Stairway to Heaven Backwards . . . my sweet satan

Jeff Milner has taken Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven and played it backwards to find the secret backmasking ode to Satan.  For anyone over the age of thirty, this is old news . . . really old . . . however, Milner's implementation is well done.

Perhaps, now, someone will be inspired to do a full-on gallery of bits from The White Album by the Beatles that were so inspirational to Charles Manson.  Or . . . better yet . . . the infamous "love song to baal" and "kill the children" and similar nasty bits hidden in those early Frank Sinatra tunes.  Or, the "I hate my life" and "father lust" and "death I adore thee" lines hidden in the poetry of Emily Dickinson.

Please note edits above . . . since I referenced this post in a discussion of the babydoll controversy here, I have updated the backmasking link which had gone 404 on us (Jeff had moved the site and added new kool stuff so go play).

All the best,
Brian

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Comments

[Scott Sommers]

As an undergraduate we taped Stairway to Heaven backward. It's true that you can hear all kinds of things in the mish-mash that comes out of it, but I doubt that anyone who wasn't expecting to hear demonic verses would hear them.

[Jeff Milner]

I thought about making more flash pages from the other Albums that apparently have backmasking, but honestly I don't buy into it. I think it's all just coincidence and frankly--not very worthwhile.

[Dr. Al]

What utter nonsense. The imagination has to bend so far to make out 'demonic lyrics'. No way. I buy for a negative.

[Mitch]

I'm not so sure if this is the real thing or not. I have listened to it over and over again, and it seems like a very strange coincidence. I doubt that Zep had any intentions of this, but then again, you never know.

[Duane]

One of the symbols used on the album is a sacred symbol for the Devil by the Rocicrucians(spelling?); It's comprised of 3 6's. The band was living in Crowley's castle, after he died, and in their autobiography, they said the song practically wrote itself. It was written right out of sleep when the brain is on subconcious mode(alpha brainwaves, attuning to the leftover psychic energy); The hand was on autopilot. On the album cover is a picture of Lucifer falling from Heaven becoming Satan. Lucifer was God's favorite angel; He was in charge of music. But, he was instructed to play music with only bells, and he disobeyed God, so God made an example of him. The band was living in a castle infused with Magick. When you pluck a g-string on a guitar, a guitar sitting next to it's g-string will vibrate in harmony. Try noticing 'yourself as a guitar" in various places with extreme vibrations. The more volunteering you are about it, the more powerful the effect. The band was studying Satanism and various occult teachings, and even moved into the castle of the recently deceased "wickedest man alive"; They practically volunteered to vibrate at the level of the Devil. In Satanism, followers are encouraged to learn to read, speak, and write backwards,a sort of cryptical tongue, so to speak, hence backmasking.

[Chad]

Give me a break...who care's its a great song no?

[Nick]

Check out this flash site. Its a clip from the song, and then it plays it backwards. True, if your looking for somehting, you can hear it, but in a clip form the song, being as long as it is (its the hedgerow part), i find it hard t believe that its jsut a coincidence that it turns out that the entire part magically seem to sound like satanic lyrics. Its even correct scentance structure for hte most part, except for the two "give you"s

http://www2.memlane.com/jmilner/stairwaybackwards.htm

[mark higgins]

i recorded that verse of stairway into my computer using my computer microphone and the original sound recording software that is in your computer. i played it forward to check i got it all and there was nothing wrong with it. then i played it backwards. it is not as far fetched as it seems. i got it from "early days:the best of led zeppelin volume 1" and i didnt tweak it in any way and i could make out the satanic words. led zeppelin are my favourite band of all time and i would never do this just to give them "bad publicity" or anything. but it is true that it says these messages backwards. i guess the only people who know for sure if it was meant to say these satanic references or if it was just co-incidence is robert plant, jimmy page and john paul jones.

[may queen]

My friends and i have all taken great interest in the theory of satanic lyrics in this song and have gone over and over it and have come to the conclsion that there is unmistakable satanic verses within it.cool shit.

[Unknown]

Led Zeppelin is one of my favorite bands of all time and saying this, I would not want to say anything negative about them but this song is freaky Sh**. I used a computer program and played it backwards and it had satanic lyrics in it. I also played it backwords on a record player but although i did not hear it quite as clear, i heard the gist of it. I do not know what Rob was thinking when he wrote this or what energy from previous events inpired him to write this song but i do not think this is any coincidence. Great song by the way.

[Duncan]

I can make out 'my sweet satan' and 'order me to die for' i did reverse it myself... and there's something, but its hardly clear...

[tyler]

I hear it. However, I would atrribute this mostly to imagination- without having read the words posted on that site aforehand, I would never have noticed (which explains why so many people have searched the song and found nothing).

You should note that the word Satan itself is never has the right inflection- it's just the syllable 'Sate.' When actively looking for the satanic reference, you sort of imagine that the second syllable is just not accented enough to be audible. I would imagine that much of the song relies on this element of human nature (how many people have never really understood the lyrics to a song, or heard them incorrectly, then read the real lyrics somewhere and afterwards were able to hear them distinctly?). In fact, the first time I heard it, the only part that really jumped out at me was the 'six six six' (What part of the song IS that?!).

I'm not sure how often the gibberish that results from backwards music can be interpreted as words, so I'm not sure how remarkeanble a coincidence it would be for a passage as long and coherent as that to be found. But I'll give Zep the benifit of the doubt on this.

That is very creepy, by the way...

[blah blah blah 777]

I think its real because when i read a boigraphy on LED ZEPPELIN i heard about their satanic pact and of course they made a song to offer to satan

[Joseph]

I reversed the verse that begins "If theres a bustle in your hedgerow don't be alarmed now, its just a spring clean for the may queen" and got after a few listenings "Oh, heres to my sweet satan. Thw one whose little path could make me sad, whose power is satan. He'll give you, give you 666. There was a little tool shed where he made us suffer, sad satan." I even slowed it down to get it mor clear and there is definitely something there. I love Zeppelin and I hope it isnt intentional, but try it for yourself, if nothing else it is really freaky.

[Brian David Phillips]

Click on the "see why decent boys and girls" link in the bluebox on the right side of the page at http://www.whitehouse.org/kids/index.asp and note the backward masking in the song (click on heaven and hell to hear the song forwards and backwards).

[Todd]

The way to find out if Zeppelin meant to do this is to try to come up with a verse yourself. Find words that make another word backwards, like if you want to say "Jimmy Page is a rock god", then record something like "Dog, Car? I see Egypt Image" Granted that's a weird phrase, but what the hell is "If theres a bustle in your hedgrow..." mean? Rock on Zeppelin!

[Scott Sommers]

After reading all of this, I'm convinced more than ever there's something Satanic going on here. I really hope that everyone here is joking about hearing words. Have you ever tried listening to Abba or John Denver backward? And you know what? Even if you heard something, evangelist Bob Larson would tell you these are Satanic bands too. Get a grip on life. Brian just accused me of having too much free time because I spend my free time staring at statistics. Are there really adults who listen to Stair to Heaven played backward listening for Satanic lyrics? Even I don't have enough time for that.

