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August 2019

The Dark Side of Music:

The Battle for the Soul

2nd Corinthians 10:3-5, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds:) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”.

 Every believer needs to recognize their battle is not against those they live with in their daily life.  They need to know their battle is a warfare with Satan, and his principalities and powers.  It is a war between the power of God and the powers of darkness.  These forces of darkness use the power of music to corrupt the hearts of the masses.

 God has called his people forth to meet the adversary in the gate; to stand in the hottest place of the battle, and sustain the whole fire and artillery of the enemy.  The battle is the Lord’s and so is the victory.  The good news is God has given us mighty weapons to counter satanic attacks and influences.  All people are born into a world war of good against evil.  God’s Word, reveals that while this war is fought in many areas, our fight is ultimately “not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).  Normal, physical weapons are to no avail in such a battle.  We need weapons of righteousness.

 We are trained and equipped by God to complete our assigned missions in that battle (Psalm 144:1; Ephesians 6:10).  Paul refers to the instruments God equips us with as “weapons of righteousness.”

  The Word of God is the sword God has provided us.

The Devil is in the Music:

Heavy Metal Encourages Teen Suicide

 It is important to understand that our warfare is not carnal.  God exhorts us in 2nd Corinthians 2:11, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

 According to the book, “The Emerging Generations”, the average teenager consumes 6 hours a day of rock music!  It is their most devoted companion.  It’s their teacher, preacher, and guiding light!  It dictates every detail of their life — from what the wear . . . to what they believe!

Dr. Alan Bloom, in The Closing of the American Mind, writes:

 “It is their passion; nothing else excites them as it does; they cannot take seriously anything alien to music.”  (The Closing of the American Mind, p. 68)

  Rock music is more than just music — IT IS THEIR LIFE!

If you think rock is still — “I want to Hold Your Hand” — you’re in for the shock of your life!

 Since the late 2000s, the mental health of teens and young adults in the U.S. has declined dramatically.  That’s the broad conclusion of a new study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.

 Between 2009 and 2017, rates of depression among kids ages 14 to 17 increased by more than 60%, the study found.  The increases were nearly as steep among those ages 12 to 13 (47%) and 18 to 21 (46%), and rates roughly doubled among those ages 20 to 21.  In 2017 — the latest year for which federal data are available — more than one in eight Americans ages 12 to 25 experienced a major depressive episode, the study found.

 The same trends held when the researchers analyzed the data on suicides, attempted suicides and “serious psychological distress” — a term applied to people who score high on a test that measures feelings of sadness, nervousness and hopelessness.  Among young people, rates of suicidal thoughts, plans and attempts all increased significantly, and in some cases more than doubled, between 2008 and 2017, the study found.  God warns us that the devil only comes to steal, to kill and destroy.

 “Better by You, Better than Me” is a song by the English rock band Spooky Tooth.  The song was covered by heavy metal band Judas Priest.  Judas Priest’s version of the song was the subject of a much-publicized “subliminal message trial”.  The band were the subject of a civil lawsuit alleging their recording was responsible for the suicide attempts of two young men in Sparks, Nevada.

  Judas Priest were involved in a civil action that alleged they were responsible for the 1985 suicide attempts of 20-year-old James Vance and 18-year-old Ray Belknap in Reno, Nevada, U.S. Vance and Belknap became intoxicated before going to a playground at a Lutheran church in Reno, Nevada placed a 12 gauge shotgun under his own chin and proceeded to shoot the weapon, dying instantly.  Vance followed but survived the self-inflicted gunshot wound with a severely disfigured face.  He died three years later after an overdose of methadone administered by hospital staff.

 Vance’s parents and their legal team, headed by Nevada attorney Ken McKenna, subsequently alleged that a subliminal message of “do it” had been included in the song.  They alleged the command in the song triggered the suicide attempt.  The three-week trial was watched closely by the music industry and constitutional lawyers.

 The trial was also the subject of a documentary entitled Dream Deceivers: The Story Behind James Vance vs. Judas Priest.  In the documentary, Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford commented that if the band were so inclined to insert subliminal commands into their music, messages commanding their fans to kill themselves would be quite counterproductive; from the band’s perspective it would be much more practical to insert the command “buy more of our records”.  Regarding the plaintiffs’ assertions that the statement “do it” was a command to commit suicide, Halford pointed out that the phrase “do it” had no direct message to do anything in particular.

 Comedian Bill Hicks referred to the case in his stand-up routines, asking “What performer wants his audience dead?”  He performed a sketch mimicking Judas Priest being sick of their wealth, power and fame and coming up with the subliminal message as a solution to their problems.  Comedian Denis Leary also commented on the trial on his album No Cure for Cancer, saying heavy metal bands should put more subliminal messages in their records: “Kill the band, kill your parents, then yourself”.

