Back Masking and Reverse Speech

Back masking and reverse speech are two interesting and different angles to view music from. Back masking is the intentional insertion of a reverse message. Examples of this can be found in "Empty Spaces" by Pink Floyd and "Fire on High" by ELO. Usually, in these cases, the original lyrics are indistinguishable, but when played backwards reveal a very clear message. In these examples, the messages are actually acknowledging their existence. In "Empty Spaces", the message starts with "Congratulations. You have just found the secret message.". In "Fire on High" it begins with "The music is reversible" I really like this technique and I think it adds something more to music rather than the sound it adds when played forward. Adding back masking to music gives an extra connection to the listeners. Reverse speech, on the other hand, is unintentional. Examples of this are Paul McCartney's "Band on the Run" and Weird Al's "Nature Trail to Hell". In "Band on the Run" one can hear "Marijuana, marijuana. The law, the law will banish us". Ironically, Paul was banished from going to Japan years later because weed was found in his suitcase. In "Nature Trail to Hell", "Satan eats Cheez Whiz" can be heard when the song is listened to backwards. This message doesn't seem too far fetched for a Weird Al song. I personally believe that most of these examples are made up. They are hard to hear when you don't have the supposed message in front of you. However, when you do read what it says, things seem very clear. This effect, I think, is psychosomatic like many "phenomena". However, certain examples of reverse speech could be conscious. For example, in several Beatles songs, references to Paul being dead are found in the reverse speech. This is because of the conspiracy surrounding him. Many people believed that he was killed and replaced with a look-alike in 1966. Because the band found this funny, they often put "clues" in their songs and album covers. In one song, at the end, John shouts "Cranberry sauce" which was later to be misconstrued as "I buried Paul". The most prominent clues, though,  were found in reverse speech. In "I'm so tired" gibberish while played forward can be heard as "Paul is a dead man. Miss him, miss him, miss him" backwards. These examples, I believe, were intentional. In many other songs, however, the messages seem bogus; especially those referencing Satan. In order to find these, the discoverer had to be looking for them . Presumably those who dislike the artist.  Many people, when they do not like something, feel the need to give it a bad name. Finding hidden satanic messages is one way to do that.

SSRS Throwdown: American Pie by Don McLean

[Intro]
A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while

But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step

I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died

[Chorus]
So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"

[Verse 1]
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now do you believe in rock and roll
Can music save your mortal soul
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues

I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died

[Chorus]
I started singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"

[Verse 2]
Now for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone
But that's not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me

Oh, and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned

And while Lenin read a book on Marx
A quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died

[Chorus]
We were singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry 
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"

[Verse 3]
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast

Now the halftime air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance

'Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?

[Chorus]
We started singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
And singin' "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"

[Verse 4]
Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the devil's only friend

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan's spell

And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
And singin' "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"

[Outro]
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play

And in the streets, the children screamed
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken

And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died

And they were singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"

[Chorus]
They were singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
And singin' "This'll be the day that I die"

Tone in Laurena Segura's "Permafrost"

Providing a tone of lonely regret, Laurena Segura, in her song "Permafrost" uses constant simile, arboreal imagery, and internal monologue to express her feelings of heartbreak. Feeling ignored, the speaker feels she is frozen and unnoticed. The song's emotion shifts as it goes on. In the beginning, the speaker feels desperate, but the desperation shifts to sadness, then to anger. The song expresses the speaker's thoughts in which she points out different events to shift her mood. Beginning with fiction, the speaker finds herself in the arctic, focusing only on her emotions, ignoring the events that occurred. Next, she begins recalling her experiences. She finds herself feeling lonely due to them. Finally, the speaker gathers herself and points blame. She begins to feel angry at her love interest for her loneliness and regrets her previous feelings.

When the song begins, the listener is immediately confronted with a simile that will extend throughout the song. The first line states "Sometimes I feel like I'm permafrost." as the song goes on, the speaker describes her feelings past that, mostly with the same simile. She continues with "alone in tundra and really lost" Later in the song, she describes her bus ride as "through the boreal forest and the winter frost.", after using normal terms leading up to that. the simile switches in and out a few times during the song, expressing her shift in mood. 

One of the biggest themes in this song is forests. The imagery is centered mainly around that specific area. The speaker uses permafrost as a symbol of herself, describing the tundra and cold forests as the song goes on. She states that "in the taiga everybody knows that you shouldn't wander where the hemlock grows" she puts a person's actions into a plant. The setting comes back when she says "you left my heart on the forest floor. The arboreal imagery is  a prominent theme in this piece. 

The story of this experience is told through a series of the speaker's thoughts. Her first person point of view is used throughout the entire song in order to express her experience to the listener. Recollections such as that in the verse beginning with "I remember when we rode the bus" are plentiful throughout the song. Through these thoughts, the listener is able to gather that the speaker is suffering from heartbreak. Point of view is necessary in order to hold this song together.

