Backmasking
However, apparent backmasked messages may in fact be examples of pareidolia (the brain's tendency to recognize patterns in meaningless data), coincidental phonetic reversal,[2] or as deliberate responses to the allegations themselves.
The latter has its roots in an event in 1969, when WKNR-FM DJ Russ Gibb received a phone call from a student at Eastern Michigan University who identified himself as "Tom".
[21] During the same year, thirty North Carolina teenagers, led by their pastor, claimed that singers had been possessed by Satan, who used their voices to create backward messages, and held a record-burning at their church.
[26] Involved in the discussion on the bill was a California State Assembly Consumer Protection and Toxic Materials Committee hearing, during which "Stairway to Heaven" was played backwards, and William Yaroll testified.
[21] United States House Resolution 6363, introduced in 1982 by Representative Bob Dornan, proposed mandating a similar label federally;[28] the bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Transportation and Tourism and never passed.
[22] Listening to backmasked audio with most turntables requires disengaging the drive and rotating the album by hand in reverse[35] (though some can play records backwards).
Bart Simpson joins a boy band called the Party Posse, whose song "Drop da Bomb" includes the repeated lyric "Yvan eht nioj".
[38][41] The Futurama episode "Calculon 2.0" also has a scene where an installation disc is played backward on what looks like an old fashioned gramophone player, with the words "rise from the dead in the name of Satan" coming from it.
[44] Cradle of Filth, another band that has employed Satanic imagery, released a song entitled "Dinner at Deviant's Palace", consisting almost entirely of unusual sounds and a reversed reading of the Lord's Prayer.
[45] Oingo Boingo has a Christian message promoting salvation through Christ backmasked into one of their songs, "Cry of the Vatos", a satire on claims of Satanism in their music.
[citation needed] At the end of "Before I Forget" by Slipknot, lead singer Corey Taylor's voice can be heard saying "You're wasting it" which is in reference to how Rick Rubin, the producer of their album Vol.
Backmasking has been used for artistic effect by Missy Elliott ("Work It",[48]), Jay Chou ("You Can Hear"[49]) At the Drive-In ("300 MHz"[50]), Klaatu ("Anus of Uranus"/"Silly Boys",[51]) and Lacuna Coil ("Self Deception"[52]) A related technique is to reverse an entire instrumental track.
John Lennon originally wanted to do so with "Rain", but objections by producer George Martin and bandmate Paul McCartney cut the backward section to 30 seconds.
[9] Danish band Mew's 2009 album No More Stories... contains a track, "New Terrain", which, when listened to in reverse, reveals a new song, entitled "Nervous".
Pink Floyd dropped a backmasked message into "Empty Spaces": The first line may refer to former lead singer Syd Barrett, who is thought to have had a nervous breakdown years earlier.
"[59] Belgian act Poésie Noire included a satirical backmasked message on their 1988 album Tetra saying "You fucking asshole, play the record in the normal way".
[28] Iron Maiden's 1983 album Piece of Mind features a short backwards message, included by the band in response to allegations of Satanism that were surrounding them at the time.
Meanwhile, Christian rock group Petra included in their song "Judas' Kiss", from the 1982 album More Power to Ya, the message, "What are you looking for the devil for, when you ought to be looking for the Lord?
"[59] Bloodhound Gang's 1996 controversy-begging track "Lift Your Head Up High (And Blow Your Brains Out)" mocked the Judas Priest controversy directly, and included the backmasked phrase "Devil child, wake up and eat Chef Boyardee Beefaroni".
On Frank Zappa's track "Hot Poop", from We're Only in It for the Money (1968), the released version contains at the end of its side "A" the backmasked message "Better look around before you say you don't care.
[76] The message appears in the song "Perfect Sense Part 1", in which Waters' backmasked voice says, "Julia, however, in light and visions of the issues of Stanley, we have changed our minds.
[81] Artists who have been accused of backmasking include Led Zeppelin,[82] the Beatles,[82] Pink Floyd,[82] Electric Light Orchestra,[82] Queen, Styx,[82] Judas Priest,[82] the Eagles,[82] The Rolling Stones,[82] Jefferson Starship,[82] AC/DC,[83] Black Oak Arkansas,[83] Rush,[84] Britney Spears,[85] and Eminem.
"[83] ELO singer and songwriter Jeff Lynne responded by calling this accusation (and the related charge of being "devil-worshippers") "skcollob",[65] and stating that the message "is absolutely manufactured by whoever said, 'That's what it said.'
"[19] Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant denied the accusations in an interview: "To me it's very sad, because 'Stairway to Heaven' was written with every best intention, and as far as reversing tapes and putting messages on the end, that's not my idea of making music.
"[88] Another widely known alleged message, "It's fun to smoke marijuana", in Queen's song "Another One Bites the Dust", is similarly disclaimed by the group's spokesperson.
[89] Minister Jacob Aranza wrote in his 1982 book Backward Masking Unmasked that rock groups "are using backmasking to convey Satanic and drug related messages to the subconscious.
[92] Serial killer Richard Ramirez, on trial in 1988, stated that AC/DC's music, and specifically the song "Night Prowler" on Highway to Hell, inspired him to commit murder.
[98] Stanford University psychology professor Brian Wandell postulates that the observance of backward messages is a mistake arising from this pattern recognition facility, and argues that subliminal persuasion theories are "bizarre" and "implausible.
"[101] Audio engineer Evan Olcott says that messages by artists including Queen and Led Zeppelin are coincidental phonetic reversals, in which the spoken or sung phonemes form new combinations of words when listened to backwards.
[110] A page in Frank Miller's comic The Dark Knight Returns depicts a character named "Arnold Cimp," who becomes convinced Led Zeppelin is trying to kill him after hearing "Stairway To Heaven" backwards.
