Hidden message
Encyclopedia
A hidden message is information that is not immediately noticeable, and that must be discovered or uncovered and interpreted before it can be known. Hidden messages include backwards audio messages, hidden visual messages and symbolic
or cryptic
codes such as a crossword
or cipher
.
Although there are many legitimate examples of hidden messages, many so-called hidden messages are merely the fanciful imaginings of conspiracy theorists.
, while others are simply phonetic reversal
s resulting from random combinations of words.
technique in which a message is recorded backwards onto a track that is meant to be played forwards. It was popularized by The Beatles
, who used backward vocals and instrumentation on their 1966 album Revolver
. Artists have since used backmasking for artistic, comedic, and satiric effect, on both analog and digital recordings. The technique has also been used to censor words or phrases for "clean" releases of songs.
Backmasking has been a controversial topic in the United States
since the 1980s, when allegations of its use for Satanic purposes were made against prominent rock music
ians, leading to record-burnings and proposed anti-backmasking legislation by state and federal governments. In debate are both the existence of backmasked Satanic messages and the ability to subliminally affect listeners thereby.
s are reversed—a process known as phonetic reversal. For example, "kiss" backwards sounds like "sick," and so the title of Yoko Ono
's "Kiss Kiss Kiss" sounds like "Sick Sick Sick" or "Six Six Six" backwards. The Paul is dead
phenomenon was started in part because a phonetic reversal of "Number nine" was interpreted as "Turn me on, dead man".
"Weird Al" Yankovic
uses this technique in two different songs. The first was "Nature Trail To Hell" in which he states "Satan Eats Cheese Whiz". The next song to have a backwards message was "I Remember Larry" in which he states "Wow, you must have an awful lot of free time on your hands!".
According to proponents of reverse speech
, phonetic reversal occurs unknowingly during normal speech.
Backward messages also exist in mediums outside of music, including computer games, music video
s, movies and television shows.
In the computer game Doom II
, a garbled message played at the start of Map 30, spoken by the "Icon of Sin", can be played backwards to hear "To win the game, you must kill me, John Romero
." Romero was a programmer for the game; he put the backwards message (with distortions) in to get back at the artists who put the image of his head on the final level.
Stanley Kubrick
, in his 1999 release, Eyes Wide Shut
, features a scene depicting a Satanic ritual, where the soundtrack (the song "Masked Ball") consists of a backwards Orthodox liturgy chanted in Romanian.
In one scene of Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
, Beavis
and Butt-Head
hallucinate, and voices are heard in the background. The voices are the two characters speaking phrases such as "Everybody go to college, study hard, study hard."
In the Clone High
episode "Raisin the Stakes", JFK falls through the cafeteria sunroof, lands, and begins to foam at the mouth and speak gibberish. The gibberish played backwards is JFK saying "I am talking backwards, and telling you to watch Clone High
... and for us to get an Emmy ... I'm saying that backwards ... 'cause it's sneaky!"
In the "Man of Science, Man of Faith" episode of Lost
, Walt Lloyd
is heard speaking backwards, although fans argue on what he says.
An episode of "G.I. Joe
" includes the backwards message, "Anybody listening to this backwards for a secret occult message is a real dweeb", which is a reversal of an incantation spoken by Destro.
The episode "Expiration Day", from The Brak Show
, includes the message "Why are you listening to this song backwards, you could have been on a date with a girl". It is sung by Thundercleese as he was going to be shut down.
will read "SEX."
In the 1980s, Coca-Cola released in South Australia an advertising poster featuring the reintroduced contour bottle, with a speech bubble, "FEEL THE CURVES!". Inside one of the ice cubes was the silhouette of a woman performing fellatio
. Thousands of posters were distributed to hotels and bottle shops in Australia before the mistake was discovered by Coca-Cola management. The artist of the poster was fired and all the posters were recalled.
Various other messages have been claimed to exist in Disney movies, some of them risque, such as the well-known allegation of an erection showing on a priest in The Little Mermaid
. According to the Snopes website however, only one "is clearly true [and] undeniably purposely inserted into the movie": images of a topless woman in two frames of The Rescuers
.
PETA
(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is also the scene of a running battle with PETCO, a pet food retailer in San Diego, for several years regarding the purported mistreatment of live animals at PETCO stores. When the San Diego Padres
announced that PETCO (which is based in San Diego) had obtained naming rights to PETCO Park, PETA was unable to persuade them to terminate the agreement. Hence PETA used advertising in the form of an acrostic
. It successfully purchased a brick with what appears on the surface to be a complimentary message: "Break Open Your Cold Ones! Toast The Padres! Enjoy This Championship Organization!" However, if one takes the first letters of each word, the resulting acrostic reads "BOYCOTT PETCO". Neither PETCO nor the Padres have taken any action to remove the brick, stating that if someone walked by, they would not know it had anything to do with the PETA/PETCO feud.