In this song, Laurena Segura tells a story of heartbreak and a feeling of loneliness. She expresses herself with a first person point of view,  shifting her tone from sad and heartbroken to angry and heartbroken. The speaker, by the end, is telling her person of interest that they are "such a waste of time" During this shift, the speaker uses devices such as simile, imagery, and point of view to reinforce her feelings. Meanwhile, a tone of lonely regret comes forth. 

Plagiarism in Song

Plagiarism, the act of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own, could be seen between Chiffon's "He's So Fine" and George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord".  When listening to both songs, one can clearly see the parallel  in notes between them. Harrison declared that he "wasn't consciously aware of the similarity" when he was writing the song. He did, however, acknowledge that they sounded the same. He asks himself "Why didn't (he) realize?.. It would have been so easy to change a note here or there and not affect the feeling of the record." When it was all over, Harrison was found guilty and had to pay $1,599,987 for his crime.

Hutchinson, Lydia. "George Harrison's 'My Sweet Lord' Copyright Case".  performingsongwriter.com


Though never addressed on legal terms, Radiohead's "Karma Police" can be compared- and has been compared by listeners to The Beatles' "Sexy Sadie". The similarity can be heard directly in the melody, and is too similar to be a coincidence. It shocks me that no action has been taken over the matter. Radiohead has never commented on the parallel, so no one knows if the sound was intentional or not. Perhaps the case will be brought about in the future.

Boston- Pink Floyd Binary Thesis

Expressing different themes in "Rock n' Roll Band" by Boston and "Have a Cigar" by Pink Floyd, the two bands tell similar stories of record deals and rise to fame while using contrasting tones of excited anticipation in Boston's song and bitter condescension in Pink Floyd's.

Los Campesinos!, an indie band formed in 2006, just released their newest album, "No Blues" this October. Most of the band's earlier music has a rough, punk tone to it, but as one listens to each album, they can conclude that a shift is being made towards indie pop. The lead singer, Gareth, says this is due to the events in his life. He writes around how he is feeling, like many other artists, and this can be seen very clearly through his work. Another cause of their new sound is the loss and gain of band members. No two musicians sound the same, so it is no surprise that what they produce will change. It is not uncommon to see fans get upset when an artist's style changes, but the transition Los Campesinos! is making is graceful if anything.

The album "No Blues" is very fun and upbeat; it might make the band a little better known. A Budweiser commercial using their song "You! Me! Dancing!" gained them some fans, but seeing as their new sound caters more to what seems to be the current demand, I predict that they will get a lot more. "Avocado, Baby" seems to be their most popular song of the album; the fondness could come from its prominent mix of previous tone in lyrics and current sound, or its music video. The video was done in one continuous shot, which is hardly ever seen. Los Campesinos!'s music in this album mixes modern instruments and a positive tone with often grotesque or simply unexpected lyrics. While the tone is becoming more mainstream, their music is still very original. It is hard to compare them to any other band. This album is definitely worth listening to if you are looking for something fresh and new.  

Ampersand analysis

Lyrics

Projecting the feeling of anxiety, in "Ampersand", Amanda Palmer uses internal monologue, morose imagery, and persistent contradiction to convince herself that she is "not the one that's crazy" The beginning of the song describes Amanda's experience with cat callers. Later in the song, no events identify the individual as much as in the first verse. This detail allows the possibility that the song is about her cat caller. The events could be true, but Amanda could be lost in thoughts of hypothetical events induced by her anxiety. The main cause of this feeling, as pointed out by the song, is her lack of desire to be in a relationship.

Throughout the song, Amanda narrates her surroundings and feelings. The song is introduced with her walk home. Automatically, the listener is confronted with an unsettling feeling. Amanda describes her surroundings as "cold and violent." As she  calms down, she is "comforted by the approaching sounds of trucks and sirens." However, just as she was beginning to feel better, she is catcalled. This gesture throws her into a train of thought, describing hypothetical events with one of her harassers. Amanda fabricates their lives together, narrating everything that happens.

Amanda's state of anxiety is set into the listener with her morbid imagery and general language. The first example of this shows up when her significant other "calls into question how authentic" her wounds are. As well as imagery, this piece reiterates the theme of  Amanda's sanity, or lack thereof. Other quotes, such as "your eyes full of ketchup" make the listener feel the intensity of her message. She's "not the one that's crazy" In fact, the opposite can be displayed when Amanda brings up the fact that "nobody deserves to die,/ but" he was "awful adamant/ that if" she "didn't love" him, then he'd "have just one alternative."

Amanda believes that she is the sane one in her relationship, so she feels the need to remind the listener, or her significant other, or herself, every chorus. The fact that she continues to say this, makes the listener feel that she is unsure of herself, or anxious. This uncertainty carries over to the listener as well, as she backs this up with evidence. She repeats that she is "not the one that's crazy" five times throughout the song, instilling the same feeling as throughout the rest of the song.