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Have you ever played a record backwards, hoping to discover some hidden message from the artist? If so, you are aware of the popular recording technique known as backmasking, in which the artist deliberately records words or phrases backwards onto a track that is supposed to be played forwards. Although The Beatles are generally given credit for popularizing the idea of hiding messages in songs, the first hit song to include backmasking is thought to be “Car Trouble" by a group called The Eligibles.The 1959 song, which included two backward phrases, peaked at #107 on the Billboard chart.
Backmasking can be used for artistic, satiric, or comedic reasons, among others. It has also led to several conspiracy theories; in 1969, a rumor began circulating that Paul McCartney was dead, with listeners claiming that The Beatles had included hidden messages about this in their songs “Revolution 9” and “I'm So Tired.” In the late 1970s some Christian fundamentalists began to claim that (mainly rock and heavy metal) musicians were using backmasking to put subliminal Satanic messages targeted at young listeners in their songs. The hysteria about this belief peaked in the mid-1980s but has continued to persist on a lesser level to present day. It also started an obsession with listeners deliberately playing the songs backwards in the hope of finding a message, Satanic or otherwise.
Here are some of the more well-known songs that use backmasking that you may not have known about.
1The B-52s - 'Detour Thru Your Mind'
The Hidden Message: “I buried my parakeet in the backyard. Oh no, you're playing the record backward. Watch out, you might ruin your needle.”
What It Means: The B-52s are known for known for their quirky, fun songs with lyrics that aren't always easy to interpret. Likewise, the lyrics aren't necessarily meant to be taken seriously. So it isn't a surprise that the group decided to put a hidden message at the end of the 1986 track “Detour Thru Your Mind” that makes fun of listeners trying to find a hidden message in the song (may that parakeet rest in peace).
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The Hidden Message: “It’s Eminem” (repeated several times)
What It Means: “My Name Is” was the lead single off Eminem's 1999 album The Slim Shady LP and marked the rapper's first Top 40 appearance on the Billboard Hot 100. Nearly 20 years after the song was released, the idea that there was a hidden message in the song began to gain traction. Some fans realized that if the chorus was played backwards, the listener could hear the rapper say “It's Eminem” over and over. The rapper has not spoken about this discovery, but it seems like he was introducing himself to his listeners - regardless of whether they played the song backwards or forwards.
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3'Weird' Al Yankovic - 'Nature Trail To Hell'
The Hidden Message: “Satan eats Cheez Whiz.”
What It Means:
Coming this Christmas to a theatre near you
the most horrifying film to hit the screen
There's a homicidal maniac who finds a Cub Scout troop
And he hacks up two or three in every sceneIt's clear from lyrics like those that this this 1984 track by Yankovic is meant to satirize the huge popularity of slasher movies. In 1984, the conspiracy theory about musicians' using backmasking to put satanic lyrics in songs was at its peak, so the comedian put this message about Satan's love for Cheez Whiz in the song's bridge as a parody of this belief.
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!['Weird' Al Yankovic - 'I Remember Larry']()
4'Weird' Al Yankovic - 'I Remember Larry'
The Hidden Message: “Wow, you must have an awful lot of free time on your hands.”
What It Means: By 1996, the hysteria over the conspiracy theory that musicians were hiding satanic messages in their songs had largely died down, but that didn't mean that listeners weren't still obsessively looking for any evidence of backmasking in music. Yankovic gently mocks those people in the backwards lyric found in the outro to “I Remember Larry,” the satiric tale in which the narrator remembers the neighbor bully he murdered.
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![Eminem - 'Stimulate']()
5Eminem - 'Stimulate'
The Hidden Message:
I'm not here to save you
I'm only here for the ride
So let me entertain you
And everything will be fineWhat It Means: In his 2002 song “Stimulate,” Eminem raps his influence on the people who listen to his music, especially kids. His lyrics talk about how he's not a role model, but rather someone trying to stimulate and entertain listeners with his work. The track's outro is four lines rapped backwards that, when deciphered, reiterate the idea that everything will be fine if the listener accepts that Eminem is just an entertainer, that he doesn't have the ability to save anyone.
Although the rapper doesn't appear to have ever talked about these backward lyrics, let alone what they mean, at least one listener believes they might be referencing the fact that in the 1980s conservative religious groups believed that many rock musicians had hidden satanic messages in their songs. Or possibly it was a response to the members of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee, which, in 2001, had singled out some of the rapper's lyrics as a reason why the recording industry needed to expand its program to label its releases to warn consumers about explicit content.
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![Tenacious D - 'Karate']()
6Tenacious D - 'Karate'
The Hidden Message: “Donkey crap”
What It Means: Tenacious D is an act that consists of actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass; their musical style is a combination of acoustic rock, heavy metal, and comedy. Their song “Karate,” which premiered on the duo's HBO show, is about Black's interest in a girl who is in love with Gass; this leads the men to fight even as they are performing the song. The backwards message, which comes in the outro, is likely a tribute or reference to the fact that several heavy metal bands used backmasking in their music.
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