[Brian David Phillips]

In all fairness, Scott, you did say that when you were in college you did the same thing . . . recorded the song backwards listening for Satanic lyrics. Now, you don't even have to do the recording, you can just go to the site referenced in the original post http://www2.memlane.com/jmilner/stairwaybackwards.htm I never tried Abba or John Denver backwards but I did listen for backward masking on The White Album by the Beatles and a couple KISS albums back when I was at university. Coincidentally, I just watched an old episode of Cluedo ("The Axeman Cometh") which deals with backward masking in an off-hand way.

[scott]

wow, i just heard about this for the first time ever today, mostly because i'm only 15, and i wasn't around when all of this was going on. I went to one of the sites mentioned above and before I read the lyrics i heard nothing whatsoever, but afterwards, i heard it exactly. weird....

[Scott Sommers]

Yes, but I was in college then. We had all kinds of time and energy to do crazy things. Seriously, I can understand the desire to hear Stairway to Heaven backward considering all the hype. But really, there's nothing there. You have to listen so hard even to imagine this. If someone had not told you what to hear, would you know what was supposed to be there? Play it for your wives, friends or even for fluent speakers of English who don't know it's Stairway being played backward.

I had to go through high school with my friend Richard the drug dealer after he got born-again. Richard made me read Bob Larson who explained that practically all popular music is demonis. I wasn't joking about Abba and John Denver. I don't want to admit that I have anything to do with popular culture, but really, maybe Little Nicky was right.

[jeanette]

I love led zepplin--Ive heard from other people about being able to hear satanic messages thru the song stairway to heaven...when played backwards...but ive never really thought to actually find out..so the other night i got one of my friends who has a program on his computer...to record it backwards..and send it to me..and he did..& i could hear satanic messages...like the "666" part....& the "sad satan"--then i went to a flash site that has it on there. & i could hear the same thing- although i do agree that our minds might make us start to think we hear satanic messages in this song...we believe what we think...but still it is prettty creepy- the thing that u guys said about how they were in a castle and were involved in magick & stuff..makes me think that yeah..it may be real...i dont think that ledzep has done this on perpose....really...

[eric]

ya i just heard stairway played backwords and i think i is probley satinic because think of the lyrics forward what does.......if theres a bustle in your hedgerow dont be alarmed now........mean any way!! Buh any way LEPPLIN RULES!

[mzx]

yea... there definetly are the "satanic" lyrics, but I don't think they were satanistic or something... I mean the song is "Stairway to heaven" and playing it reversed reveals the exact opposite, some parts of the original song have almost no meaning.
I think its just a hell of a brilliant song, with the subtext and all (the ending of the song reversed says "play backwards, hear word sung")
The backwards part is just too correct to be imagined ("Oh here's to my sweet satan. The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is fake.) and most probably has some meaning, because I didn't make out the real meaning of the original song in the first 100 times i listened to it...
I've heard that Page and Plant have denied it all, but hell, if it was my song i'd let people find it out for themselves as well...

[mzx]

yea... there definetly are the "satanic" lyrics, but I don't think they were satanistic or something... I mean the song is "Stairway to heaven" and playing it reversed reveals the exact opposite, some parts of the original song have almost no meaning.
I think its just a hell of a brilliant song, with the subtext and all (the ending of the song reversed says "play backwards, hear word sung")
The backwards part is just too correct to be imagined ("Oh here's to my sweet satan. The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is fake.) and most probably has some meaning, because I didn't make out the real meaning of the original song in the first 100 times i listened to it...
I've heard that Page and Plant have denied it all, but hell, if it was my song i'd let people find it out for themselves as well...

[Scott Sommers]

Can't be faked? It's not even there. Try playing it for someone who doesn't know what it is or what they're supposed to hear. See how obvious the message is then.

[Kamui]

freaky stuff goin on

[SniperC4]

If you listen to "Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen backwards then you hear something about smoking marijuana.

If you listen to "Empty Spaces" on The Wall by Pink Floyd there is a real backwards track that is something like "congratulations, you have just discovered the secret message" or something like that. It just weird noises if you listen to it on the original track but they made it quiet so it wouldn't be too obvious (just some weird background noises).

I used Screenblast Sound Forge by Sony to reverse the files, very quick job.

[nick]

play backwards, hear words sung. all to you. all aways. i know your with me. all to the
weaping men. oh yes i see the river. oh how i miss you. crying in the river so deap. youre
the one who i choice worship. youre the one whos in me. ohh you see me cause i live with satan. whos always with me, hes satan. hell never turn me off. (cant makeout). there is not yesterday. oh heres to my sweet satan. one little path whould make me sad, hes power is satan. hell give you give you 666. once in a toolshed where he made us suffer, sad satan. hell find away to get lose, get off of me, and no one said no. get off of me. and no one said no. and no one said no. (cant makeout)(cant makeout) ill leave for satan. and no one said no. and no one said no. oh i wish the lord would of.....(i know hes saying something, i just cant make it out.) i wish the lord would of....

thats the whole song.... now thats real, it aint no bull shit

[Scott Sommers]

Which song? Come on Nicky, I saw the movie. I know this is from Chicage IV.

[Glenn Kelly]

Saddly the human mind is easy to trick, and the hidden messages can be found in any song, or speech if you record and reverse them.

I've heard people say that Martin Luther Kings ' I have a dream' speech, when reversed says 'Rise up and kill'.

Briteny Spears songs apparently contain messages like telling people to eat meat on sundays, one quote is, eat the pork on the sabath'.

The fact of the matter is that you must look for these messages to find them and even when you do you have to apply a little bit of poetic license make any sence out of them.

[Adam]

It took me a couple of tries to hear the backward message, but i did get it. Some are quick to say that its our mind that is forcing us to believe it. Nevertheless, I hear plenty of songs played forward, yet cannot hear the words..sometimes forcing myself to rewind so i could catch it.

Perhaps there was intent. In the regular version they state "There’s still time to change the road you’re on"...If we assume that they are speaking on they're on behalf..then perhaps the forward message is a message of hope and redemption. The latter(backwards version)..is perhaps the exact oppposite. It might not be real for them..but there are so many correlations between heaven hell, redemption etc. If they did make a pact with lucipher..then that backward part might be a sort of confession. They call his power "fake"..perhaps a way of regretting the pact. They also mention a toolshed where he made them suffer...

I feel the evidence is present

Thanks

[jj]

where r some other sites to listen to backmasking?

[Led Sabbath]

How ruthlessly absurd. Hey guys lets go and check more Led Zeppelin songs to see if there are more satanic messages! Do you honestly think that Plant and Page spent time modifying their words to create demonic messages while played backwards? Obviously weird messages are gonna be played while playing a song backwards. Duh! Everyone's so worked up about finding demonic messages that they start to hear them, only because they want to. I heard the reversed playback of Stairway, and only once i might have heard something like "sate". So what? Big deal, its not like Page and Plant stayed up all night just to try to get that one part to almost sound like "satan". Give them a break.

