Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Stairway to Heaven Backwards Update

I have been pretty excited about the traffic my Stairway to Heaven Backwards page has been generating lately. It has been getting just under the 5000 mark for the last three days. In honor of the high hit count, I have decided to post a few of the comments that I received about the page lately. I am also thinking about creating a place for comments on the actual page.

I suppose I should mention that I am posting these messages verbatim so those of you with delicate sensibilities may find the language in one of the posts offensive.

"Hello..

My name is Haukur and I live in Iceland. I just saw your flash thing on stairway to heaven and I think it's awesome. How in the world did they do that? So I was wondering if you have the rest of the backwards lyrics in text that you can e-mail me? If you could then that would be great.

Thanks in advance..."

Well honestly I don't know how Led Zeppelin did that, or if they even did it on purpose. I did try reading the forwards lyrics myself and playing them backwards and the backwards recording did sound like the same message you hear when playing the song backwards.

I don't know the rest of the backwards lyrics in other places in the song so I couldn't tell you. Sorry.

"Hi

I have just heard and seen the backwards thing that you made about the song Stairway to Heaven. I have heard these things too but not to the extent that you have showed. There is another part in the song where the lyrics go "your stairway lies on the whispering winds." I have heard this to say "I smoke weed for Satan" when you play it backwards on the record. There are supposed to be other parts but that is the one that stuck out to me when I heard it. You did well on this. Except on the lyrics part you have them wrong. They go "there are two paths you can go by" you have "there are two paths you can go back." No big deal. But I always try to tell my friends about this and they never believe me so I will send them a link to it. Thanks a bunch.

BEN"

Thanks for the update. I'll double check to make sure I have the right lyrics and update the page when I am back in Lethbridge.

"hey man i dont htink thats real cause the lyrics bacwards dont match it fowards there completely different and where the fuck did 666 come from dude its not right..u need to stop telllin ppl fake shit and stop makin up this stuff"

Actually I have to admit I did make up the "reverse lyrics". I based them on what other webpages said you were supposed to hear and what I, myself, heard. I realize that a lot of people only hear the message when they click on the show reverse lyrics button and play it but nevertheless it makes one think about the power of suggestion and how people hear what they want to, or in your case I guess you don't hear what you don't want to.

"im not one to say anything is fake or done for kick's but my curiosity of listening to this a few times i have to know how did you find out how to reverse it and what besides what you said gave you the idea to do this. i mean i am a "led zeppelin" fan non-the less but like i said its odd how for a song called stair way to heaven it has satantic writings. i mean exactly how would someone figure something like this out?.

sincerly.
misa,16"

Well Misa, as far as this being fake, it is what it is. The fact is that when you play parts of Stairway to Heaven backwards, it sounds like there are satanic messages. Now whether or not the messages were intentional is an entirely different story and frankly it makes no difference (that is just my opinion though).

You said something along the lines of how odd it is that a song called Stairway to Heaven has satanic messages in it. I do not think it is actually that odd. Now I am no expert so what I am about to say is mostly opinion. If I remember correctly the song is about Lilith (Adams first Wife in Hebrew Mythology). The lyrics are pretty ambiguous but they tell a story of a lady (notice she is never called a woman - this is significant if you read about Lilith) who is trying to get to heaven. Here is the first stanza:

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
And when she gets there she knows if the stores are closed
With a word she can get what she came for

So instead of getting to Heaven through Christ (as Christian religion teaches is the only way to heaven) she is trying to buy her way to heaven with money. This is sort of alluding to the story of the Tower of Babel in that the people in that story are building their way to heaven. But when she gets to Heaven the stores are closed. I would have thought the word "doors" would have been more appropriate than "stores" nevertheless I guess "stores" emphasizes the idea not only that the doors are closed but also that you cant buy things in heaven. She does know that a password will get her what she wants. I guess the lyrics imply that there is a special word you need to say to get into heaven.

There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
And you know sometimes words have two meanings
In the tree by the brook there's a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven

Frankly I have no idea what the sign on the wall is referring to. It is obviously some kind of message or rules (considering that's what most signs are). She is uncertain, however, as to the meaning of the sign. Words having more than one meaning could be in reference to the fact that if you play the song backwards you will hear messages but more probably it is just the fact that a lot of times the rules or instructions in life (especially coming from religious sources) are often very confusing. Remember this is all just opinion. The songbird who sings in the tree by the brook also alludes me. I guess a songbird could be a messenger or perhaps an angel - either way the lyrics read that sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven so whoever or whatever the songbird represents we might not understand correctly anyway. Again perhaps in reference to the fact that words have more than one meaning.

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 trees
And the voices of those who stand looking

Well here is my attempt at this stanza. If the song is about Lilith then maybe looking to the west is her looking back on Eden from her new home East of Eden after she was ousted from the Garden for being a bad helpmate to Adam. Her spirit is crying for leaving Eden and she remembers the smoke through the trees (smoke in Old Testament times was often symbolic of the smoke from the cleansing power of god and as such used in burning altars). The voices of those who stand looking would be the Gods talking to Adam in the garden.

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 long
And the forest will echo with laughter

I would guess that this is talking about how if we all are good believers that Christ will come to earth and lead us to truth. The new day is the millennium and those who stand long are those that never give up their faith. The forest echoing with laughter is a return to Eden.

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now
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 on

This is the section of the song that when played backwards sounds like satanic messages. If there's a bustle in your hedgerow could be talking about the wicked people of the earth and the spring clean might be the cleansing of the earth both by water (the Biblical story of Noah and the Ark) and by fire (John the Revelator's explaination of what's going to happen before the Second Coming). The two paths you can go by are symbolic and allude to following the path God has set out for us or following a path set by Lucifer. Even in the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on. I guess this means you can go ahead and procrastinate the day of your repentance - a different message than you would get from most pastors' points of view.

Your head is humming and it won't go because you don't know
The piper's calling you to join him
Dear lady can't you hear the wind blow and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind

So if all of this confusing you it's because you don't know what is right. The piper's calling you to join him (still assuming this is Christ calling for you to repent). The lady, Lilith, has her stairway on the wind - not a very solid foundation to say the least.

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our souls
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll
Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a stairway to heaven

So as the artists make their way through life, the road that they chose is leading them to darkness not light. Our shadows taller than our souls. The lady we all know is probably Lilith - shining in white light and showing how everything that glitters is gold. She is however only imitating God. That's the whole point of the song. The Stairway to Heaven is an imitation created to make you think you can make it to heaven on your own. The tune will come to you at last - it will all make sense one day when all people have united in the one true religion and the rock coming down the mountain will be a solid foundation (not to roll). I think he's implying that following the path he's chosen is the right one, but remember the point of the song is imitation. Lilith is still buying a stairway to heaven.

Not that I believe any of this.

posted by Jeff Milner at 2/17/2004 12:22:00 PM