Backward message

A backward message (otherwise, but incorrectly, known as Backmasking) is a supposed message hidden in an audio recording that is revealed by playing it backwards. Thus it requires audio equipment with this facility, either built-in, or in the case of a gramophone record, by turning it backward by hand.

Critics of rock and roll songs have occasionally claimed that rock musicians have recorded backward messages about sex, drugs, death, and blasphemy into their songs, in order to diseminate a message to dedicated fans that might not otherwise be transmitable. It is further occasinally claimed that these messages can be perceived subconsiously, simply by listening to the audio played normally. From this speculation, it is further suggested that audio can contain subliminal commands that encite their listeners to commit acts of violence, or simply drive them to irrational behavior. The general population (especially among fans of rock-and-roll music) usually scoffs at the idea that hidden commands are recorded in rock music, and this idea has become an urban legend.

Alleged Backmasking

Backmasking had its roots with The Beatles. Just prior to the band's break-up in 1970, DJ Russell Gibb initiated the infamous Paul Is Dead hoax (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 such as "Paul is dead, man, miss him, miss him..." and "turn me on, dead man, turn me on, dead man..."

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 litte 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."

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 youths survived, and the lawsuit by the boys' families claimed that a 1978 Judas Priest album contained hidden messages. The words "do it" were alleged to be heard 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 mesages 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 song "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" does not escape critisicm. Supposedly, 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.

Backmasking and Conservative Christians

Backmasking is a great concern in some conservative Christian circles, and this was reflected in many of the allegations raised during the 1970s and 1980s. Popular Music, which reflects the values of the wider world, is often seen by these Christians as one tool that Satan can use to mislead the world. Since many conservative Christians believe in the supernatural, the idea that Satan can use popular music to insert blasphemous and anti-Christian messages is quite plausible to them.

Conservative Christians (at least in the USA) also tend to have an anti-intellectual attitude (especially towards secular studies) so any scientific evidence based upon empirical testing, or psycho-grammatical understanding, is unlikely to convince them of any arguments against backmasking.

The lack of any Biblical teaching relating specifically to backmasking is, however, problematic for conservative Christians. As a result, a significant amount 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.

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"

(a reference 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 the breathing sound from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Another famous, deliberately and intentionally recorded, backwards 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 group Information Society, in their cover song Are Friends Electric?, concealed the message "Obey your parents, Do you homework, Winners don't do drugs".

All deliberately backmasked messages have one thing in common: all are completely unintelligible when played forwards. None are unambiguously intelligible when played both forwards and backwards.

References to Backmasking

Parody artist Weird Al Yankovic satirized the concept of satanic backmasking in his song Nature Trail to Hell (from Weird Al Yankovic in 3-D, released 1984) by including an obviously reversed line, that when played backwards says, "Satan eats cheese whiz."

Musical group Mindless Self Indulgence released a song titled Backmask on their 2000 album Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy. This 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".

Heavy metal band Body Count on their 1994 album "Born Dead" intentionally put in a backmasked message on the song "Killing Floor", played backwards says "Bodycount, motherfucker. Burn in hell!" Heavy metal band DarkThrone on their "Transilvanian Hunger" album, on the end of track 7 have a backmasked message when the song finishes which says "In the name of God, let the churches burn."

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 though the sound passage was or 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 weren't led to behave in any certain way as a result of being "exposed" to the backmasked phrase.

See also

Reverse speech

External Link