[Scott Sommers]

You've missed the point. It's demonic not because it was written that way but because it is inherently demonic. You can't write a heavy metal song without some Satanic message being embedded in the lyrics.

How's that for an alternative?

[adam]

Im tired of you guys stating that the entire thing is absurd.. Half the time I am hearing excuses such as "its not like Page and Plant stayed up all night just to try to get that one part.."....The fact remains that we dont know the band personally...nor can we say that they did not take their sweet time to make this work. One does not have to listen very hard to hear the words..to me that outweighs the simple excuse that they had no time to write these satanic verses and put them into the song.

[Jeff Milner]

Someone above posted as me, even using my webpage. For the record: it wasn't me.

[Scott Sommers]

You'e missing my point; they didn't put them in the song. It's something that just happens when you write that kind of music. It is the inherently Satanic nature of heavy metal music that is corrupting our minds. Try and write a heavy metal song without a Satanic message in it. You'll see what I mean.

[Maertin]

Right, I think the backwards message was well planned. Some say its not, though - But how often do u find backwards messages that LONG and that makes sense in a song? I dont think you do, to be honest. I found this explanation of the backwards message on another forum "The part, "Oh, here's to my sweet Satan." is supposed to be showing that the message is to be dedicated to the one they love, their "sweet" Satan. Then the part, "The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan" is to show that the way going to, and entering hell is a sad one, because they have to suffer for all of eturnity in hell. "Oh, he'll give you, give you 666." is to show that once your in hell, he'll give you the mark of the beast, which is fortold in the book of Revolations, Chapter 3, that all who believe in Satan shall bare 666 which is the mark of the beast. "There was a little toolshed where he made us suffer, Sad Satan." This could either be, that if Jimmy Page truley did write the song to be like this, that he is reffering to Crowley's house, which they reffered to as "The Toolshed" that brought suffering to all those that worshiped Satan there. Or if the spirit wrote this, it could be reffering to the toolshed as hell, and that all who go there are made to suffer, from Satan. The reason the Spirit could have chosen this song to give out it's message, was to show that the Evil would over come the Stairway to Heaven. "

[Adam]

Certainly i agree with the above analysis concerning the meaning of the backward message. However i am not convinced that the band sold their souls. The demonic message does not explicitly mean anything about their own personal lives, but the one thing that can be agreed upon is the fact that there are backward messages, and that the song is a masterpiece.

I truly believe that this song can also be interpreted as a song of hope..simply look at the lyrics..."Yes there are two paths you can go by
but in the long run, There's still time to change the road you're on"

For any religious fanatics...this is quite interesting as in exemplifies the notion of redemption and hope..even after one makes a terrible mistake.

To deny the role of the backward messages would be ridiculous...it falls nicely into the overall meaning of this song.

-Adam

[stephanie]

man!! there is not a single website that will let me listen to it in reverse! my computer is a piece of crap.....is there anyone that can help me out plz??? thanks

<3 stephanie

[Scott Sommers]

But Stairway is only the best documented of a number of songs that are supposed to have backward masking. I am unaware of any way to systematically write backward masked lyrics, but perhaps you are more knowledgeable on this point. My point is that if backward masking is widespread in rock and roll songs, its source must be something that the writers have no control over or planning of. And if the source of backward masking is not the writer of the song, who could it be? The implications of this are truly demonic.

[Heggie]

I 100% agree with Scott Summers... The line is too long to be just a couple sounds making a noise that sounds like "sad satan" etc. The Toolshed that he may be reffering to as Crowley's house, which they reffered to as "The Toolshed" makes perfect sense. Also the end of the song played backwards states "Play backwards, hear words sung" ... that just tops it all off.

Im not saying anything bad about Led Zepplin cuz they are one of my all time favorite bands.. but the evidence is there, and they obviously ment for this to happen.

[Heggie]

also, wouldnt you say its kind of ironic that this occurs in stairway to heaven..backwars its basically about a stairway to hell..which is the complete opposite

[alex]

think about this real quiuck, the forwards lyrics say, "there are two paths we can go by" meaning heaven or hell AND forwards or backwardd"if theres a bustle in your hedgegrow" meaning if weird stuff happens, it's satan. Man I feel like the SNL churchlady

[alex]

think about this real quiuck, the forwards lyrics say, "there are two paths we can go by" meaning heaven or hell AND forwards or backwardd"if theres a bustle in your hedgegrow" meaning if weird stuff happens, it's satan. Man I feel like the SNL churchlady

[Scott Sommers]

Seriously, you try to write a song with backward masking; particularly one that has meaning forward, as well. It's friggin' harder than imnpossible. So if it's impossible, then who put the words there? Seriously, you try to do it, and when someone can show me that they know how to 'plan' something like this, I'll admit that the whole thing isn't demonic.

[Domenic]

I actually sang the song into my computer ( u kno, recording it with the mic) and then i played it backwards. i herd the same lyrics as the version played backwards (of course it was not totaly clear being as it is not exactly the same as the recording. I have to admit, it was pretty awsome, Zeppelin rocks

[Scott Sommers]

I don't doubt it for a second. The Satanic properties of the song are so strong that it's near impossible to get rid of them. Play the tape you made to someone else and see what they think it says.

[dan]

I took at dump to this song

[adam]

I agree with those of you suggesting that it may be far too difficult to plan and execute backward masking. I certainly do not agree with those of you who feel it is impossible. As a matter of fact, the contents of the song going forward are not tremendously clear themselves.

Things in life cannot be inherently demonic...these guys planned this out properly. The themes of this song are so fantastic..that it deserves nothing less that the praise it has already received. I am content with the nature of the song....I am equally convinced that it remains a song of hope and not a confession of selling one's own soul.

MY HAT GOES OFF TO LZ!

Adam

[Scott Sommers]

Stair is only the most well-known of songs that are supposed to contained lyrics with backward masking. There is lots of right-wing Christian literatutre available on this. Since the technology seems so available, why don't you try some other tunes and see what happens.

[Rabideau]

[ stairway to heaven - lyrics interpreted ]

Read "Understanding Stairway to Heaven" by Michael Klassen.

Stairway to Heaven

R. Plant & J. Page
© 1971 Superhype Music Inc.

There's a lady1 who's sure all that
glitters is gold2.

And she's buying a stairway
to heaven3.

And when she gets there she knows
if the stores are closed.

With a word4 she can get
what she came for.

There's a sign on the wall
but she wants to be sure.

Cause you know sometimes
words have two meanings5.

In a tree by the brook
there's a songbird

who sings sometimes6.

All of our thoughts are misgiven.

There's a feeling I get when
I look to the west.

And my spirit is crying for leaving.

In my thoughts I have seen
rings of smoke

through the trees7.

And the voices of those who
stand looking.

And it's whispered that soon
if we all call the tune.

Then the piper will lead us to reason.

And a new day will dawn
for those who stand long8.

And the forests will echo
with laughter.

And it makes me wonder9.

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
don't be alarmed now10.

It's just a spring clean for
the May-Queen.

Yes there are two paths
you can go by.

But in the long run.

There's still time to change
the road you're on11.

Your head is humming and
it won't go- in case you don't know12.

