Use And History Of Song Backmasking Music Essay

Use And History Of Song Backmasking Music Essay Each one of us has his/her favorite song, different bands, and different genres. And upon listening to music, it gives us inspiration, relaxes our minds and let us release our emotions and tensions. But would you believe that in some music we hear and every song that we sing, there lies a hidden message that lies within its lyrics and sound. And the process of discovering those things is called Backward Masking or usually referred as Backmasking. It is done by playing a song reversely or reading the lyrics backward. A. History of Backmasking Song Backmasking began in 1966 when the band, Beatles used it in recording their album, Revolver (Sullivan, 1987). Album tracks like Tomorrow Never Knows, Im Only Sleeping and Rain were the songs that have used techniques of musique concrà ¨te in recording (Mugan, 2006). Musique Concrà ¨te is an avant-garde form of electronic music which involves editing together fragments of natural and industrial sounds; and the concurrent spread of the use of tape recorders in recording studios(White, 2007). After the Beatles used backmasking, artists in time also used it for enhancing the both analog and digital recording of their tracks, by producing comedic and satiric effect. Some artists used backmasking to censor some words and phrases for clean release of sounds (Sullivan 1987). II. Uses of Backmasking A. Satanic Backmasking Satanic Backmasking involved classic rock songs, but composers of these songs denied any intent to promote Satanism. Some bands use Satanic imagery just for commercial use, one of these is the trash metal band, Slayer. The band used it in their 1985 album Hell Awaits (UGO Networks, 2009), in that album a deep backmasked voice chants repeatedly Join us. But the bands vocalist, Tom Araya said that they used it just for solely for effect (Hellqvist, 1998). Also the band, Cradle of Filth used Satanic Imagery, and released a song entitled Dinner at Deviants Palace, that song consists weird sounds and reverse reading of the Lords Prayer (Corbin). B. Subliminal Messages Fundamentalist Christian groups said that Satan use music to influence people with the use of Subliminal Messages. Subliminal messages backmasked into rock music influence its listeners to commit crime (Pastor Gary Greenwald). In 1982, Minister Jacob Aranza wrote a book entitled Backward Masking Unmasked, in that book, it explains how backmasking is used to open the subconscious mind and introduce its listeners to Satanism and drugs (Holden, 1983). The subconscious mind is being successfully affected by the repetition of beat and lyrics being affected through a subliminal message (Mills, 1981). B1. Influence of Subliminal Messages Because of these subliminal messages, crimes had been committed. Serial killer Richard Ramirez, said that AC/DC music and he specified that the song Night Prowler on Highway to Hell provoked him to commit murder (Watkins). David John Oates, a reverse speech advocate said that the song Highway to Hell contains backmasked message Im the law, my name is Lucifer and she belongs in hell (Von Ulrich, 1997). Angus Young of AC/DC stated that You didnt need to play (the album) backwards, because we never hid (the messages). Wed call an album Highway to Hell , there it was right in front of them (Young and Young, 2004). In 1990, two men in Nevada committed suicide because of the songs of a British heavy metal band, Judas Priest. The lawsuit of their family stated that the 1978 album Stained Class contained a hidden messages , including a forward subliminal message Do it in the song Better By You, Better Than Me. The judge dismissed the case due lack of sufficient evidence of Judas Priest place ment of subliminal message on the album (Vokey). The members of the Judas Priest stated that if they insert subliminal messages in their song, all of their fans have died and instead of doing that, they would prefer to insert a subliminal command Buy more of our records (Van Taylor). C. Backmasking used for critical and too explicit message Another use of song backmasking is for critical or too explicit messages in a soundtrack. Frank Zappa is one example of artists who used backmasking to avoid critical or too explicit message. He used it in his song Hot Poop from his album, Were Only in It for the Money released in 1968. The side A of the album contains a backmasked message Better look around before you say you dont careà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦/ Shut your fà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.king mouth bout the length of my hairà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦/ How would you survive / If you were alive / Shitty little person? . The verse originally came from the song Mother People, and was censored by Verve Records, so Zappa edited it, he reversed it, and insert in his album as Hot Poop (Pacholski). D. Backmasking used for Aesthetics Another use of backmasking is for aesthetics, which means to enhance the meaning of a track (Blecha). During the subliminal message trial of the band Judas Priest, its lead vocalist, Rod Halford admitted the recording of words In the dead of the night, love bites backwards in the song