# What was the context of the First backwards analysis Of "Stairway to Heaven" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 18, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090 "2005-03-18T01:59:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/21 "2005-03-18T17:18:04Z")
What do you get when you play a country song backwards? You get your dog back, you get your truck back, you get your wife back, you get your house back… Wasn’t there a Bloom County strip about backwards masking of Billy & the Boingers (er…sorry, Deathtongue (never can remember where the damn umlauts go in that)) where it ended up saying “Eat your spinach. Listen to your mother. Go to church.”? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/22 "2005-03-18T17:37:16Z")
Another musician who intentionally included backwards messages in his music was Prince. The song “Darling Nikki”, which was the center of a major controversy because of its sexual content, also contained a section of backwards singing. Surprisingly this never came up at the subsequent Senate hearings on the song. This may be because the excerpt, played backwards, was “Hello! How are you? I’m fine, 'Cuz I know that the lord is coming soon… Coming, coming soon!”. Presumedly the Senators didn’t know what to make of a Christian message hidden inside a song. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/23 "2005-03-18T19:12:45Z")
friend jayjay > [@](#): > > You get your dog back, you get your truck back, you get your wife back, you get your house back… and it often sounds better ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/24 "2005-03-18T19:15:13Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Wasn’t there a Bloom County strip about backwards masking of Billy & the Boingers (er…sorry, Deathtongue (never can remember where the damn umlauts go in that)) where it ended up saying “Eat your spinach. Listen to your mother. Go to church.”? Some comedy album really had a simular message on it. (Bobcat Goldthraut?) ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/25 "2005-03-18T19:20:20Z")
No mention of The Simpsons and “yvan eht nioj”? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/26 "2005-03-18T19:27:17Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > The song “They’re Coming to Take Me Away” was also released in the summer of 1966. The flip-side was just side A recorded backwards. Did Johnny get the idea from this song? > > [http://www.abc.net.au/newengland/stories/s1266455.htm](http://www.abc.net.au/newengland/stories/s1266455.htm) > > [http://lyrical.nl/song/18915](http://lyrical.nl/song/18915) In the \*\*\*old \*\*\* days,if you wanted to record anything, you used a reel-to-reel tape recorder.Ocassionally, a tape would get twisted and play the other side. Like cassettes, reel tapes could be flipped to play the other side. The tape itself was divided into four tracks so that some recorders could recorder on all four tracks, but usually one used only two tracks on one side f(or stereo) and the other two was used when you flipped the reel over. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/27 "2005-03-18T23:06:36Z")
**AHunter3** , the sci.lang FAQ has, if I’m not mistaken, a guide to ASCII pseudo-IPA. From the extended-ASCII character set, which the Dope and IE6 support, if I get a chance to use any of those the authentic IPA way, I’ll use 'em! sOs irEbnrærk ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/28 "2005-03-18T23:26:37Z")
I had a four-track cassette recorder awhile back and I used to love to record things and listen to them backwards; everyday things like random TV transmissions, toilets flushing, and dogs barking were really cool when listened to backwards. I even recorded myself singing “Row Row Row Your Boat,” whose first line, when played backwards, sounds like “Toe Brew War War War.” 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/29 "2005-03-18T23:48:03Z")
**Q** : What do you get when you play New Age music backwards? **A** : New Age music. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/30 "2005-03-19T01:16:34Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > What do you get when you play a country song backwards? > > You get your dog back, you get your truck back, you get your wife back, you get your house back… …and you throw up all that beer… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/31 "2005-03-19T01:34:20Z")
> [@Engywook](#): > > > [@ELO](#): > > > > The music is reversable. Time is not. Turn back. Turn back. > > …if you play Fire on High backward. ELO was later accused on anti-Christian messages in their music. Jeff Lynne’s response was the album _Secret Messages_ which had several bits of backwards lines (“Time After Time” has the title sung backwards). One of them is “You’re playing me backwards”. ---
**Author:** ![kidplurmd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@kidplurmd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidplurmd)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/32 "2005-03-19T01:52:43Z")
“although Lennon said it was actually “Cranberry sauce.” It’s deep enough in the mix that it’s hard to tell.” Actually, Lennon said (at least on a million occasions when asked about the supposed “I buried Paul” thing), that it was clearly “I’m Very Bored” listen to it again, (perhaps speed it up a tad if you can and you’ll note that it is in fact, “I’m Very Bored”) The latest instance where he explained how that sentence got into (and stayed) in the song was in a late seventies issue of Rolling Stone mag. 🙂 > [@Larry Mudd](#): > > It should be noted that the “I buried Paul” thing never had a ‘backwards’ component. It is supposed to be uttered in the usual direction at the weird denoument of _Strawberry Fields Forever_, although Lennon said it was actually “Cranberry sauce.” It’s deep enough in the mix that it’s hard to tell. > > The backwards bit of the dead Paul mythos is from Revolution #9, where “Number Nine… Number Nine… Number Nine…” is supposed to be “Turn me on, dead man… Turn me on, dead man… Turn me on, dead man,” when played backwards. > > And just to be ridiculously nitpicky, backwards recordings were being used by freaky folks like John Cage, Edgard Varese, and Karlheinz Stockhausen, to the delight of hopheads, beatniks, and other malcontents, for over twenty years before Sgt. Peppers blew a new generation of plastic fantastic minds. 🙂🙂 ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/33 "2005-03-19T02:01:28Z")
