3 Rock Songs With a Secret Hiding in Plain Sight

These rock songs have secrets that hide in plain sight. You wouldn’t be able to understand them just by listening. They require a little bit of extra explanation. Learn more about these sonic easter eggs below. You might be surprised at the context they add to these songs.

“Empty Spaces” — Pink Floyd

Ah, the old backward message trope. Rock music was both ridiculed and celebrated in its 1970s heyday for ties to the occult. For some reason, that idea manifested as the notion of hiding backward messages in their songs. To concerned parents, this was a rocker’s way of sneaking in devil worship or something akin to it. To fans, it was a chance to dig into their favorite songs even more.

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Pink Floyd pushed back at both of those ideas in “Empty Spaces”. If you play the gibberish-sounding section of this song backward, you’re rewarded with the message: “Congratulations, you have just discovered the secret message / Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the funny farm, Chalfont.” This was a knock to conspiracy theorists on both sides, who constantly look at rock music as more than it is.

“Stormbringer” — Deep Purple

While the idea that rockers were sneaking in nefarious messages through backward vocals isn’t necessarily true, there are plenty of examples of bands doing tongue-in-cheek versions of that. Poking fun at that convention, Deep Purple once added in a backward vocal full of gibberish trying to emulate the demonic speech pattern of Linda Blair in The Exorcist.

This was a simple studio prank that ended up in the final cut. Sure, it’s not without its demonic nods, but it didn’t have the edge many concerned parents thought was commonplace in rock moments like this.

“Fire On High” — Electric Light Orchestra

Lastly, the final hidden secret in a song comes from Electric Light Orchestra‘s “Fire On High”. This track was the culmination of ELO’s anger that so many people were accusing them of hiding messages in their music. Instead of pushing back at the claim, they added their own playful backward track.

“The music is reversible, but time is not / Turn back! Turn back,” the message says when played the right way around. It’s a playful way to get back at the naysayers with the kind of edginess a rock band demands.

(Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

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