 It is important for God’s people to expose the alleged backward Satanic messages in rock music.  God’s people need to know how to cast down imaginations, and  every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of  God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.  And this obviously includes making people aware of the dark side of music.

 Jacob Aranza wrote a  book entitled Backward Masking Unmasked.  In the chapter called “Which Way Are The Eagles Flying?”  Jacob Aranza condemns  the  southern California group as “occultic”  [sic] and as “having had dealings with members of the Satanic church.”  He claims their song “Hotel California,” an ode to devil worship, contains this startlingly formal backward message: “Yes, Satan organized his own religion.”  As Aranza denounces subliminal messages that encourage everything from homosexuality to marijuana use, he cites the usual suspects — Zeppelin, Stones, Sabbath — as well as such unlikely ones as Hall & Oates (“They often impersonate women and attempt to come across to their audiences as women”) and the Bee Gees (“Robin Gibb confesses to he hobby of pornographic drawing”).

Backmasking on the Brain

 What makes  backmasking — especially the Satanic-related stuff — seem quaint today is the plethora of malevolent songs by death metal bands who put their messages front and center. To see what I mean, click around at random on the death metal archive site http://www.DarkLrics.com. Yikes.

 In tribute to the golden age of back-masking, here are three of Aranza’s top offenders:

Led Zeppelin — “Stairway to Heaven”

The Eagles — “Hotel California”

E.L.O. — “Fire On High”

 Aranzas’ book about the history of not only backmasking, but backwards recorded sound in general began with Thomas Edison.  After inventing the phonograph in 1877, Tom noticed that music in reverse sounded “novel and sweet but altogether different.”  In the early 1950’s, avant-garde musicians began incorporating that difference into their compositions. They ran reel-to-reel tape recorders backwards, and presto — the unsettling sound of a hundred little Hoovers sucking up a melody and lyric.

 A decade later, The Beatles pushed backward sounds into the mainstream with such songs as “Rain” and “Tomorrow Never Knows.”  Later, their audio reversals came back to haunt them with the Paul is Dead rumors.  But that’s a topic for another day.

 The back-masking–Satanism connection can be traced to a 1913 book by mystic Aleister Crowley, who recommended that those interested in black magic would do well to “learn how to think and speak backwards.” Sixty years later, Led Zepplin guitarist Jimmy Page moved into Crowley’s old mansion.  To borrow one of Aranza’s pet phrases: “Coincidence?”

  As Aranza points out in the “Stairway To Heaven?” chapter, Zep’s classic tune is full of backward messages like: “So here’s to my sweet Satan.”  And such words corrupt impressionable minds.

Backmasking on the Brain

 At BibleBelievers.org.au: Alen Gourley writes “Satanism is known to practice the backwards expression of messages and so it CAN NOT be considered coincidental that the use of subliminals and back-masking find themselves at home with the Rock music and disco scene.

 At ChristianBibleStudy.org.  Their website contains an anti-semitic essay which has a section describing rock and roll: “But one of the most dangerous and insidious aspect of jungle noise is the use of a technique called Backtracking.  Hidden messages are introduced into the recordings in reverse.  These are just noise to the conscious brain but they are descrambled by the subconscious and can alter and shape behavior and promote destructive habits; often unknown to the listener.”

 At DemonBuster.com:  They write: “If we are weak in our convictions, our moral values can be changed subliminally by suggestion in rock music, TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, posters, billboards, etc. One form of subliminal message is the sub-audio suggestions on rock records saying: Communism is the perfect form f government; hate your parents; you are n good; commit suicide; kill others; take drugs; they taste good; your parents hate you; police are pigs; and the whole world is crooked.”

 End Times Links: Bro. Joe writes: “For the past thirty years science has known that subconscious (subliminal) messages are recorded and understood by the human brain. Even if these communications are garbled or spoken backwards (back-masking), with repetitive listening, they still pass on information that is remembered.  The Devil, being acutely aware of this fact, is using Rock music to transmit messages which keep people in bondage to him.  Some Rock groups have become open mediums for the Devil and therefore subconsciously receive satanic inspiration for their lyrics and music which reveal the ultimate meaning of their songs.”

 At Knowledge of Islam: This is an Islamic website which contains an anti-Masonic essay.  It asserts that the Masons control the U.S. music industry and insert subliminal Satanic messages into sound tracks.  “…the listener may be unaware that [their] subconscious mind can pick up and understand the messages…in the long term these can be stored in the subconscious mind and may actually effect the person’s behavior or judgment.  In many ways back tracking is a form of hypnotism or brain washing and has the power to be very destructive.” 

 At Ross Olson’s Website: Dr. Olson is a conservative Christian whose website deals with social issues. He comments: “There is the real possibility that the subliminal suggestion may include appeals to demonic powers if the results truly include such supernatural phenomena.  If a person can be influenced without his conscious knowledge, then children may also be influenced by environmental factors without making conscious decisions. Today some Rock music has taken a real turn toward the occult and Satanic.  Perhaps these groups started the trend as a publicity stunt, but many have gotten deeply into occult symbols and probably practice.”