The piper's calling you to join him13.

Dear lady can you hear
the wind blow.

And did you know

your stairway lies on the
whispering wind14.

And as we wind on down the road.

Our shadows taller than our soul.

There walks a lady we all know.

Who shines white light
and wants to show.

How everything still turns gold15.

And if you listen very hard

the tune will come to you at last.

When all are one and one is all16.

To be a rock17 and not to roll.

And she's buying18 a stairway
to heaven.
The Lyrics Interpreted

By Michael Klassen

1. Erma Rees-Gwynn, a Welsh divorcee intent on starting her own carpenter contracting business. She was recommended (some say as a joke) by the castle's previous owner, actor Richard Harris, who fled to the Bahamas to avoid the taxman.

2. This is a bit of Plant's irony. In other words if it didn't glitter, it probably wasn't worth much. Erma and her assistants reportedly broke and scratched a lot of valuables carrying lumber through the residence.

3. This means "building" a stairway to heaven, or, more likely, buying the materials for the stairway. Erma was contracted to build a deck in back of Page's castle, three stories high. The plans were for a 2nd floor landing, and steps leading up from the back vegetable patch. Plant once described Lelawcge-an-bryn as "heaven." The staircase when completed would be a stairway to view heaven if you climbed up it, or going down, a stairway to carrots and peas.

4. "Foreclosure." The small Welsh town in the district had only one hardware store in the area, and the owner was on a picnic with his family. Erma complained to Jimmy about not being able to get screw nails. So Jimmy called a couple of local aldermen he had in his back pocket, so they could get the damn store open. The store owner soon received the politicians' threats, and cut short his picnic.

5. In order the secure the landing at the second floor, Erma's crew had to enter Jimmy's so-called "Guitar Room." The sign on the wall said "Keep the Fuck Out - Everyone!" These words don't have two meanings, do they? Well, Erma let herself in anyway. In fact, only two double-necked Gibsons could be found in the room, out of Page's reputed collection of 75 guitars. No, this was his Occult Room, full of red satin furnishings and things with horns on them.

6. Reportedly Jimmy was out on his property, singing in his favorite tree, when he saw Erma's helper hanging out the Guitar Room's window. His berserk ranting ("misgiven thoughts") could be heard in the next county.

7. West of Page's property, beyond a neighbour's forested grove, there was a coal-burning power plant. Apparently the tons of sulphur-rich deposits pouring from its stacks disheartened Plant. One day Percy got pretty inebriated, and schemed that they should all protest until the plant shut down. Why not get all the girls, the other lads, and large-fisted manager Peter Grant out blocking their gate? "Great idea," one of the girls responded, "but how are we going to keep the stereo going, or even have hot baths without power?" This comment silenced Plant's protest.

8. Jonesy was the true all round musician of the group. Before Led Zeppelin the bassist/keyboardist extraordinaire wrote and arranged some of Lulu's best work, including "To Sir With Love." Whilst up at Page's castle he tried to form a little choir he wished to call the Zeppettes. Singing careers could've meant a "new day" for the girls, but none could carry a tune. The neighbours watched them rehearse in vain, hence the laughter echoing in the forest.

9. It's likely Plant spend as much time wondering about things as it took for him to write this line.

10. It's said a lot of clothes were found in strange places after their infamous Victorian dress-up parties.

11. The "May-Queen" was Maytag's laundromat-sized washer/dryer combo ordered in to handle hotel-sized loads of laundry being done at Page's castle. Jimmy was promised a money-back warranty on the set if he wasn't satisfied. The "two paths" were whether to keep them or return. The warranty gave him time to change the road he was on, you see.

12. This was one of the worst hangovers Plant had ever felt.

13. Jonesy was going back to London and asked Plant to come along.

14. Actually, your stairway, and the whole damned sundeck laid on the ground. A spring torrent ripped through Great Britain that year, and destroyed Erma's shoddy work.

15. Jonesy and Plant hit the road in John Paul's Stutz Bearcat. By coincidence, they came across Erma waving a flashlight, trying to hitch out of Lelawcge-an-bryn County. After the sundeck fiasco she gave up on carpentry, and was leaving for a cousin's residence in King's Cross. "Everything still turns to gold," she promised, boasting ten thousand pounds profit on the Page job alone.

16. A sarcastic bit of advice from Percy to the Zeppettes: just keep practicing, girls.

17. Plant decided to be a rock, if not a lump of clay, and stay home with his wife and family until the next tour.

18. Last heard from, Erma was in the Bahamas. "And she's buying a ticket to Nassau."

[Rabideau]

Sorry about the long post but im getting pretty sick of u saying like "o man i heard it listen man its satanic man." like man, Led Sabbath is right, plant, page, jones, and bonham (RIP) dont have time to sit and figure out ways to put backwards messages in their songs!

[Amanroth]

hey... i just listened to stairway backwards... i'm fairly sure they never meant for a lot of the crap you think you can hear. however, this one verse... "if there's a bustle in your hedgegrow" through to "there's still time to change the road you're on"... the tune and the way the words are said is really odd, as if done on purpose to allow some sort of message to come through more clearly when played backwards. i dunno that's just me.

anyways what i really wanna know is does anyone have any URLs to sites about subliminal messages in emily dickinson poems, song lyrics, ads, etc? please email me cuz i won't be able to check back here i don't think

[Scott Sommers]

Whether or not the Satanic message was intended is not important. Containing a Satanic message when played backward is a defining characteristic of heavy metal, regardless of what other motivations the writers had for the song. In fact, if you play a song backward and there is no Satanic message, it is a not a heavy metal song. Seriously, have you ever heard a heavy metal played backward that did NOT have a Satanic message?

[Scott Sommers]

Note that while heavy metal music may be Satanic, I hesitate to call it evil. For more information on determining whether something is good or evil, I recommend consulting the Gematriculator.

[Chee]

I have reversed and found many other reversed parts in this song.

One, for instance at the "Your stairway lies on the whispering wind" part, reverse that and you get "They will say it was because i lived with satan"

Or "Your head is humming" reverses to become, very clearly "They mustn't annoy you."

There are other bits were he wishes that it were snowing so it could fall on his hair.

[Led Sabbath]

A good point there Scott, its the nature of heavy metal music that possibly creates the "satanic" lyrics, not necessarily the artists. But can we really classify Stairway to Heaven as a heavy metal song? Or Led Zeppelin as a heavy metal band? In my opinion, I say no, they sort of fall into the classic rock genre. But this is a very controversial issue as others have different views on what heavy metal rock sounds like. But I'll raise another question. Some hardcore rap music is just as-or even more inhumane than heavy metal music. Think about all the rappers who rap about drive-bys and killing others, while this song is merely about building a deck in the back of Page's castle. Can the nature of some rap music contain "satanic messages" as well? On another note, I think Rabideau's post changes a lot of views and opinions, for instance, "if theres a bustle in your hedgerow" sounds quite odd, but you can see that there could have been skirts at their victorian parties that have bustles. The clothes also connect with the "Mayqueen" washer/dryer as clothes are washed in washing machines (lol simple enough), and if you're not satisfied, "change the road you're on" by taking it back for a full refund. I think that these "events" are quite amazingly put into lyrical song, instead of "satanic subliminal messaging". I think whoever made the backward lyrics must've been hearing things, because the first time I heard it, I could not make out anything except for "sate". I think that if people want to hear the backmasking of Stairway to Heaven, it needs to be done without reverse lyrics, to see if they can make out anything themselves, because to me, nothing is really clear. I just think that we need to stop dissecting good music, because it is fine as is. Stairway's lyrical content in my opinion, is like taking a lump of crap, and turning it into gold, because the events are like everyday events, and Plant and Page have excellent grammatical skills and turn these everyday events into a song that everyone loves.

