Another
One Bites The DustNo matter what the evidence is to the contrary, the controversy will not disappear. People still worry about being influenced by messages they have no power to resist. Rock music has always been the target of criticism in our society. In an effort to understand why teenagers are so rebellious, we have gleefully jumped on any obvious scapegoat. Rock music is a perfect target as its listeners tend to be the younger generation. Since most of the rebelliousness is focused on this generation, people have used this observed correlation to make unwarranted causal attributions. As a result, there have, at times, almost been mass hysteria on the "corrupting influence" of rock music.
Researchers John R. Vokey and J. Don Read performed a series of experiments to examine the potential for "backmasked messages" to subliminally influence us. Backmasked messages, essentially, refer to messages that are recorded backwards into music that subliminally influence music listeners when played normally in the normal manner. That is, while listeners cannot directly perceive the message (because they are listening to it backwards), their subconscious mind interprets the message and influences them to react in response to the message.
Another
One Bites The DustThere are several people who travel around the country giving seminars on how subliminal messages in rock music are leading to the moral decline of our youth. One such proponent is Pastor Gary Greenwald of the Eagle's Nest Fellowship in California. When such speakers make their presentations, they leave their audiences convinced that rock music is evil. Presentations involve actual examples of the evil messages. One key is that the speakers usually tell the audience what to listen for. Research has shown that when patterns of sound are pointed out to a listener, it becomes easy to identify that "message". Click on the title of this paragraph and you'll hear a short segment from the Queen classic "Another One Bites The Dust." Now click on the link below, which is simply the above sound reversed. You'll hear Queen exhort their listeners to loosen up, by suggesting "It's Fun To Smoke Marijuana"
It's
Fun To Smoke Marijuana!The problem is that once I have told you what to listen for, it is almost impossible for you not to hear it. And, when you actually hear the message, the argument on the effectiveness of the message becomes powerfully persuasive.
So, did Queen really insert that message intentionally? Unlikely. However, whether they did or not is irrelevant. This is what Vokey and Read refer to as the "fallacy that presence implies effectiveness." When being repeatedly interviewed by the media after publishing their study, they found that most people just wanted to know if their study showed that there were Satanic messages in rock music. Despite trying hard to explain that their study did not examine the existence of backmasked messages but rather their effectiveness, people seemed to misinterpret their findings by saying that the professors found no evidence of backmasked messages in rock music. The bottom line is this -- whether rock groups actually put Satanic messages (or any other messages) in their music is irrelevant. There are almost certainly some backmasked messages in rock music inserted intentionally by the artists. However, the Vokey and Read study clearly demonstrated that if such messages exist, they are completely ineffective at influencing peoples' behavior.
The Beatles were well known for experimenting with looping and backmasking of sounds. It was inevitable that they would be accused of recording backwards messages in their music. While they were never (to my knowledge) accused of inserting Satanic messages in their music, rumors of their active use of backmasked messages reached their peak during the "Paul Is Dead" craze. Started as a joke by a DJ, the rumor flew around the world that Paul McCartney had actually died in the late sixties and the band had replaced him with a Paul look alike. Suddenly, people around the world were scrutinizing everything the Beatles put out for "clues" to the death of Paul. While there were hundreds of clues discovered, a few had to do with backmasked messages. First, in the song Revolution #9, which basically involves John Lennon repeating "Number Nine" over and over again, people found the clue "TURN ME ON DEAD MAN" backwards that was supposed to somehow imply that Paul was dead.
Now, listen to that same passage played backwards and see if you can spot the backmasked message:
Another Beatles song, "So Tired" also supposedly contained a more direct clue. Right at the end of the song, there is some seeming mumbling done by John. When this last segment is played backwards, it sounds like John Lennon is saying "Paul is a dead man, miss him, Miss Him, MISS HIM." Here are the audio files so you can decide for yourself the accuracy of that interpretation ...
Here's the same sound bite reversed. Poor Paul ...
Paul
is a dead man; miss him, Miss Him, MISS HIM
Of course, probably the best known instance of backmasked Satanic messages is in the Led Zeppelin song "Stairway To Heaven." It is interesting that a single passage of this song contains so many supposed backmasked messages. There are so many supposed messages that this song deserves a separate page. Click on the paragraph heading to hear all the Satanic messages supposedly influencing the millions who have heard this song. The links are to short sound files that play that section of the song. Next to each of these sound bites is the reversed form, with the supposed backmasked message in parentheses. Enjoy ...
Quite likely the most prominent case of backmasking in rock music involved the accusation that Judas Priest had placed backwards messages in their music that induced two children to commit suicide. The details of the case are many and there are several great sources of the details on the web. I will not repeat them here. Instead, I would like to refer the browser of this site to the web resources section of this site. One element of the Judas Priest messages concerns the song "Beyond the Realms of Death" from the album Stained Class. Again, listen to the end of the song in the normal forward direction by clicking on the link below:
End
of "Beyond the Realms of Death" by Judas Priest
Now, listen to the exact same snippet played backwards. Listen carefully and try and decipher the message hidden in the track. After you give up, scroll down to find out what you are supposed to hear and listen to the sound snippet again. The message should now be apparent.
Beyond
the Realms of Death Backwards
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According to the plaintiffs in the case against Judas Priest, when the end of the song is played backwards, it sounds like the singer is screaming "I took my life." This was argued to be one of many messages on the album that encouraged kids to commit suicide.
Beyond
the Realms of Death Backwards ("I took my life")
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© 2001 Rajiv Vaidyanathan