Love Bites that came from the album Defenders of Faith that was released in 1984. In an interview, he was asked why he recorded the message, Halford answered that When youre composing songs, youre always looking for new ideas, new sounds (Zwerin, 1999). Related from this technique is to reverse a whole instrumental track. Vocalist of the band Beatles, John Lennon wanted to do it in their song Rain but their producer, George Martin and bandmate, Paul McCartney disagree with him and cut the backward section to 30 seconds (Stevens, 2002). E. Backmasking used for Humorous and Parody message Backmasking is also used for hiding comedic or parodical message backwards in a song. In 1966, the B-side of Napoleon XIV s single Theyre Coming to take me Away Ha-Haaa! is a reverse version of the record entitled aaaH-aH, yawA em ekat ot gnimoC eryeht(Anonymous). Pink Floyd puts a backmasked message in the song Empty Spaces from 1979s The Wall, Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny Farm, Chalfont/Roger! Carolynes on the phone! /Okay. This message refers to Syd Barrett, the former lead singer of the band who is thought to have suffered nervous breakdown years earlier (Patterson). F. Backmasking used for Censorship Backmasking is also used for censorship. It is used to censor words and phrases deemed inappropriate on radio edits and clean album releases. One example of this is The Fugees clean version of the album The Score it contains various backmasked profanities (Nelson, 1998), when the album is played backwards, the censored words are clearly heard in the backward gibberish (Anonymous, 2006). For example, the word shit, after it was backmasked it would give a sound ish, as a result ish became a euphemism for the word shit (Rader, 2002). III. Artists that were accused using Baskmasking According to Blecha, Arar, Poundstone, Deusner, Tetley and Searcey these are the artists who used backmasking: Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Electric Light Orchestra, Queen, Styx, AC/DC, Judas Priest, The Eagles, The Rolling Stones, Jefferson Starship, Black Oak Arkansas, Rush, Britney Spears and Eminem. Electric Light Orchestra or commonly called as ELO was accused of hiding satanic backmasked message in their album, Elorado that was released in 1974, the song entitled Elorado was said to contain the message He is the nasty one / Christ, you are infernal / It is said were dead men / Everyone who has the mark will live (Poundstone, 1983). Way back 1981, Styx was also accused of hiding a backmasked satanic message Satan move through our voices on their song Snowblind from their album Paradise Theatre (Holden, 1983). James Young, guitarist of the Styx, called the issue rubbish and stated that, If we want to make a statement, well do it in a way that people can understand us an d not in a way where you have to go out and buy a $400 tape player to understand us (Hoekstra, 1983). The famous of all is the Stairway to Heaven, 1971 song of the band, Led Zeppelin, the backward playing of a portion of the song results to a message Heres to my sweet Satan (Milner). The recording company, Swan Song Records gives a statement regarding the song, Stairway to Heaven, they said that Our turntables only play in one direction-forwards (Davis, 2007). And in an interview Robert Plant, vocalist of the band, Led Zeppelin denied the accusation, he said that To me its very sad, because Stairway To Heaven was written with every best intention, and as far as reversing tapes and putting messages on the end, thats not my dea of making music (Considine, 1983). IV. Comments of Society regarding the song Backmasking Christian Groups Christian websites have stated that backmasking is widely used to promote Satanism (Robinson). Dial-the-Truth Ministries, the web page of the Albama group argues for the satanic backmasking that lies in the song, Stairway to Heaven of Led Zeppelin saying that the contains a message, Its my sweet Satan Oh I will sing because I live with Satan (Watkins). Bible Believers, an Australian Christian group , quoted a statement from Backward Masking Unmasked, a book written by Jacob Aranza, about William Yarrolls proposal regarding the psychological effect of music to the subconscious: In the base of our brain, there is a check valve commonly known as Reticular Activating System. The left side of our brain is logical while the right side is creative, if the left side of our brain cannot decode the meaning of the strange word or phrase, the right side which is the creative one takes over and the message is acknowledge and stored. Parent Music Resource Center The Parent Music Resource Center is a committee formed by the American Government in 1985. Its main purpose is to increase parental control to the music selected by the children which may trigger violence and sexual suggestive (Anonymous). Dr. Joe Stuessy testified to the United States Congress at PMRC in 1985: Lyrics in some heavy metal music may be converted to subliminal, sometimes lower tracks are mixed with louder tracks and these lower tracks are heard by the subconscious mind and not the conscious the process of doing this is called backmasking. There is a disagreement between experts regarding the effect of subliminal. We need more research on that.

