BY MIKEY MIGO
*Warning: Due to the topic at hand, there will be vulgar language below. So if you're easily offended stop f*cking reading this already.*
I vaguely remember some of the back masking backlash when I was growing up. It was still at the point of it being tongue-in-cheek. A sitcom character would make the joke and it would still be edgy and relevant. Now when you watch a rerun of these shows, it's not relevant much to us people living in an ipod world. Back in the day it was considered by some circles to be "Satan's voice".
Just what exactly was "Satan" telling the youths and impressionable?
The Beatles backmasked the song "Rain" by reversing the words "...the sun shines. Rain. When the rain comes, they run and hide their heads". I really don't see that one as being "evil" as Deep Purple's "Stormbringer". In "Stormbringer" the message for all the children is "The cocksucker, motherfucker, stormbringer!"
Outside of a few bands like Def Leppard, Pink Floyd, and Frank Zappa using backmasking as more of a "sound" than a message the majority of the roots of this evil plan was made up. Really, bands would speak jibberish or randomly about things, reverse it, and then get some weird sound to add to their songs. Yet, that's sorta boring. You're reading this and I'm writing this because of bands like Black Sabbath and their evil ways. Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" was supposedly linked to Satan because you can play it backwards and hear something on a subconscious level. That's why that stripper in Indy cried during the lap dance! Those sly foxes! Another big rumor was in The Beatle's "Revolution 9" the words "Paul is dead" being heard while playing it backwards. It may be a bit cold, but the irony in that one is odd.
Obviously religious fundamentalist with nothing better do to jumped on board and caused a huge ruckus over the supposed subliminal and backwards messages being presented to the youth. Even the government got involved with this. The state of Arkansas passed a unanimous law in 1983 that regulated albums with backmasking have a sticker that said: "Warning: This record contains backward masking which may be perceptible at a subliminal level when the record is played forward." Thankfully, Bill Clinton came to the rescue and got the bill revoked once he made the Governor's office his new home.
I'm fairly certain a "reverse" option isn't available on these newer electronics and listening devices. This hasn't stopped some recent bands to utilize and sometimes parody the art of baskmasking. It's basically eccentric and witty bands making fun of it with satire and parody. Soundgarden's "665" is full of backmasking parody especially with their odd love for Santa. It had some laughable lines in there that had a unique feeling to it. Unlike Tool's use of baskmasking. Which was pretty much the same thing MSI did well over FIVE YEARS before hand. Tool's "Intension" tells us "Listen to your mother. Your father is right. Work hard. Stay in school. Listen to your mother. Your father is right. Listen to your mother. Your father is right." It would have been great if it weren't so "borrowed". Tell me it's not. Mindless Self Indulgence made fun of all of this to the biggest extent with the first track off "Frankenstein Girls" entitled "Backmask". Jimmy Urine uses the power of Satan to subliminally tell us to: Respect your parents. Clean your room, Do your homework, Don't stay out too late, Eat your vegetables, Put away your toys, and other important messages that parents don't want their kids to hear. Of course there's a twist to this one because the normal lyrics to this song include "Motherfucker, go kill yourself!" and "All the people you love, in a river of blood". It's a great song on its own and in my opinion the best backmasking satire out there.
Yet, some artists still use this tool for evil. Marilyn Manson, of course, has used backmasking to express his perverse inner thoughts. Like on the track "Revelation #9" where he tells us "You are on the other side now...there ain't no going back once you been here, brothers and sisters...there ain't no going back." He's not the only one because I'm sure you could guess that the likes of Slipknot and Slayer use it as well. On Slipknot's "Skin Ticket" the words "kill me slowly" are used in reverse. Slayer tells us to "Join us" over and over again on "Hell Awaits". But the most evil, most heinous, and most sacrilegious use of recent backmasking goes to Chumbawamba. In the very contraversal song "Look! No Strings!" the words "Oh fuck me, Jesus!" are used. So I guess in their song "Tubthumping" they really were "pissing the night away"… with SATAN!
In true subliminal goodness, a few newer bands actually utilize the method to simply give a message. "Get out of my mind" is the reversed message The White Stripes gives us during "Walking With A Ghost". Drowning Pool proclaims in reverse "Ladies and gentlemen, tell me what you believe" on the song "Sermon". Franz Ferdinand tells a friend "she's worried about you, call your mother" in the song "Michael". As if the song "Stan" wasn't enough, Eminem tried to be all serious by telling his fans "I'm not here to save you. I'm only here for the ride. So let me entertain you. And everything will be fine" in the song "Stimulate". Wow, he's edgy. The whole "I'm not a role model" thing has NEVER been done. Then again, I was in high school with a lot of white guys who cut their hair in a shorter and more platinum blonde "Opie" style. No wonder the guy had to keep telling us that HE is the "real slim shady". He obviously just wants to be friends. Nothing more. So if you don't mind, pick up your ear ring and uni-strapped overalls on the way out. Um… Anyways. Most importantly, in the true modern masterpiece "Work It", artist Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliot tells us "I put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it". Yes, I DO put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it, indeed. THAT right there my friend is definitely proof enough that backmasking is the work of Satan.
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