Backmasking

Stairway to Heaven:

            This song definitely has some backmasking hidden within it, and the fact that forward the song says “heaven”, but backwards says Satan and references hell. This is one example of a truly back masked song, where there is a hidden message when played backwards, but it was not pre recorded and just converted to a backwards song.

Imagine:

            In this song, there was not an overpowering occurrence of backmasking and secret messages when it was played backwards. It is said that, when the song is played in reverse, that the message says “the people war beside me”, which would make sense if it were truly backmasked because John Lennon believed in perpetual peace, and when he was alive, there was a lot of fighting going on around him. This is why the back masking of Imagine is said to actually be on purpose, but personally there is just a mumbo-jumbo of words that can only be made out to sound like “the people war beside me” if one listens closely. This song does not seem to be genuinely backmasked.

Beat It:

            Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” is rumored to say “I have satan in me”. People have said that due to his supposed obsession with young children, he may have believed that satan really was in him. Although it would make some sense if this were to be an actual instance of backmasking, the incoherence of the lyrics when played backwards is not enough to actually convince one that the message was put there intentionally.

Paparazzi:

            Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” definitely contains a clear instance of backmasking. When played forward, her song says “'There's no other superstar you know that I'll be your papa... paparazzi. Promise I'll be kind”, and when it is played backward, it says 'Evil save us! These stars above, above... we model it on the arts of Lucifer.' Gaga’s message isn’t very clear in the beginning, but once she begins talking about modeling it on the arts of Lucifer, it becomes very apparent that the song was backmasked. The message is very clear at the end, and appears to be 100% intentional.

Another One Bites the Dust:

            In Queen’s song, ‘Another one Bites the Dust’, there is definitely backmasking. This is one of the most original instances of backmasking in my mind, because the song was recorded and then played backwards, and didn’t record the back masking first. It sounds a little bit rough, but they make it very clear that ‘it is fun to smoke marijuana’, even though the words may be a little hard to interpret. The message is very obvious, and one can pick out what Queen is saying when played backwards, without even having the words to begin with, showing that this is an original example of backmasking.

I’m So Tired:

            This song by the Beatles was rumored to have backmasked messages claiming that Paul McCartney was actually dead in them, but even when played in reverse, it is a stretch to say that there is any actual instance of backmasking due to the fact that the words are so incoherent and mixed together that one can barely even understand what they are trying to say.