Symbol (disambiguation)
Symbols are objects, characters, or other representations of ideas, concepts, objects, or abstractions.Symbol may also refer to:-Computer science:* Symbol , the smallest amount of data transmitted at a time in digital communications...
or cryptic
Cryptic
Cryptic can refer to:* Crypsis, of animals that are difficult to observe* Cryptic crossword, a crossword with cryptic clues* Cryptic era, earliest period of the Earth* Cryptic, an album by Edge of Sanity* Cryptic Writings, an album by Megadeth...
codes such as a crossword
Cryptic crossword
Cryptic crosswords are crossword puzzles in which each clue is a word puzzle in and of itself. Cryptic crosswords are particularly popular in the United Kingdom, where they originated, Ireland, the Netherlands, and in several Commonwealth nations, including Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malta,...
or cipher
Encryption
In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...
.
Although there are many legitimate examples of hidden messages, many so-called hidden messages are merely the fanciful imaginings of conspiracy theorists.
Backward audio messages
A backward message in an audio recording is only fully apparent when the recording is played reversed. Some backward messages are produced by deliberate backmaskingBackmasking
Backmasking is a recording technique in which a sound or message is recorded backward on to a track that is meant to be played forward...
, while others are simply phonetic reversal
Phonetic reversal
Phonetic reversal is the process of reversing the phonemes of a word or phrase. When the reversal is identical to the original, the word or phrase is called a phonetic palindrome. Phonetic reversal is not entirely identical to backmasking, which is specifically the reversal of recorded sound...
s resulting from random combinations of words.
Backmasking
Is a recordingSound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
technique in which a message is recorded backwards onto a track that is meant to be played forwards. It was popularized by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, who used backward vocals and instrumentation on their 1966 album Revolver
Revolver (album)
Revolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released on 5 August 1966 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous LP, the folk rock inspired Rubber...
. Artists have since used backmasking for artistic, comedic, and satiric effect, on both analog and digital recordings. The technique has also been used to censor words or phrases for "clean" releases of songs.
Backmasking has been a controversial topic in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
since the 1980s, when allegations of its use for Satanic purposes were made against prominent rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
ians, leading to record-burnings and proposed anti-backmasking legislation by state and federal governments. In debate are both the existence of backmasked Satanic messages and the ability to subliminally affect listeners thereby.
Phonetic reversal
Certain phrases produce a different phrase when their phonemePhoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
s are reversed—a process known as phonetic reversal. For example, "kiss" backwards sounds like "sick," and so the title of Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
's "Kiss Kiss Kiss" sounds like "Sick Sick Sick" or "Six Six Six" backwards. The Paul is dead
Paul Is Dead
"Paul is dead" is an urban legend suggesting that Paul McCartney of the English rock band The Beatles died in 1966 and was secretly replaced by a look-alike....
phenomenon was started in part because a phonetic reversal of "Number nine" was interpreted as "Turn me on, dead man".
"Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
uses this technique in two different songs. The first was "Nature Trail To Hell" in which he states "Satan Eats Cheese Whiz". The next song to have a backwards message was "I Remember Larry" in which he states "Wow, you must have an awful lot of free time on your hands!".
According to proponents of reverse speech
Reverse speech
Reverse speech is a pseudoscience first advocated by David John Oates which gained publicity when it was mentioned on Art Bell's nightly Coast to Coast AM radio talk show. It claims that during spoken language production, human speakers subconsciously produce hidden messages that give insights into...
, phonetic reversal occurs unknowingly during normal speech.
Non-musical messages
In his novel Ulysses (1922), James Joyce used a spelling pun for "fuck" and "cunt" with the doggerel verse:-
- If you see Kay,
- Tell him he may.
- See you in tea,
- Tell him from me.
Backward messages also exist in mediums outside of music, including computer games, music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s, movies and television shows.
In the computer game Doom II
Doom II
Doom II: Hell on Earth is an award winning first-person shooter video game and second title of id Software's Doom franchise. Unlike Doom which was initially only available through shareware and mail order, Doom II was a commercial release sold in stores...
, a garbled message played at the start of Map 30, spoken by the "Icon of Sin", can be played backwards to hear "To win the game, you must kill me, John Romero
John Romero
Alfonso John Romero is a game designer, programmer, and developer in the video game industry. He is best known as a co-founder of id Software and was a designer for many of their games, including Wolfenstein 3D, Dangerous Dave, Doom and Quake...
." Romero was a programmer for the game; he put the backwards message (with distortions) in to get back at the artists who put the image of his head on the final level.
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
, in his 1999 release, Eyes Wide Shut
Eyes Wide Shut
Eyes Wide Shut is a 1999 drama film based upon Arthur Schnitzler's 1926 novella Traumnovelle . The film was directed, produced and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, and was his last film. The story, set in and around New York City, follows the sexually-charged adventures of Dr...
