Back Masking and Reverse Speech

Often in songs there is a message that can be found when listening to the song backwards. However, these messages are often sought after with such intensity that they can be created solely based on what the listener believe he or she hears. While sometimes the messages are intentional, they can be looked into too much and thought to exist even when that was not the intention of the song writer. In my opinion, back masking does exist in some songs based on the artists intentions. Also, I believe that reverse speech is based on what the audience chooses to hear while listening to the song, and it may be different from what another person hears.

1. Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" is a prime example of back masking. This song has a distinct message when played both forward and backward, and the backward lyrics are clear unlike several other examples. The references to Satan when the song is listened to in reverse is common in back masking in many songs, making it more clear that the back masking was intentional.

2. Another example of intentional back masking in song is in "I'm So Tired" by the Beatles. When played forward, a certain part of the song is only gibberish with no actual lyrics. Then, when the song is played backwards, the lyrics are "Paul is a dead man. Miss him, miss him, miss him". Because the song is merely gibberish forward and has a message backwards, the back masking was intentional. Also, often in the Beatles music, there are hints that Paul McCartney was dead.

3. Eminem's "My name is" is another example of back masking in song that was done on purpose in my opinion. When listened to backwards, the listener can hear "It is Slim. It's Eminem, it's Eminem...". In my opinion, this is on purpose because one is able to clearly hear the name of the singer when the song is listened to backwards. Therefore, this example of back masking is not hogwash, but intentional.

4. Because the song is indistinguishable when played forward, Pink Floyd's "Empty Spaces" is a prime example of back masking. The message backwards is "Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your message to old pink, care of the funny farm, Chalfont". The secret message, or back masking, is done on purpose in this case as is stated when the song is listened to backwards.

5. Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time" is not an example of back masking. One is not able to hear the backward lyrics distinctly, and they can vary depending on the listener. These backwards song lyrics may have been "discovered" solely based on her Spears' reputation.

6. Another excellent example of back masking is Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust". In the song, "Another one bites the dust" is repeated four times. When listening to these lyrics backwards, one can hear "It's fun to smoke marijuana". These lyrics are clear and, because of the time that the song came out and the time that the band was popular, the topic of smoking was ever present. The popular saying of the time, "sex, drugs, and rock and roll" also portrays that this example is intentional back masking.

7. The apparent back masking in the "Pokemon Rap" is hogwash. One can not hear what is supposed to say "I love Satan". Also, because Pokemon is geared toward the younger generation, I do not believe that these backward lyrics were on purpose. In my opinion, this supposed example of back masking has been read too much into.

8. In Weird Al's "Nature Trail to Hell", there is a true example of back masking. Weird Al's songs are usually strange and abnormal. Therefore, when the backwards lyrics read "Satan eats Cheese Whiz", I believe this is intentional. Also, the forward lyrics are gibberish which makes it more obvious that the back masking was done on purpose.

9. "Kiss Kiss Kiss" by Yoko Ono is supposedly an example of back masking. However, the lyrics, when played forward, are in a different language. Due to this fact, I believe that the lyrics were not intentionally sung to say "I shot John Lennon" backwards. Also, Ono was Lennon's partner, and therefore this "back masking" does not make sense.

10. In my opinion, the best example of back masking in song appears when the song "Fire on High" by ELO is played backwards. This is the best example in my opinion because the original lyrics are indistinguishable, but when listened to backwards, the lyrics are very clear. Also, the backwards read that "the music is reversible". In ELO's song, one can be quite certain that the back masking in the song was intentional.

All in all, I believe that back masking is used in some songs to get a message across. However, people have listened to songs backwards and supposedly heard messages which were not intended by the song writers. I believe that back masking has to be done on purpose in songs and cannot be unintentional.