Spin your favorite album backwards and you might hear demonic chants, drug references, or death clues. The phenomenon of backmasking—hidden messages audible only when played in reverse—has captivated music fans for decades, fueling everything from moral panics to conspiracy theories. While most alleged backwards messages result from auditory pareidolia (hearing patterns that aren’t there), some artists have deliberately embedded reversed vocals as Easter eggs, artistic statements, or responses to controversy.
When Artists Actually Meant It
Prince, Pink Floyd, and Slayer confirmed their backwards messages were intentional creative choices.
Prince’s “Darling Nikki” contains the most famous example of deliberate backmasking. At the song’s end, reversed vocals clearly state: “Hello, how are you? I’m fine, because I know that the Lord is coming soon.” This wasn’t subliminal messaging—it was Prince’s ironic response to moral outrage over the track’s provocative content, which landed it on the PMRC’s infamous “Filthy Fifteen” list in 1985.
Pink Floyd took a more playful approach on “Empty Spaces” from The Wall. Their backwards message reads like a cosmic prank: “Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the funny farm.” Meanwhile, Slayer’s “Hell Awaits” delivers exactly what you’d expect from thrash metal pioneers: “Join us. Join us. Welcome back. It’s time to play: Kill. Kill. Kill.”
The Power of Suggestion
Queen and The Beatles spawned backwards message legends through coincidental phonetic overlap.
Not every supposed hidden message was intentional. Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” allegedly says “It’s fun to smoke marijuana” when reversed, though the band has never confirmed this interpretation. The Beatles’ “Revolution 9” created even bigger mythology when “Number nine” played backwards sounded like “Turn me on, dead man,” feeding the persistent “Paul is Dead” conspiracy theory that haunts the band to this day.
Cultural Amplification
Moral panic and artistic rebellion turned backmasking into a defining music culture battleground.
The backmasking phenomenon exploded during the 1980s censorship battles, when organizations like the PMRC scrutinized rock music for corrupting influences. Some artists responded by deliberately incorporating backwards messages—part artistic experimentation, part middle finger to moral authorities.
Decades later, digital audio tools make reversing tracks effortless, yet the mystique persists. Whether intentional artistic choice or coincidental phonetics, these backwards messages remind us that music’s power extends beyond what we consciously hear—sometimes the most compelling discoveries hide in the spaces between intention and interpretation.