, features a scene depicting a Satanic ritual, where the soundtrack (the song "Masked Ball") consists of a backwards Orthodox liturgy chanted in Romanian.
In one scene of Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
Beavis and Butt-head Do America
Beavis and Butt-head Do America is a 1996 animated feature film, based on the TV series, Beavis and Butt-Head. It was produced by Paramount Pictures in association with Geffen Pictures and MTV Films, and co-written and directed by creator Mike Judge. The film grossed $20.11 million in its opening...
, Beavis
Beavis
Beavis is a fictional character on the MTV series Beavis and Butt-head. He is voiced by the show’s creator, Mike Judge.Beavis has an underbite and a fixated stare on his face which rarely looks straight at the television viewer, but rather to the side...
and Butt-Head
Butt-head
Butt-head is a fictional character from the MTV animated series Beavis and Butt-head. He was voiced by the show's creator, Mike Judge.Mike Judge got the name Butt-head from his university days, when he knew a couple of kids who had the nicknames 'Iron Butt' and 'Butt-head'...
hallucinate, and voices are heard in the background. The voices are the two characters speaking phrases such as "Everybody go to college, study hard, study hard."
In the Clone High
Clone High
Clone High is a Canadian-American animated television series that aired for one season on MTV and Teletoon....
episode "Raisin the Stakes", JFK falls through the cafeteria sunroof, lands, and begins to foam at the mouth and speak gibberish. The gibberish played backwards is JFK saying "I am talking backwards, and telling you to watch Clone High
Clone High
Clone High is a Canadian-American animated television series that aired for one season on MTV and Teletoon....
... and for us to get an Emmy ... I'm saying that backwards ... 'cause it's sneaky!"
In the "Man of Science, Man of Faith" episode of Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, Walt Lloyd
Walt Lloyd
Walter "Walt" Lloyd is a fictional character portrayed by Malcolm David Kelley in the American ABC television series Lost. The series follows the lives of over forty survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Walt is introduced in the pilot episode as one of the survivors aboard the plane, which...
is heard speaking backwards, although fans argue on what he says.
An episode of "G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe is a line of action figures produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier , Action Sailor , Action Pilot , Action Marine and later on, the Action Nurse...
" includes the backwards message, "Anybody listening to this backwards for a secret occult message is a real dweeb", which is a reversal of an incantation spoken by Destro.
The episode "Expiration Day", from The Brak Show
The Brak Show
The Brak Show is an animated television series that aired on Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. The Brak Show is a spin-off of the animated television series, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and featured recurring characters from Space Ghost Coast to Coast and Cartoon Planet...
, includes the message "Why are you listening to this song backwards, you could have been on a date with a girl". It is sung by Thundercleese as he was going to be shut down.
Visual messages
When rotated a certain way, an early 1990s PepsiPepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
will read "SEX."
In the 1980s, Coca-Cola released in South Australia an advertising poster featuring the reintroduced contour bottle, with a speech bubble, "FEEL THE CURVES!". Inside one of the ice cubes was the silhouette of a woman performing fellatio
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
. Thousands of posters were distributed to hotels and bottle shops in Australia before the mistake was discovered by Coca-Cola management. The artist of the poster was fired and all the posters were recalled.
Various other messages have been claimed to exist in Disney movies, some of them risque, such as the well-known allegation of an erection showing on a priest in The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" is a popular fairy tale by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince...
. According to the Snopes website however, only one "is clearly true [and] undeniably purposely inserted into the movie": images of a topless woman in two frames of The Rescuers
The Rescuers
The Rescuers is a 1977 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney Productions and first released on June 22, 1977. The 23rd film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film is about the Rescue Aid Society, an international mouse organization headquartered in New York and shadowing...
.
PETA
Peta
Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...
(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is also the scene of a running battle with PETCO, a pet food retailer in San Diego, for several years regarding the purported mistreatment of live animals at PETCO stores. When the San Diego Padres
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...
announced that PETCO (which is based in San Diego) had obtained naming rights to PETCO Park, PETA was unable to persuade them to terminate the agreement. Hence PETA used advertising in the form of an acrostic
Acrostic
An acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message. As a form of constrained writing, an acrostic can be used as a mnemonic device to aid memory retrieval. A famous...
. It successfully purchased a brick with what appears on the surface to be a complimentary message: "Break Open Your Cold Ones! Toast The Padres! Enjoy This Championship Organization!" However, if one takes the first letters of each word, the resulting acrostic reads "BOYCOTT PETCO". Neither PETCO nor the Padres have taken any action to remove the brick, stating that if someone walked by, they would not know it had anything to do with the PETA/PETCO feud.
External links
- Audio Reversal in Popular Culture — explanation of backmasking and phonetic reversals