The Devil's in the Lyrics

Before the Internet, YouTube, or MySpace, teens were busy looking for hidden messages in their rock-and-roll records. Backmasking is a controversial fad that dates to the sixties when rumors of a dead Beatle sparked conspiracy theories that appeared to be confirmed through clues at the end of one of their songs. Long story, but well worth reading if you're a Beatles fan.

Back in those days, people used turntables to play records in reverse, but thanks to technology, backmasking sites now publish soundbites of the lyrics in question, so you can determine for yourself if the message is there or not.

I don't believe hidden messages are always intentional, and if you listen to these soundbites, it appears the lyrics are being forced. But bands like Pink Floyd, The Beatles, and Styx have admitted to leaving deliberate messages in songs for curious fans.

According to this site, if you listen to Pink Floyd's "Good-bye Blue Sky" in reverse, you'll hear toward the end of the song : "Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to old pink, care of the funny farm."

So, I thought I'd share with you these backmasking sites just in time for Halloween. They still creep me out when I visit them.

• On Jake Milner's flash player, you can listen to subliminal messages as many times as you want. He just added a clip from Break On Through by The Doors (gasp!), that deciphers the words "treasure's there" to "I am Satan" in reverse. Coincidence?
  
  

• Backmaskonline has a wider collection of popular classic rock songs from ACDC, Queen, Jethro Tull, and others.
  
  
• If you can't find a song you think holds a subliminal message, then upload your audio file to Talkbackwards to listen to a song in reverse.
  

The Y! Tech crew has some other fun Halloween posts, so check them out.  Have a Happy Halloween!