# Songs in reverse are creepy, period. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 25, 2017, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-in-reverse-are-creepy-period/799842 "2017-10-25T21:09:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JakeRS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ab097/32.png) [@JakeRS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JakeRS)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-in-reverse-are-creepy-period/799842/1 "2017-10-25T21:09:12Z")
For whatever reason I decided to reverse a popular Serbian song and I got something that actually scared me. Why are songs in reverse so creepy? Here’s my result [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWDBkk_c1_M) , but there’s probably a reverse “demonic” version of every american popular song. Fun fact, you can bypass any copyright doing this, but you may accidentally call Satan, so it’s up to you to decide whether it’s worth it. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-in-reverse-are-creepy-period/799842/2 "2017-10-25T21:22:49Z")
> [@JakeRS](#): > > For whatever reason I decided to reverse a popular Serbian song and I got something that actually scared me. Why are songs in reverse so creepy? Because it’s unnatural? it’s probably an “uncanny valley” thing. Unlike a foreign language, or a baby babbling, or someone talking gibberish, like Andy Kaufman doing Latka’s language on _Taxi_, this is a step back from the real thing. Gibberish and baby talk are on the other side of the uncanny valley, I’d guess, and recognize foreign languages, even ones we don’t know, as real, just like we recognize a crowd of people, even people we don’t know, even people who are a different race, gender or age from ourselves, as “people,” and pick out the uncanny robot immediately while ignoring the “other side of the valley” baby doll carried by a small child. But backwards languages are not sounds that are naturally produced by anything-- they are not another language, and they are not the sounds of another animal. We do a double-take when we see a person walk into a room on their hands, whether it is an acrobat, or someone with no legs, because that is not just another way of doing things, like someone skipping, or on roller skates, but the exact opposite of expectations. We have sort of an idea of hands-feet as a pair of opposites, whether we realize it or not. Backwards speech tests our expectations. It’s “opposite” speech. You can even creep people out by having someone listen to backwards speech, and memorize it, record it, then reverse it. It doesn’t come out exactly right, and still sounds creepy. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-in-reverse-are-creepy-period/799842/3 "2017-10-25T21:30:33Z")
[This busts me up:](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdhUKWRyzu4) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-in-reverse-are-creepy-period/799842/4 "2017-10-25T21:38:39Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > [This busts me up:](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdhUKWRyzu4) Me too! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-in-reverse-are-creepy-period/799842/5 "2017-10-25T22:18:39Z")
I’m getting flashbacks to [Billy Mayo’s](http://www.goupstate.com/news/19970118/evangelist-leading-crusade-for-kids) [Journey Through Rock](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC7jUbM1AwE)! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-in-reverse-are-creepy-period/799842/6 "2017-10-26T01:55:12Z")
Oh, yeah, Electric Light Orchestra is going to lead kids down the wrong path with the backwards music from, _Fire on High_–“The music is reversible.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-in-reverse-are-creepy-period/799842/7 "2017-10-26T02:27:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **JakeRS** : > > Fun fact, you can bypass any copyright doing this… Creation of a derivative work does not bypass copyright, especially not if it’s slavish, which what you’re describing probably is. You _might_ be able to fool software that _detects_ copyright infringement, but that just means that you won’t get caught. ---
**Author:** ![bb49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b38774/32.png) [@bb49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bb49)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-in-reverse-are-creepy-period/799842/8 "2017-10-26T02:53:24Z")
You want a song played in reverse? This just may be the original, and of course the best. Many years ago this song came out on a 45. The flip side had the same song but in reverse. _“They’re coming to take away, ha, ha”_ [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/l-lJZiqZaGA/hqdefault.jpg "They're Coming to Take Me Away Hahaaa!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-lJZiqZaGA) Sit down, light up and enjoy. The reversed song starts at the two minute mark. Pretty weird, kinda cool. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-in-reverse-are-creepy-period/799842/9 "2017-10-26T02:54:30Z")
Once upon a time I had one of those toy tape recorders where you could turn a tape over and play it backwards. I listened to a lot of songs (vocals) backwards. I thought they sounded like people talking in Яussian. They were mostly kinda creepy. There was one, however, that was especially catchy: [_This Old House_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nstn4Wscl1w) by Rosemary Clooney. Just a few years ago, I discovered that somebody else thinks so, too, because there it is on YouTube: [This Old House Backwards](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc1vudd1ksw) ! GMTA ! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-in-reverse-are-creepy-period/799842/10 "2017-10-26T02:55:24Z")
.thguac teg t’now uoy taht snaem tsuj taht tub, tnemegnirfni thgirypoc _stceted_ taht erawtfos loof ot elba eb _thgim_ uoY (That’s better.) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-in-reverse-are-creepy-period/799842/11 "2017-10-26T12:47:09Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > There was one, however, that was especially catchy: [_This Old House_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nstn4Wscl1w) by Rosemary Clooney. > > Just a few years ago, I discovered that somebody else thinks so, too, because there it is on YouTube: [This Old House Backwards](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc1vudd1ksw) ! Also works for _This Old House_ the TV show. There is something sinister about watching Bob Vila tearing up a pristine house and covering it with rotted wood. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-in-reverse-are-creepy-period/799842/12 "2017-10-27T16:29:07Z")
> [@JakeRS](#): > > Fun fact, you can bypass any copyright doing this, but you may accidentally call Satan, so it’s up to you to decide whether it’s worth it. I know there are people dumb enough to believe the second half of this joke, and there are probably people dumb enough to believe the first half, too.