 At BibleStudy.org lists a book “Ravaged by the New Age:  Satan’s plan to destroy our kids,” by Texe Marrs.  The reviewer comments: “He thoroughly documents the dangerous, secret messages in kids TV shows, cartoons, movies, comic books, fantasy games, toys and even coloring books.  You’ll also discover the demonic designs behind Rock and Roll and the hidden, subliminal messages in Satan’s New Age “mood” music.”

 So here’s a list of some of the more infamous back-masking messages —

 Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”  The first time I heard it was when my best friend first played this record backwards.  The eerie crackling helped to set the mood, but when the words “Here’s to my sweet Satan” echoed through the speakers, I thought he said “Santa” and started to laugh and ruined the mood.  I hated this song for years.

 Styx, “Snowblind”  If you play this song backwards for about 33 minutes, you’ll finally understand the hidden message:  “Satan moves through our voices.”  Yet it still didn’t move me to buy the band’s album.

 The Beatles, “Revolution 9” During my back-masking heyday, I played my aunt’s Beatles album backwards just for the hell of it, so imagine my surprise when I heard: “Turn me on, dead man…  turn me on, dead man…  turn me on, dead man.”  Talk about scary.  I still shiver when I hear Paul McCartney’s voice.

 Slayer, “Hell Awaits” Slayer didn’t need to jump on the back-masking wagon, and I didn’t need to listen to their hidden message — “Join us” — over and over to purchase their 1985 album.  I was hooked as soon as Kerry King raked his pick across the strings of his demonic guitar.

 Soundgarden, “665”  Some enthusiasts claim that when Chris Cornell used, “I love you Santa, baby; Santa is my king” as his hidden message, he was simply parodying other Satanic bands who hid messages from the dark lord in their lyrics.  Joe Dirt, an elderly custodian who sometimes travels with the band, claims that the rock star meant to say “Satan,” but he just pissed off the wrong sound mixer.

 Marilyn Manson, “Tourniquet” “This is my lowest point of vulnerability,” explains Manson when you play this song backwards.  It’s an unusual message.  But never fear, Manson is notorious for back-masking other messages, from “I’m gonna kill you, kill yourself, kill yourself” in “Dope Hat” to “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world” in “Revelation #9”

 Judas Priest, “Better By You, Better Than Me” “In the dead of the night, love bites” is just one of the infamous messages spewed by Judas Priest.  A different hidden message, “Do it” led to the band standing trial in 1990, after two young men committed suicide, allegedly prompted by the band’s message.

 Pink Floyd, “Empty Spaces” “Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message.  Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny Farm, Chalfont.”

SHOW ME HOW

 Frank Zappa, “Hot Poop” (Originally “Mother People”)  “Better look around before you say you don’t care / Shut your f___ing mouth ’bout the length of my hair / How would you survive / If you were alive / Shitty little person?”  After hearing these words as a teenager, I quit cutting my hair and stayed locked in my room for a month, questioning the meaning of the labyrinth that spirals around all things. I never did find the answer.

 Cradle of Filth, “Dinner at Deviant’s Palace”  Listening to the Lord’s Prayer backwards would send you straight to a fiery stake in the days of the Puritans.  Today, it simply conjures a horde of demons to whisk you away to the local McDonald’s for another round of Happy Meals.  I’m still not sure which is worse.

Music as a Social Control Mechanism

 David Bowie in Rolling Stone magazine (February 12, 1976), stunned the music world, when he stated:  “Rock has always been THE DEVIL’S MUSIC . . . I believe rock and roll is dangerous . . . I feel we’re only heralding SOMETHING EVEN DARKER THAN OURSELVES.” (Rolling Stone, February 12, 1976)

“I can explain everything better through music.  You hypnotize people and when you get people at their weakest point, and you can preach into their subconscious what we want to say.” — Jimmy Hendrix

“I realized that music got through to youngsters because the beat matches the natural rhythms of the body.” — Frank Zappa

“Never was there an art form directed so exclusively to children…the music business is peculiar only in that it caters almost exclusively to children” — Dr. Alan Bloom

 “Scientists are finding that the human brain is pre-wired for music.  The brain seems to be a sponge for music and like a sponge in water, is changed by it.” — Newsweek Magazine

 “When the mode of the music changes, the walls of the city shakes.” — Plato

 “Music directly represents the passions of the soul.  If one listens to the wrong kind of music, he will become the wrong kind of person.” — Aristotle

Printed with permission of Today, The Bible & You located at P.O. Box 1722, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 74013, Phone No. (918) 279-1136. The name of the original article in the August 2019 issue of Today’s Front Page was “The Dark Side of Music: The Battle for the Soul”  www.JohnBarela.com