X signing. I think I shall share with you one of my favorite hobbies: listening to music backwards. First, let me preface the difference between the two divisions of the phenomenon known as "backmasking". "Backwards masking" is the overt alteration of a song's track. It is produced by the recording and then reverse superimposing of a message on the original track. (The Beatles were the first known to do this. Archetypal examples can also be found in the music of Pink Floyd and ELO, as you will hear.) A "phonetic reversal", on the other hand, is the result of hearing distinct words or phrases from the lyrics when playing an unaltered piece of music in reverse. My first experience with "backmasking" was about 1986, in a protestant church of all places, when the pastor was attempting to frighten partishoners away from popular music by demonstrating the supposed satanic messages one can discern from certain pieces of music when played in reverse. (One of the pieces that was being played must have been by ELO, as I can still remember the cover art with Dorothy's red slippers from The Wizard of Oz). Although I do not recall making out any discernable phrases at the time, the ominous, preternatural voice that was created by playing the music in reverse and then slowing it down, was enough to frighten what was then a 5-year-old boy for years to come. It scared me so much in fact, that I convinced my mother to take me home in the middle of the demonstration. However, as has often been the case in my life, that which I initially fear eventually becomes the object of my fascination. That was never more true in this case. After being haunted for years by my experience in the church, I began to become more curious of what I had heard, and wondered what there was to it. Also, I found the idea of cryptic messages in music to be quite tantalizing. Though I have always been strictly partial to orchestral music and symphonic film scores, I started recording music of all genres off the radio to play in reverse. This was before I had a computer, so I was forced to take the cassette tapes apart and invert the ribbon in order to achieve the backwards affect. While this greatly diminished the sound quality, it still worked sufficiently enough. And thus began my hobby. I believe I shall begin with an example of "backwards masking" from ELO's popular "Fire on High". This can be heard on the bizarre, avant guardist opening to the entirely instrumental piece. [Refer to video] What makes this of particular interest, is that the voice plainly, literally states that the music is reversible. And, in fact, phonetic reversals can be found in some of ELO's music, such as this example from "El Dorado" [Refer to video] This is one of the more subjective reversals, I think. Now for a rather humorous reversal from Pink Floyd's "Empty Spaces". It is rather faint, so you must listen closely. [Refer to video] Moving along now, no exhibition music reversals would be complete without Led Zeppelin's famous, infamous "Stairway to Heaven". Supposedly, Jimmy Page wrote the song in one afternoon while living in the house of the Boleskine estate - once owned by occultist Aleister Crowley. According to legend, an unseen force guided Page's hand as he scribbled the lyrics on paper. [Refer to video] I could go into the entire background of the Crowley connection and significance of the word "toolshed", but that would be a video in itself. If you are interested, the internet is replete with information regarding this subject. Now, to prove that alleged satanic messages in music reversals are not exclusive to the rock genre, I'd like to share you one of my own discovers - an excerpt from Bing Crosby's seemingly innocuous Christmas classic, "Silver Bells". [Refer to video] For the finale, I would like you to listen to what I find to be perhaps the cleareast and most phonetically natural reversal I have heard to date - at least the last part of it. It is another of my own find, and is taken from Run DMC's hit "Don't Stop". Nothing satanic, but it's still a fun listen and is in keeping with the rap genre's idioms. [Refer to video] I have found 95% of this phenomenon to be like an auditory Rorschach test, 5% deliberate manipulation on the part of the artists (particularly in The Beatle's case, which is another story entirely), and 0% satanic force. Nevertheless, music reversals, for me at least, remain an immensely fascinating phenomenon. Elvis has left the building.