I’ll be on 700WLW in Cincinnati tonight at 8:00pm (MST) doing an interview about my backmasking page.
I think a large part of what makes backmasking so interesting is that it strikes people on so many different levels. First off, with relation to religion, when people hear that popular music might contain messages about Satan, they really want to listen and decide for themselves. Even if people are not religious, there is still a natural curiosity to hear what all the fuss is about. It’s compelling to feel like we have discovered a secret about something so prominent in popular culture. We know Paul is not dead, yet we are interested to learn all the clues about his untimely demise.
I’ve made my views fairly clear that I don’t think the “satanic lyrics” are (for the most part) intentional. Most people that I have shown the Stairway to Heaven clip can’t even hear the messages the first time they listen. This brings up another interesting aspect of this story. People are fascinated by the psychology at work here. It is amazing how the power of suggestion can transform your interpretation of what at first registers as reversed gibberish into a coherent message.