[rabideau]

Thank you Led Sabbath, who ever that handsome devil may be. I'd like to congratulate everyone on this site who seems to think there are satanic messages in the song, because you have good imaginations. The only reason you hear demonic lyrics is because you WANT to hear them. You're all taking one of the greatest rock songs in history and turning it into some kind of source of evil. If you can't understand the lyrics correctly, that's because it's all metaphorical. Take a look at my huge post up above and you'll see. If you have enough imagination to make demonic messages, then try to wrap your mind around the idea that it's NOT satanic, there are NO demonic lyrics, there's NO backmasking in the song, and that it's just an imaginative, well written song. Hey guys, lets try reading my message backwards, maybe I praise satan too.

[adam]

I would like to thank Rabideau for his contribution towards our discussion. Nevertheless your arguments are not acceptable. I refer to your comment, "The only reason you hear demonic lyrics is because you WANT to hear them."

Try listening to any song forward....listening to it once will not ensure that you pick up on all the words...granted its much clearer than backmasking...but you still cant hear or remember all of the words.

That is completely beside the point...the fact remains that the message is very clear..you can hear the satanic verses very clearly. I am not quite sure why some of you feel this makes the song evil. Stairway to heaven contains many themes...and one can learn to appeciate the message of hope within the song. Haven't you guys ever seen LZ live DVD's and/or concerts....how often doe Plant say this is a song of hope.....if somebody can correlate the fact that its a song of hope and the fact some of you think its about building some stairway..then please let me know.

The evidence is far stronger for those of us who believe that S to H is a song about hope with demonic messages revealed upon playing it backwards.

Thanks

Adam

[Led Sabbath]

Hmm, good point. I see what you mean Adam, but it's like I said before, this song is like taking a lump of crap, and turning it into gold. I actually do see a correlation between the mere deck building and the song of hope. I think it is a song of hope because its basically about the little things in life and how much we take for granted, the song shows this by taking what we think of as "everyday events" and turning it into lyrical music. Not many people can do that about their everyday lives. This song kind of contains a hidden message of hope showing that we need to look more at the little things in our lives. Thats my opinion anyways, hope it helped :).

[Scott Sommers]

Turning everyday events into lyric music? This is much too complicated. Isn't it far easier to believe that demonic forces inhabit heavy metal music giving it hidden meaning when played backward? Or that writers of the music actually sat down and planned to put demonic lyrics that they have no personal belief in that can only be heard when the song is played backward? Come on Led; where is your sense of simplicity?

[Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH]

Scott, I really hope you're having us on. :-)

There are thousands of poems and songs about everyday events, many of them quite beautiful. An everyday event may still have strong emotional context and can still be considered beautifully expressed. It's not the event that is important here but in the skill of the poet in relating it.

I personally find it a lot easier to believe that the authors purposefully came upon the combination of lyrics to produce the backward effect for this single song than to believe that all heavy metal music has satanic influence and therefore must have backward masking.

First, this is not a heavy metal song. As someone else already pointed out, it's classic rock. It doesn't fit the rhyme or rhythm of heavy metal.

As to your supposition that all heavy metal must be satanic and therefore must contain backward masking . . . name five songs that fit that definition. You tell us that we can listen to any heavy metal song and we will find backward masking, in fact it is a lot harder to find examples that don't have the satanic lyrics embedded that way. So . . . give us five examples of songs that containe the backward masking. Tell us the titles and which sections you have listened to that produced the backward message effect. Be sure to include example lyrics. Don't give us blanket statements of this type without proof.

With Stairway to Heaven, the relevant sections have been posted. Personally, I find it a lot easier to believe the artists put it there on purpose than to believe that Satan is invisibly influencing all music of the genre. Since I am neither Christian nor Satanist, the invisible hand of evil argument never really worked for me anyway.

We look forward to your examples.

[Scott Sommers]

Having been exposed to the teachings of fundamentalist Christians, I am aware of facts about this that perhaps others writing here are not. For example, Judas Priest has been involved in legal action addressing hidden lyrics in their music. There is a long history to the discovery of messages, Satanic and otherwise, covertly hidden in the lyrics of rock songs. You can read all about the numerous songs that have been identified as having this property at
http://www.skepticfiles.org/mys1/backmsk2.htm
and
http://www.textfiles.com/music/backmask.txt
Properly conducted scholarly research has even concluded that words played backward are understood by listeners.
http://user.dls.net/~palfano/research.htm
You may find it difficult to believe that there are Satanic forces at work in the music industry, but I suspect that millions of the Americans feel otherwise. Bob Larson Ministries
http://www.boblarson.org
which leads an active crusade against contemporary pop culture, is enormously successful. Since no one writing here has claimed that Led Zeppelin deliberately wrote these backward lyrics into their songs, no one has a rational reason to be this happened. Since there is no reason to ascribe to an explanation of deliberate backmasking, preference for this over explanation over ones that involve Satanically-inspired backmasking can only be made on the basis of aesthetic judgment of which explanation 'makes more sense' to you. While I respect your sense of aesthetics, I think it's important to realize that this is the basis of your choice.

As for my belief about the Satanically-inspired nature of Stairway to Heaven, I think anyone who has been following all of my postings on this topic will be able to form a clear picture of how I feel :)

[rabideau]

Oh Scott, You silly. The mere idea that you would question Led Sabbath's sence of simplicity is laughable, ha ha ha. You devote your time to proving that in Stairway to Heaven, the lyrics, when played backwards are satanic. Even if you say it was an accident. Not only that, your last post is about how many other bands are using backmasking in their songs. Now Scott, where is YOUR sense of simplicity?

[rabideau]

Oh Scott, You silly. The mere idea that you would question Led Sabbath's sence of simplicity is laughable, ha ha ha. You devote your time to proving that in Stairway to Heaven, the lyrics, when played backwards are satanic, even though you say it was an accident. Not only that, your last post is about how many other bands are using backmasking in their songs. Now Scott, where is YOUR sense of simplicity?

[rabideau]

sorry about the double post up there
my bad

[Donald]

i think that they put in the reverse lyrics (demon lyrics) then by listening to it in reverse made hose lyrics that made no sense to make sence in the complextion to heaven.

hrad to explain

[Led Sabbath]

My sense of simplicity is all here Scott, if you carefully read and understand my posts. You would actually rather believe that the work of satan is behind these lyrics, instead of the work of 4 great musicians? It's not that hard to create metaphorical lyrics Scott, but one as well written as Stairway to Heaven is like no other I have ever seen before. It's just like Brian said:

"There are thousands of poems and songs about everyday events, many of them quite beautiful. An everyday event may still have strong emotional context and can still be considered beautifully expressed. It's not the event that is important here but in the skill of the poet in relating it."

