Expert: Chad DuBose - 12/20/2009

Question
Chad

I need to find songs from any generation that have hidden, subverisve, or controversial lyrics or messages that aren't immediately obvious to the listener.

Can you help me?

Spike

Answer
Yes I can help. It has long been believed that some bands use "backward masking" while recording vocals. Simply put, this is something said that appears on the album backward. During the days of record players, the part of the song that was recorded backward could be heard if the record was stopped, and spun backward. My personal favorite is a song called "Still Life" by Iron Maiden. This song begins with a "backward masked" message. It is not very hidden, and is actually quite audible. Many religous people proclaimed that all rock music was created by devil worshiping bands. This is not true, and absolutely ridiculous for any rational person to assume. The Iron Maiden song I mentioned had that message recorded backward at the beginning as a joke to all of the people that claim all rock music is demonic. I never owned an LP copy of that album, which was entitled "Piece of Mind", so I could not play it backward. Bruce Dickinson, the singer of Iron Maiden, once said in an interview that the message was in fact intentional, but far from demonic. I recommend listening to this song to get the best example of the "backward masking" technique. An excellent website to find other examples is "reversespeech.com". Listen to the very end of Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train", he laughs and says something that sounds as though he has inhaled helium. Ozzy again, misunderstood. While with Black Sabbath, the classic song "Paranoid". A line from the song proclaims "and so as you hear these words telling you now of my state, I tell you to enjoy life I wish I could bit it's too late" Many fools thought the line said "end your life" instead of "enjoy life". Jimi Hendrix covered Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower". There is a line in the song claiming "the hour's getting late". Many people misinterpreted this as "but I was getting laid". Lynyrd Skynyrd's song "Gimme Back my Bullets" had nothing to do with guns!! Bullets are a term used by music critics, yet that one became an anthem for pro-gun ownership! Check out Judas Priest. Rob Halford, the singer is openly gay now, but back at the height of their success, he was still "in the closet". Listen to "United", I believe it is from either "British Steel" or "Hell Bent for Leather". It is obviously a gay unity anthem. So many, including myself, for years, thought it was meant to motivate us "rockers" to unite! There are many examples of what type of songs you are seeking, also check out the "lyricinterpretations.com" website. There are many very intelligent interpretations of songs on there. I hope I have been helpful, and if I can help find some more songs, let me know. These should get you started. One more thing, it's really not my type of music, but Prince always had hidden meanings in his songs. Look at the lyrics to "Little Red Corvette" and see what I mean. Again, hope I have helped, and don't hesitate to ask for more information, I have just told you what I immediately remember for now. Also, there was a band around in the early seventies, or maybe late sixties called "Black Widow". I have seen the album, a friend's mother had it in her record collection. She told us that it was widely rumored that if you played the whole album at once, a ghost or demon would appear. This, of course, is nonsense, but I guess it was good publicity for the album!! If you hear the term "coming down the mountain" in some rock songs, it usually refers to coming off of a drug. The old band Jefferson Airplane was named after a homemade "roach clip". The band REO Speedwagon was named after a truck that was commonly used as fire trucks years ago. The list goes on and on and on!!! I will think of many more, stay tuned!! One more for now, Nirvana, "On a Plain" from Nevermind. It was writen at the very last minute simply to fill the request for one more song by the record company. Look up the lyrics. "All Apologies" from Nirvana is Cobain's cry for release from marriage to the blood sucking leech of a skank he was married to at the time(Courtney Love). As far as controversial Crosby Stills Nash and Young wrote "Ohio" about four students shot and killed in cold blood by the National Guard during a protest. Buffalo Springfield wrote "For What It's Worth" as a protest against the Vietman War. System of a Down wrote "BYOB" about countries making war for entertainment. "BYOB" stands for "bring your own bombs".