Backwards Day – 9 Rock Sgnos In Reverse

Backwards Day is a chance to "break from routine and encourage people to embrace the unexpected" according to Awarenessdays.com. You can celebrate by eating dessert first, walking backwards, or by checking out our list of backwards rock songs.

There are several different types of backwards music. According to Google, backmasking is "the practice of recording a message backwards onto an audio track, so that it can only be heard by playing the track in reverse." Some of the more famous examples of backmasking come from bands like Queen, Pink Floyd, and The Beatles.

Classic rock also has some songs with backwards lyrics. Def Leppard has a great example of flipped lyrics. Backwards lyrics don't create a new message like backmasking does. The lyrics just can't be understood unless you play them in reverse. When they're played as a "normal" part of the song, they sound like gibberish.

Backwards guitar solos also exist in some classic rock songs. One example of a backward guitar solo is Jimi Hendrix' "Castles Made of Sand." The Red Hot Chili Peppers covered this song, but they did not include the backwards guitar solo. Instead, they created their own in another song.

FarOut has a great list of songs with creepy hidden messages, but for our list, I'd like to focus on the backwards concept as a whole.

Sometimes songs are accused of backmasking, but it could just be bad luck.. or good fortune depending on perception. Styx "Snowblind" was widely accused of having the message "Satan move through our voices" embedded into their song. Album sales went through the roof because people wanted to hear it for themselves. The controversy also inspired Styx' next album, Kilroy Was Here which told the story of the "Majority for Musical Morality."

Our parents hit the ROOF when they discovered that my sister, Mary, had the Queen album and was listening to "Another One Bites The Dust" because rumor had it, if you played is backwards, the lyrics you heard were "It's fun to smoke marijuana." Naturally, this would cause all who heard it to start smoking the devil's weed.

Def Leppard's "Rocket" has backwards lyrics throughout the album version but they were taken out of the single. "We're fighting with the God's of war" are the backwards lyrics. The phrase is the title of another Def Leppard song, "Gods of War."

Talk about a stretch.... back in the day, AC/DC was accused of backmasking on "Highway to Hell." AC/DC was accused of hiding "satanic messages" in the song... the song that's called "Highway to Hell." The video below is "Highway to Hell" played backwards and they offer lyrics including the line "You sleep with every woman." ...I seriously just snorted with laughter... it must have been Satan that made me do it.

"Empty Spaces" flows right into "Young Lust" but radio (in my experience) has only played "Young Lust." Pink Floyd wraps it's arms around backmasking. The message in "Empty Spaces" is a congratulatory one: "Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to old Pink, care of the funny farm." There's a little more to it... you can hear the whole thing in the video below.

John Frusiante's guitar solo in "Give It Away" is backwards and genius. Some of the lyrics are about Frusiante's good friend River Phoenix. After River's death, the band wrote a song for him called "Transcending." "Give It Away" was the first release off of Blood Sugar Sex Magic.

The OG of backward messaging. "Revolution 9" comes complete with a conspiracy theory... Paul McCartney died in a car accident in 1966 and was replaced with a doppelganger. The rumored hidden phrase is "turn me on, dead man." John Lennon had a thing for the number 9. He changed his name to John Ono Lennon and loved that between his name and Yoko Ono, they had nine letter O's.

Dude. "Stairway to Heaven" met such scrutiny that televangelists took it to task. Here's a clip from 1983 show reversing the lyrics to prove their point. "I live with Satan," "The Lord turn me off," "He will give you 666" are among the phrases they claim are in "Stairway to Heaven" when played backwards. #facepalm

Jeff Lynne is truly genius. With the backmasking hysteria of the  time, Jeff Lynne deliberately added backmasking to "Fire on High." Fundamentalist Christians had accused ELO's song "Eldorado" of being satanic. Jeff Lynne responded by hiding the message "The music is reversable, but time is not. Turn back! Turn back! Turn back!" inside of the song "Fire on High." The voice on the message is ELO drummer, Bev Bevan. He disguised his voice for the message.