You did make a strong argument about the evil-doing of satan in this song, and I did reply it as a good point (and it is), but the fact that you would rather believe that story instead of a well written poetic song, just baffles me. And then you go on to ask about where MY sense of simplicity is? Come on Cyclops :) BUT, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I respect your arguments Scott.

[Scott Sommers]

Today is my birthday, so I feel compelled to turn over a new leaf. Thank you Led for seeing past the terrible typing of my last post to what I see as the central point of this argument. No one has any reason to believe that Led Zeppelin or Abba or anyone else deliberately planned backward messages into their music. There are perhaps millions of people aware of this Stairway to Heaven thing. Certainly on the websites linked here hundreds (thousands?)of people are involved in the analysis of the lyrics, yet NO ONE has offered even the slightest evidence that LZ planned this.

So if they didn't plan it, how did the lyrics get there? Why not Satan? What's the alternative explanation? Someone tell me. Could it be space aliens? Could it be CIA mind control experiments? The possibilities are endless. And all just a likely!

That is, unless there is no message, and Stairway to Heaven played backward is just jibberish.

[ken]

i think that this whole thing about stairway to heaven backwards is so awesome, i know that it says thaty stuff, when i hear it, it sounds like its saying "o heres to my sweet satan, the one whose little path would make me sad whos power is satan. he'll give you give you 666. there was a little toolshed were he made us suffer sad satan." and it sounds exactly like it. write this lyrics down n listen to it, belive me ull think its real. for sure!

[rabideau]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT!!!

u silly

[bob]

whats the opposite of a stairway to heaven??? one to hell. no, its not accidental. who would have been like, "maybe if i tell everyone that if u play stairway to heaven backward there are satanic messages and then everyone will believe me b/c i said so". no one just made up the whole backward thing just to screw zep. he didnt make a song that doesnt make sense forwards or backward. this song rocks.

[Scott Sommers]

Bob, maybe you missed what's going on here. No one's arguing about the words anymore. The real question is who put them there. It couldn't possibly have been Jimmy and the boys. This is the most thought about song ever written. Just look at this site and see how many people are talking about it. On the original site with the backward recording, there's way more than a thousand comments. No one, and I mean not one person, says that they found some proof that Led Zeppelin planned to do this. Maybe you figure LZ had to have done it 'cause you can't think of anyone else who could have, but you're wrong. And that's what I keep trying to say, it's obvious who wrote the song backward.

Until you can show me reason to believe that Led Zeppelin did this, it's obvious that it wasn't a man who wrote that song. Prove me wrong.

[Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH]

"The real question is who put them there. It couldn't possibly have been Jimmy and the boys."

I don't see why not. I believe it is much more probable that the artists who created the song put in the hidden lyrics than some unseen supernatural force did it. Of course, at this point the debate will naturally fall apart as we have now fallen into the realm of religious faith rather than analysis or critical thought. If you believe that unseen malevolent power pervasively exerts influence and control over popular music and that is the only possible explanation for there being backmasking in any song, then it is a matter of faith. You cannot prove the existence of that entity or its influence as it is an unprovable argument. While I believe that no such entity exerts its influence in this way and likewise cannot disprove its existence.

If I believe the Earth is a dish resting upon the backs of four elephants standing upon the back of a giang turtle swimming through space, then there is no way for me to prove A'tuan exists as you will not be able to prove that it does not exist as any counter evidence you provide willl simply be dismissed by me as hoax, tricker, or inept interpretation of otherwise obvious evidence.

We are at the lovely little impasse. We both agree that the backmasking is there. However, we cannot agree upon who put it there. You will happily (or, perhaps frightfully) assert that it's the Big Bad Himself while will assert the artists put it there either in a brilliant stroke of poetic inspiration (which you can then assert is the Big Bad twisting their thoughts) or as a sophomoric joke that took an incredible amount of work but as they were half-stoned at the time they didn't notice it (you can then assert this is more truth of the Big Bad twisting men's feeble minds).

I would much rather go with the simple explanation . . . the artists put it in on purpose of their own accord. You may continue to assert the malevolent evil supernatural influence. Both arguments are really based upon faith. We may twist our analysis to fit our faith and pretend we are being critical thinkers but it's there in any case. We are, for the most part, human.

[Scott Sommers]

My argument is based on two major points.

1. While LZ is a brilliant band, how could they have written a song backward? No one has demonstrated that there is a technique for writing lyrics backward into a song. As Bob pointed out, there is supposed to be almost an entire song written backward and forward. If you can show me how to do this deliberately, I'll conceed.

2. There is a vast amount of research into this song. You can see here all the interest in the song and the specualtion it has generated. Michael Klassen's interpretation sited by Rabideau is only one of a vast number. Most of the interpretations you come across resemble more conventional readings of music. Here, and on Jeff Milner's site, you see a concentration of interpretations that focus on this backward property of the song. NONE of the readings focusing on backward properties refer to interviews or statements by the band. These may exist, but I have yet to see them, and I have read a lot of stuff. So where is there any reason to believe that LZ wrote these lyrics backward?

Unless I corrected, when I see LZ "must have written the lyrics into the song", I read "I have no reason to believe this except I heard the lyrics when I played it backward, and only LZ could have done that, BUT REALLY, I HAVE NO OTHER REASON TO BELIEVE THIS EXCEPT ONLY THEY COULD HAVE DONE IT." (Sorry, but Typad comments can't bold)

So Brian, there's no systematic technique to do this and there is no reason to believe LZ did it.

You say, So LZ did this because it's more probable: "...it is much more probable that the artists who created the song put in the hidden lyrics than some unseen supernatural force did it." I gave you other options that don't involve supernatural entities, such as CIA mind control. Or for those so inclined, alien experimentation.

My point is that I have just as much measuremnet that supports CIA mind control as I do to support Satanic control. And for that matter, that LZ wrote the backward lyrics themselves. My point is that we have no evidence at all for any of this except our own gut feelings about what should be right.

Where I'm from, we call all this speculation, and speculation doesn't count for much. In fact, I'm willing to say that if someone can't come up with answers to my questions and you're not willing to accept Satan (my personal choice), the CIA, or space aliens, the only other real choice is that Stairway to Heaven played backward is jibberish and any meaning at all is in your imagination.

[rabideau]

Although Scott makes some good points, the fact remains that unless you are saying that satan himself has some how put the backwards lyrics in the song, which would as Brian said have brought the discussion into the realm of religious faith rather than analysis or critical thinking. Upon listening to the song backwards numerous times, there is little doubt in my mind that there are satanic lyrics that, even though you have to be listening closely to hear, are in fact there. Most people don't want to believe either side. They don't want to believe that the members of Led Zeppelin praise Satan and they don't want to believe that Satan has somehow possesed the song. So maybe it was all an accident or coincidence. But is there such thing as an accident or coincidence, especially an accident or coincidence as monumental as this? I would have to say no. The more likely arguement out of these two is that (although there is no proof) LZ did in fact put the lyrics in the song themselves. The arguement that you can barely hear the lyrics (although very few people are still sticking by it) isn't a relevant point either. If you were to put backwards lyrics in a song the fact is the backwards lyrics would not be very clear. To make them clear, the forward lyrics would have to be a bunch of jibberish.

