompted to listen for it, 90% were able to hear it, even when the phrase was not intentionally recorded. Vokey and Read concluded that if backmasking did indeed exist, it was ineffective. Their volunteers had trouble even noticing the backmasked phrase when the tape was played forward, were unable to judge the type of message (whether it was Christian, Satanic, or commercial) it contained, and were not led to behave in any certain way as a result of being "exposed" to the backmasked phrase.
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