Before the American urban legend of 1969, a “Paul is dead” rumor spread in England between January and May of 1967. The British rumor – which was not based on clues – was that Paul had died in a car accident and had been replaced by a look-alike and sound-alike. The Beatles countered this rumor at a May 1967 press conference. “By late fall of 1967 it was a subject of hilarity at a party attended by various Beatles and their entourage,” as told by one of the latter to a New York Times reporter. cite and cite
Given the British “Paul is dead” rumor of 1967, it seems plausible that the Beatles may have intentionally backmasked “Paul is dead” messages into some of their songs that were recorded after the rumor broke (e.g., I Am The Walrus, and I’m So Tired/Blackbird). The Beatles had already used intentional backmasking of guitar and/or vocals in earlier songs such as Tomorrow Never Knows, I’m Only Sleeping, Rain, and possibly the inner groove of Sgt. Pepper’s. The Beatles, of course, denied taking part in a “Paul is dead” hoax or leaving clues.
So, do you think the examples below are intentional backmasking?
I am the Walrus (recorded 5 Sept. 1967) Listen at approx 0:40 to 1:00
Better recordings here – search the page for two mp3 clips of "End of I am the Walrus”, one forward, and one backwards
“Ha Ha! Paul is dead! Ha Ha! Paul is dead! Ha Ha! Paul is dead!”
I’m So Tired/Blackbird (recorded 8 Oct. 1968)
Better recordings here – search the page for two mp3 clips of "End of Blackbird”, one forward, and one backwards
Such examples of backmasking are never on purpose. It’s just power of suggestion. I heard nothing that sounded like anything during the first clip (the only one that loaded for me). Then I clicked on the spoiler and listened again and heard something that I guess could be stretched to fit the spoiler.
Backmasking can be done intentionally, but it’s usually veryobvious (turn this one wayyyy up in the beginning). If you have to reverse it first to start looking for a message, it’s probably not intentional (or even sounding like much of anythingn). Intentional backmasking sounds exactly like the examples, gibberish.
EDIT: Here is a forwards then backwards clip of the first link. Couldn’t find a clip of the second example.
If it had happened today, I would call it a masterpiece of marketing. I am not sure that the lads would have started the rumor back in the day, but I think they ran with it as fun. The Beatles did like to joke around. And only they know for sure.
Most people who play the inner groove of Sgt. Pepper’s backwards hear it as “We’ll fuck you like Superman” rather than something about Paul being dead. In Barry Miles’s Many Years From Now, Paul McCartney is quoted about hearing that for the first time and makes a comment that I think could relate to the whole Paul is Dead rumor: “We had certainly not intended to do that but probably when you turn anything backwards it sounds like something…if you look hard enough you can make something out of anything.”
Regarding the inner groove backwards – I’m not sure it says anything at all, and if it does, I would agree with your transcription. I really don’t think it says anything about Paul. I probably should have made that clearer in the OP.
Covered_In_Bees!, I do think that the samples I posted do sound like jibberish in the forward direction, especially the clip from I’m So Tired. The jibberish drew my attention to these songs in the first place. It’s fine with me if you disagree with my examples of jibberish, though.
The difference being that my examples are actually saying something when reversed. The first one of yours (YouTube fails me remember?) sounds like nothing.