[rabideau]

Although Scott makes some good points, the fact remains that unless you are saying that satan himself has some how put the backwards lyrics in the song, which would as Brian said have brought the discussion into the realm of religious faith rather than analysis or critical thinking. Upon listening to the song backwards numerous times, there is little doubt in my mind that there are satanic lyrics that, even though you have to be listening closely to hear, are in fact there. Most people don't want to believe either side. They don't want to believe that the members of Led Zeppelin praise Satan and they don't want to believe that Satan has somehow possesed the song. So maybe it was all an accident or coincidence. But is there such thing as an accident or coincidence, especially an accident or coincidence as monumental as this? I would have to say no. The more likely arguement out of these two is that (although there is no proof) LZ did in fact put the lyrics in the song themselves. The arguement that you can barely hear the lyrics (although very few people are still sticking by it) isn't a relevant point either. If you were to put backwards lyrics in a song the fact is the backwards lyrics would not be very clear. To make them clear, the forward lyrics would have to be a bunch of jibberish.

[rabideau]

I apologize again for the double post

[rabideau]

I, once again, must question Scott's sense of simplicity. Most of your arguements, although well thought out, have no real grounds. True there is no proof that LZ put the lyrics into the song, but how can you use that arguement and then go on to say that it must be satan putting the backwards lyrics into the songs. The technique for putting backwards lyrics in a song could very well be through trial and error. Try to think reasonably for a second here. You say that Led Zeppelin writing the lyrics themselves less likely than dark forces at work in rock and roll music. Come on Scott. We don't know Plant or Page, who knows, they could have sat and figured out words that sounded like satan backwards when sang a certain way. It isn't at all "obvious that the song wasn't written by a man." it is WAY more likely, using common sense as grounds for this arguement, that LZ wrote those backwards lyrics. To me Scott your arguement is based on nothing but your own personal belief. Your first point of how it would be too difficult to write a song backwards is an opinion. It is quite possible, although I'm sure it would also be quite tedious, to write backwards lyrics. And your second point (The amount of research that has been done on the song.) provides me with a new arguement. What if Led Zeppelin made a song with dual meanings, so that they could use their other meaning as a way to cover up the "secret" meaning to the song? That way they can 'till the day they die say that there are no satanic lyrics, or there was no intent to put them there. And it makes me wonder...

[Scott Sommers]

There are 2 points that I address. One is the deliberate nature of the act. The other is the technical feasibility.

I have no doubt that some bands WOULD write songs with demonic meaning in them when the song is played backward. Perhaps LZ is one of these, but I know very little about the personalities in the band. It is difficult (but NOT impossible)for me to imagine that they were clever enough to hide the fact that they did this from thousands and thousands of prying eyes, but let's suppose they did, there is still the problem of how they made the song.

The more important point is the technical feasibility of doing this. You have suggested that it could be done through trial and error. I still don't understand what this means. I would like to see someone deliberately write and record a song with meaning backward and forward.

And when you do this thing, let's play it backward along with another song that has no known backward meaning and see if naive listeners can tell your song's meaning from the song with no meaning. That would be the true test. In fact, we could even do that Stairway as a test of whether or not there is hidden backward meaning. Anyway...

In addition, there is the impossibility that they could have taped the songs through this 'trial and error' method without anyone else related to the procedure having even a clue that this was happening. LZ did not record the song by themselves. I call on all the LZ fans out there to tell me: by whom and where was the recording done? If they did not have complete control over this recording, how did it get recorded?

Remember, it is NOT anyone related to the band or the song who is making the claim that the LZ intended to write a demonic message backward into Stairway. It is NOT band members. It is NOT their friends, colleagues or confidants. It is NOT their music agents. It is NOT people involved in the recording of the music. As far as I can tell, there is not a single claim that comes from a credible source that this was done deliberately.

At least the people who say there is no message have consistency in what they say. They can even explain a logic concerning why you hear something that's not there.

Perhaps in making the argument for a Satanic authour, I was getting ahead of myself. Let's forget that I ever said the source of the lyric's backward meaning was Satan and take this one step at a time.

It appears impossible (not just difficult but impossible) for you explain a mechanism how any song (much less this song) got written backward and then recorded so the backward message was understandable, but not a single person involved in the process either knew about it and if they did has kept it secret for decades.

Agreed?

[Scott Sommers]

While you're trying to deal with the logic of my argument, try and deal with these facts.

1. Internet sources on the meaning of Staitway played backward have slightly different words than those claimed here.
http://pages.eidosnet.co.uk/johnnymoped/musicforthemasses/musicforthemassesthegreatestsongofalltime/musicforthemasses_thegreatestsongofalltime_facts.html
I sing because I live with Satan. The Lord turns me off — there's no escaping it. Here's to my sweet Satan, whose power is Satan. He will give you 666. I live for Satan. (these were the words presented in the California State Assembly)

Other transcriptions are given at
http://www.zentao.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/001511.html
(posting by Herfinnur)
All at war, here's t' my sweet Satan
No other made a path, for it makes me sad, whose power is Satan
He'll give those with him 666
And all the evil, it was there, they made our souls must have Satan

Yet Christians who tested the music claim they could not find any hidden messages in the music when they played it backward.
http://www.a-voice.org/qa/qa-music.htm

2. In an interview in Rolling Stone, Jimmy Page has been quoted as saying specifically that he did NOT write the words in backward.
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/1897/

First, let's answer the questions I have posed in the comment above. But after that, keep in mind that any explanation of embedded lyrics in Stairway to Heaven or any other song will have to explain these facts, as well.

[Jo]

I just heard about this thing today and me and my friend were listening to it and its reallly scary stuff! i dont know if i believe it or not because people just makes things what they want them to be all the time. I guess this is kind of like the subliminal messages in disney films right? It COULD of been an accident, but chances are that... its really not. So, im still not sure about this whole thing, but its soo freaky and cool at the same time. Led Zepplin ROCKS/ but man, if he worships satan... thats really creepy. I also heard that Led has had other things taht have made people think that he worships satan......

[Jo Shmoe]

I just heard about this thing today and me and my friend were listening to it and its reallly scary stuff! i dont know if i believe it or not because people just makes things what they want them to be all the time. I guess this is kind of like the subliminal messages in disney films right? It COULD of been an accident, but chances are that... its really not. So, im still not sure about this whole thing, but its soo freaky and cool at the same time. Led Zepplin ROCKS/ but man, if he worships satan... thats really creepy. I also heard that Led has had other things taht have made people think that he worships satan......