[QUOTE=kidplurmd] “although Lennon said it was actually “Cranberry sauce.” It’s deep enough in the mix that it’s hard to tell.” \[/QUOUTE] Actually, I have the bootlegs of the master tapes of the sessions for “Strawberry Fields Forever”, and it is isolated quite clearly in the mix, which does not fade out on the master, that he is indeed saying “Cranberry Sauce.” Despite what you may have read, there is irrefutable proof that this is what he said. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/34 "2005-03-19T02:02:47Z")
Sorry about the lousy coding there! ---
**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:** [March 19, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/35 "2005-03-19T23:49:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Like cassettes, reel tapes could be flipped to play the other side. The tape itself was divided into four tracks so that some recorders could recorder on all four tracks, but usually one used only two tracks on one side f(or stereo) and the other two was used when you flipped the reel over. Anyone remember the 2XL educational “robot” toy? It was basically just a 4-track tape player. The buttons you pressed to answer questions would switch you to another track, where it would say “That’s right!” or “Sorry, that’s wrong” or the equivalent. Well, if you put an ordinary tape into the toy and played the C or D track, you’d get the other side of the tape, played backwards. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/36 "2005-03-20T05:04:48Z")
First of all, I need to point out that Aphex Twin hid [his face](http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,52426,00.html) in one of his songs. Now, I need to point out a few real-world examples of backmasking. Weird Al has hidden the phrases “Satan Eats Cheez Wiz” and “You must have a lot of free time on your hands” in his songs, and Denis Leary’s “Voices in My Head” has someone whispering during the intro “there’s a secret subliminal message hidden in this song; play it backwards; play it backwards; play it backwards.” I have tried for minutes on end to decipher it… to no avail. ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/37 "2005-03-20T05:22:19Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > I saw a lecture on CSPAN-2 by physicist Simon Singh in which he tied in “Stairway to Heaven” with his lecture. Here’s a good summary: > > • Singh played a clip from “Stairway” played forward and backward. > • Source: [www.reversespeech.com](http://www.reversespeech.com) > • Singh asked, “Who heard the word ‘Satan’?” (about 1 in 3 in the audience). > • Singh then asked, “Who heard, ‘It’s my sweet Satan, The one whose little path would make me sad whose power is Satan. Oh he’ll give you, give you 666. There was a little toolshed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.’?” (No one in the audience) > • Singh replayed the backwards clip after he read the quote. Everyone heard it the second time around (his slide highlighted the words as they were said). > • This was an example of priming the brain. The brain is good at pattern recognition, and its even better at filling in patterns when data is poor (e.g. tin-ny speakers vs. Kepler’s sound system). > > [Talk: Simon Singh, The Big Bang (kwc blog)](http://kwc.org/blog/archives/2005/2005-01-31.talk_simon_singh_the_big_bang.html) > > It was actually pretty cool to watch. That was a great lecture. The Physics wasn’t so bad, either 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/38 "2005-03-20T12:25:08Z")
> [@Jurph](#): > > Now, I need to point out a few real-world examples of backmasking. Weird Al has hidden the phrases “Satan Eats Cheez Wiz” and “You must have a lot of free time on your hands” in his songs, If I remember correctly, those phrases were actuall pressed into the vinyl of a couple of his old LP albums, near the label in the center, rather than backwards in the songs. I’ll check my old records, later, when it’s not 4:45 AM and I’m on my way out the door for work. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/39 "2005-03-20T13:47:26Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I just want to point out what should be obvious… spelling a word backwards will not give the actual backwards pronunciation. That’s because we don’t pronounce letters, we pronounce _phonemes_. The way to say a phrase backwards is to first identify the phonemes. \ And a slight hijack: I had a Fostex 4-track cassette deck, and it allowed backwards playing of cassettes. I recorded a phrase, played it backwards, learned how to pronounce it backwards, recorded the backwards pronunciation, and then played the new results in reverse. The results were very recognizably the original phrase, but the envelopes of the phonemes (ie, their progressive pronunciation over time) were still backwards. With enough practice and concentration, it would be possible to use this as a form of masking in a recording. 11811 ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090/40 "2005-03-20T17:54:38Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > No mention of The Simpsons and > > “yvan eht nioj”? > > :smack: u nrad :smack: * * * True Blue Jack [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-context-of-the-first-backwards-analysis-of-stairway-to-heaven/295090.md?page=3)