Lincoln High School

For most students at Lincoln High School, today is no different than any other regular school day. For me however, it’s the day I’ve been looking forward to for over a month. Today is the day when our hard work during numerous evening rehearsals pays off. Today is the day when the hundreds of hours put into making costumes, building the set, and intricate make up designs are displayed. Today is the day we open the show. One by one the students filter into the theater room. For the first evening performance, call is at 5:00, but by the time I’ve arrived at 4:30 room 220 is already filled with students busily preparing for the show. Costumes begin to disappear from the costume closet and a thin layer of powder and cream makeup appears on the counter. I manage to squeeze my way through the mob of people standing around, chatting, applying makeup, or curling hair and find myself a wonderful seat in front of the mirror. As I sit down I’m overcome with a thick, chocking cloud of hairspray. Over the next hour students slowly transform into their characters, no longer the same people who walked through the door earlier this evening. The director enters and shouts â€Å"Twenty minutes until show!† Myself, and everyone one else in the theater room echoes in response, â€Å"Thank you twenty!† You can almost feel the level of excitement rising. The chattering gets a little louder. Soon after the announcement, the cast gather around the tables and began to stretch. The chattering dies down, and I begin to reflect over what we’ve accomplished over the last month and a half. Five minutes until the show starts. Everyone circles up and join hands so the seniors can continue on the tradition of â€Å"The Energy Circle†. â€Å"Are you ready?† Everyone replies in their stage whisper, â€Å"Yeahhhhh!† â€Å"Then let’s get ready to rumble!† The wave is started around the circle. It goes around once, twice, and than dies out. It’s time to report to our places. As everybody waits, cramped in the wings of the stage, my mind begins to race with questions. What if I forget my line? What if I miss a cue? My thoughts are intercepted with the dimming of the lights. Black out. Everyone quickly, but quietly gets into their opening position and freezes. The lights come up, and the show begins. Time starts to fly by. We are performing the show better than at any rehearsal. Before I know it I’m taking a bow. The crowd is cheering wildly. The lights go out and the cast exits off stage. Only moments later, the senior dip begins to fill with parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends. I am overjoyed to see some of my friends, and immediately I am bombarded with hugs and positive reviews. Soon, people begin to pull away from their family and friends because there are duties and chores that need to be taken care of before anyone can leave. Costumes are gathered, neatly hung up and the makeup grime is wiped off of the counter. The floor is moped, the tables are cleaned, and the chairs are pushed in, ready for students in class tomorrow. The room is spotless, and we are allowed to go home and rest to prepare for another show tomorrow night.

Sexuality and Gender in the Therapeutic Relationship

Sexuality and gender in the therapeutic relationship There is a minefield awaiting the counsellor who has not given much time in the study of gender issues in the therapeutic relationship. When we enter a room to see a client, we are encouraged to bring ourselves as a complete person, so we can create a relationship with the client, and thus facilitate the changes he/she needs. To bring ourselves into the relationship we bring all aspects of our identity including our sexuality and our sexual hang-ups and our pre-conceived gender notions. In spite of the fact that we are in a post-Victorian, post Irish catholic guilt, post free love time. We all carry the accumulated burden of our forefathers, educators policy makers and others. Firstly being male or female dictate how we deal with any situation. Whether its talking to our mothers to opening a can. Our gender and how we perceive ourselves in it informs our view of the world. If we look at the profession itself as a whole, counselling is defined by gender. Simply put there are more female counsellors than male by a huge factor. Also there are many more female clients than male. This tells us volumes. The profession is a caring one and is top heavy with those whose gender attract them to the caring professions. This puts a gender bias on all that psychotherapy does. Also the predominance of female clients can put the few male counsellors on their guard. This is because the person sitting opposite us in the room is our client, but also is a woman, with physical attributes and a subject of attraction to the male counsellor. Counselling is a one-to-one relationship that exists between two humans in which one is the focus ant the other is the companion or guide. The sex of the two protagonists is probably the first aspect that will impress upon either one. â€Å"The client coming for the first time might already know that she or he will be seeing a man or a woman. She might have certain expectations as result of this knowledge, for example she might expect a woman to be gentle and supportive and a man to be more judgemental and confrontational. † Palmer (1997) Therapy will tend to be dominated by the structures that society imposes on both the counsellor and the client. Once the therapist is aware of this here are two ways he/she can go. First they can try to act as if they are a â€Å"tabla rasa† or blank