[Jo]

I just heard about this thing today and me and my friend were listening to it and its reallly scary stuff! i dont know if i believe it or not because people just makes things what they want them to be all the time. I guess this is kind of like the subliminal messages in disney films right? It COULD of been an accident, but chances are that... its really not. So, im still not sure about this whole thing, but its soo freaky and cool at the same time. Led Zepplin ROCKS/ but man, if he worships satan... thats really creepy. I also heard that Led has had other things taht have made people think that he worships satan......

[Jo Shmoe]

I just heard about this thing today and me and my friend were listening to it and its reallly scary stuff! i dont know if i believe it or not because people just makes things what they want them to be all the time. I guess this is kind of like the subliminal messages in disney films right? It COULD of been an accident, but chances are that... its really not. So, im still not sure about this whole thing, but its soo freaky and cool at the same time. Led Zepplin ROCKS/ but man, if he worships satan... thats really creepy. I also heard that Led has had other things taht have made people think that he worships satan......

[Jo Shmoe]

I just heard about this thing today and me and my friend were listening to it and its reallly scary stuff! i dont know if i believe it or not because people just makes things what they want them to be all the time. I guess this is kind of like the subliminal messages in disney films right? It COULD of been an accident, but chances are that... its really not. So, im still not sure about this whole thing, but its soo freaky and cool at the same time. Led Zepplin ROCKS/ but man, if he worships satan... thats really creepy. I also heard that Led has had other things taht have made people think that he worships satan......

[Scott Sommers]

At last: someone who makesome sense.

[Scott Sommers]

I take it that Brian and rabideau have conceded my point that there is no reason on Earth to believe that LZ placed these lyrics in the song on purpose. In fact, there is every reason to believe that they did NOT place the lyrics in the song on purpose. Even if I did accept this as a possibility (which I do not), it appears impossible to write a song like this.

Brian has accused me of raising spiritual matters in what should be a discussion of evidence. I have suggested other explanations that have an equal amount of evidence both for and against their truth value (in this case, none); CIA mind control experiments and alien influence. Both of you seem to have rejected either of these, or the multitude of equally true explanations, and continue to cling to the explanation that LZ is somehow behind the lyrics. Since you can not explain to me that the way they are 'behind the lyrics' is that they wrote them, I am left confused by what you think the connection is.

I am not the one who has discarded the need for physical evidence in this discussion. There are other ways of knowing things than measuring them like an engineer, but Brian and rabideau, you seem unwilling to accept that these are viable ways of talking about this problem.

Unless you can suggest answers to my questions, we have exhausted all the possibilities of conversation connecting backmasking in Stairway to Heaven and the motives of the members of Led Zeppelin.

[Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH]

"I take it that Brian and rabideau have conceded my point that there is no reason on Earth to believe that LZ placed these lyrics in the song on purpose."

Uh, no. Not quite. I certainly have done no such thing. I have conceded nothing. The human agent explanation still makes a lot more practical sense than your choice to believe in an unseen hand of supernatural of overweaning evil.

However, I am tired of discussing this topic which has pretty much run it's course and is slipping into religious tunnels. Scott, I am not Christian. I don't accept that Satan put the words there as these are belief systems that have nothing to do with me, I simply don't believe in Satan.

"I am not the one who has discarded the need for physical evidence in this discussion. There are other ways of knowing things than measuring them like an engineer, but Brian and rabideau, you seem unwilling to accept that these are viable ways of talking about this problem."

You have no more physical evidence that Satan put the words in and that is His voice we hear than I have for the band writing the piece without asking them and getting the truth from them.

I agree that we don't have to be engineers about this thing . . . but I don't think we have to assume it's Satan calling the shots before we eliminate any human element from the mix.

"Unless you can suggest answers to my questions, we have exhausted all the possibilities of conversation connecting backmasking in Stairway to Heaven and the motives of the members of Led Zeppelin."

I do believe in supernatural agencies, gods, goddesses, demons, devils, fae, the whole gamut . . . but I don't participate in any judeo-christian construct so the arguments have become irrelevant to me. I understand Christian argumentation, certainly more than most lay Christians as I did study the religion in a formal academic environment. However, it's not my religion.

If we must reject the obvious human-agent theory, then I would vote for Discordia, Eris, Khaelia, Loki, or Coyote before I would accept the Satanic influence despite the lyrics being "my sweet Satan" as the trickster interpretation makes a lot more sense to me than the diabolical hand of evil you choose to believe in.

I won't argue religion with a fundamentalist nor will I continue participating in this particular discussion unless there are points raised that interest me . . . the method of backmasking or other songs that have it.

The demons I believe in have nothing to do with Satan and the gods and goddesses I worship likewise don't exist in that particular tunnel view of reality.

Certainly, I will leave this page up for those who wish to contiue discussing it . . . but the topic has pretty much run its course for me. I've gotten as much as I'm probably going to get out of it.

[bob]

i reckon its done on purpose, and i love it, it makes the song 100 times better

[bob]

i reckon its done on purpose, and i love it, it makes the song 100 times better

[Scott Sommers]

Actually, I believe the usefulness of this discussion ended a long ago. As soon as it was accepted that ther is no reason to believe LZ put words backward into their song deliberately, it became a metaphysical discussion. And since no one seems willing to admit that and pursue that avanue, the discussion ended.

It is exactly my point that I have no evidence Satan put words backward into Stairway to Heaven. In fact, there is no evidence that anyone 'put' these words in to the song. So if that's the case, they were either put there by a supernatural force or it's all in your imagination. A third option, that someone put the words there deliberately, is easy to accept, but I'm still waiting for someone, even one person, to cite anyone claiming that they put those words there and explain how they did it.

I only see three choices here.

I have no trouble accepting that the demonic forces writing the backward lyrics could have the names you suggest. My point is just that once you accept there really is backmasking in some songs, it becomes an discussion of supernatural forces.

[Scott Sommers]

In case you're wondering, while I am a very bad typist, I'm not as bad a typist as this seems. I have a new keyboard and it seems to have a problem with the cursor. It jumps all over the place in the middle of typing, so that letters go missing and get stuck all over the place.

[Liset]

I think it's all nonsense. 'Cause I think when you hear "stairway" backwards, that it's sound a little bit like "satan".

[Liset]

I think it's all nonsense. 'Cause I have heared my own version backwards... and listen a few times to it,and I hear it a few times slowly. I this is my conclusion:
I think when they say "stairway" and you play that backwards that it sound a little bit like "satan". And they say something backwards what is a little bit sound like 666.

[joe]

just leave it all alone for fuck sakes it was over 20 years ago
quit trying to ruin 1 of the best bands to face this fuckin rock

[joe]

just leave it all alone for fuck sakes it was over 20 years ago
quit trying to ruin 1 of the best bands to face this fuckin rock

[joe]

just leave it all alone for fuck sakes it was over 20 years ago
quit trying to ruin 1 of the best bands to face this fuckin rock

[Jeff Posati]

After listening to the Stairway to Heaven backwards and clearly understanding all of those satanic messages, I decided to do a little research on Zep. I found that Robert Plant had ties with Timothy Leary who just so happens to be the founder of the church of Satan. Coincidence? I think not.