slate and be as neutral as possible and hope that by being counsellor first and a sexual being second. This is guaranteed to be a failure, primarily because the blank slate idiom is aspirational and not very practical. Also it goes against concreteness as the therapist will not be â€Å"there† in any real sense and wil l not function in any valid person centred way. The other alternative is â€Å"Explicit treatment†, which put gender issues at centre stage of therapy. This requires a clear understanding of the gender position of both protagonists in the therapeutic relationship. The dynamic between both is not a static situation as the initial meeting causes automatic reaction in the therapist. For example when faced with an attractive female client a male counsellor may think. â€Å"Nice smile, good legs† or â€Å"not pretty†, etc.. This gives way to â€Å"Good speaker, Lovely laugh,. † Then the presenting problem is aired and it would be hoped that the â€Å"skilled helper† mentality kicks in. But the societal hooks have dug into the therapist and may affect his relationship with the client. So until gender is expressed in some way it is hidden and can surface in an unhelpful way. There are many ways that this can be expressed. If part of the problem is self confidence issues, there would be a perfect lead in to a confidence boosting â€Å"You see yourself as ugly but you are an attractive woman with a strong personality. † for example. If the client dresses attractively it may be how she always dresses, perhaps as armour against the world. When people begin to see a counsellor they often see this as a new beginning and the attractive dress of the client might be an expression of her â€Å"newâ€Å" personality, making a strong effort to face the world more robustly, and to leave it uncommented on might do harm to her new-found confidence. Also it may be simple transference, so this should be explored in the therapeutic relationship. Other Gender Issues In our world we are also subject to the â€Å"Dominant Discourse† of our society. These are the system of statements, practices, and structures that share a common value and sustain a world view. It is so easy to let our societies be reflected in the therapy room, especially how we view gender. The best way to insure that society's dominant discourses do not alter the desired â€Å"shape† of therapy is to make gender issues explicit in the therapy dialogue when relevant to the discussion. Explicit treatment can lead to reconstructions of the dominant discourses or at least an opening up to alternative discourses. We make assumptions when we meet clients, Housewife, business man, etc.. The male therapist may feel pressured to â€Å"fix† his female clients â€Å"problems† A female therapist may feel the need when dealing with a male client to display a very strong nurturing role and may avoid challenging her client into action. Conversely the therapist may, when facing a powerful man with attitude to match may become businesslike and direct because that is what society tells us to do when we â€Å"do business†. Same sex client and counsellor can be a problem too. Two people, especially if their backgrounds are similar, can collude with one another and not challenge if the therapist is not aware of the human tendency to let a cosy cartel of collusion to develop between two people of the same sex. There also may be a frisson between two people of the opposite sex and may cause an unease between them just because they are the opposite sex and carry whatever societal burden is imposed on them. The above attitudes are â€Å"static† and can be monitored and adjusted if the counsellor is aware of their presence and their effect can be lessened by self examination, supervision and personal therapy. But there is a more insidious side to gender issues. This is a â€Å"fluid† attitude change. If a male counsellor has been out for a game of rugby with his friends he could have a more â€Å"macho† base to his personality than if he has recently left the embrace of his loving wife and family. This could affect his dealings with a client. How we interact with our fellow man is affected by our experiences immediately before meeting them. An incident while driving may put us in an emotional state where our patience with the opposite sex may be compromised. There is an unfortunate side effect in the way society loudly defines our gender and how it manifests itself. We can become so preoccupied by our gender and the its affect on us in the counselling room that by being careful about how it affects us that we cease to be effective in our dealing with another human. AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW Janet Shibley Hyde of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has reviewed evidence from studies on cognition, communication, social and personality variables, psychological well-being, motor behaviours and other variables. She has turned all these aspects of gender in to one â€Å"meta survey† and came to the conclusion that fully 78% of the much vaunted differences between me and women are small or close to zero. (Hyde, 2005). There are 3 main areas of difference. Sexuality – in particular attitudes to sex in uncommitted relationships, Aggression – Men are usually the more aggressive . Motor performance – Men are better at throwing, jumping, running and such. So why are we so hung up on our differences if there are so few between the genders? Society has painted them in lurid colours and made us believe they are intractable. Perhaps it is not our position as men or women, but our position as humans that looks for differences that are not there, to define us as people. It also reminds us that rather than accuse the nebulous â€Å"Society† of putting a bias on our view of other humans we should remember that we are society ourselves. As Hyde puts it â€Å"It is time to consider the costs of over inflated claims on gender differences. Arguably, they cause harm in numerous realms, including women’s opportunities in the workplace, couple conflict and communication, and analyses of self-esteem problems with adolescents. Most important, these claims are not consistent with the scientific data. † Hyde (2005). Also there is the concept of gender as limiting rather than defining. Judith Butler (1956-) is Professor of Comparative Literature and Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley, and is well known as a theorist of power, gender, sexuality and identity. In her most influential book Gender Trouble (1999), Butler gave the history of feminism, a much vaunted alternative to the common view of gender, and argued that they had made a mistake by trying to assert that ‘women' were a group with common characteristics and interests. That approach, Butler said, performed ‘an unwitting regulation and reification of gender relations' — and reinforced the simplistic binary view of gender, albeit from an alternative view. If there are only two sides then no matter what side we choose we still support a simple binary view. Rather than opening up possibilities for a person to form and choose their own individual identity, â€Å"masculinism† never did it and feminism has closed the options down. Butler argues that sex (male, female) is the cause of gender (masculine, feminine) which is seen to cause desire (towards the other gender). Butler's approach is basically to destroy the supposed links between these, so that gender and desire are flexible, unmoored from biology and not 'caused' by other stable factors. Butler says: ‘There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender; †¦ identity is performatively constituted by the very â€Å"expressions† that are said to be its results. ‘ Butler J. (1999) . In other words, gender is a performance; it's what you do at particular times, rather than a universal who you are. In the counselling room we may be victims of this binary problem. CONCLUSION As I read back over this essay I find that I have no personal recognisable stance on the issue of gender and sexuality. Perhaps I have had the fortune to be brought up in a liberal, forward thinking household and am less affected by society’s strictures. But alternatively I may be carrying around significant biases but not realise it. Also, if Hyde is right, I may be carrying around biases for differences that in the main part do not exist and this essay is a figment of my own imagination, an illusion that I share with the rest of humanity. And if I carry such a burden, the all of my fellow human carry similar ones so perhaps they cancel each other out. If we are to be real in the counselling room and we subscribe to Ms. Butlers ideas that unless we are careful to separate from gender we continue to perform the dance that we have been trained to do for millennia. BIBLIOGRAPHY Palmer Stephen, McMahon Gladeana, (1997), â€Å"Handbook of Counselling† page 272, Routledge. New York. Hyde, J. S. (2005). The gender similarities hypothesis. American Psychologist, 60(6), 581-92. And 590. Butler Judith (1999) â€Å"Gender Trouble† p 25. Routledge New York

Essay about Analaysis of Healthy Food You are What you Eat

When was the last time you walked into McDonald’s and chose to order a Garden Salad instead of a Big Mac? If it has been a long time, do not worry; most people cannot even remember what their last healthy meal was. In fact, if you had a Big Mac someday just one month ago, that would make you only the 27 billionth person to bite into a juicy robust beef patty back at the moment. Ironically, this vast number of junk eaters is not aware of the health-wrecking decision they take when they stop by McDonald’s for lunch one day after another; or is that not the case? Are people really unaware of how a single mouthful of fast food contains a handful of chemicals that can literally deteriorate their health? Although the majority of people blame†¦show more content†¦It is called personal responsibility, and right now, people are tailoring it into whatever fits them best. Take for instance, the people of America. Schlosser states in his best-selling book, â€Å"Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music – combined† (n.d., para. 5). This reflects how commonplace fast food has become in the society that is has almost possessed an air of inevitability. It is true; the spread of fast food restaurants is accelerating, but it is not their spread over the globe but their spread among individuals that is alerting. After all, they only exist because people want them to. The fact is that fast food restaurants are constantly outweighing their costs with benefits, and it is saddening that fast food consumers are not doing the same for their own health. In addition to the lack of personal responsibility, even the least sensible amount of determination among people is missing. Today, the majority of people believe all they owe their bodies is a full stomach even if what they are having is a bite into obesity. One of the reasons it is illogical to put the entire blame on fast food restaurants is that, each and every one of these food-selling businesses have a healthy section in their menu. The fact that the average person flips the menu over to make a pick