Are There Hidden Satanic Messages in Stairway to Heaven?

I’m sure some of you have heard about the supposed backmasked Satanic messages in Stairway to Heaven’s lyrics. Backmasking is a recording technique in which a message or sound is recorded backward onto a track that is meant to be played forward. It can be traced all the way back to Thomas Edison who invented the phonograph in 1877. Edison thought that music in reverse sounded very interesting and made note of it.

Stairway to Heaven allegedly has an ominous message hidden in the following passage:

‘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.’

When played in reverse this is what can supposedly be heard by some…

‘Oh here’s to my sweet Satan. The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan. He will give those with him 666. There was a tool shed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.’

Back in 1981 a Michigan minister named Michael Mills announced on Christian radio that Stairway to Heaven contained backmasked Satanic messages. Bear in mind that this allegation came ten years after the song’s release. Was there any wisp of this backmasking before then? Actually; rumors of these covertly placed messages began in 1975 when the Zeppelin began to plummet. Once Robert Plant and his family were involved in a bad car accident while on holiday in Rhodes Greece, talk of the Zeppelin Curse began to circulate by word of mouth. That event was one of the main triggers for other things like the backmasking story.

It makes you wonder how all of this would have tracked in the internet age. Would the story surface only to be squashed by it going viral and then negated online? I suppose that’s neither here nor there but perhaps the slow progression of such a mystery and the time it had to percolate might have given it the necessary oxygen to flourish. The exact origin of the backmasking story will never be known but it could very well have been a genius marketing ploy. The band’s trailblazing manager, Peter Grant, was a master marketer and knew the power of word of mouth.

Just because I’m approaching this from an occult perspective doesn’t mean that I necessarily believe in the hidden messages as they are highly questionable. I’ve listened and feel that the mind can definitely trick you into hearing things that aren’t really there. I think I heard some of those words but because I read up on it ahead of time my interpretation has been tainted. You can find it online; let me know what you think. The bottom line is that this backmasking story is out there and that feeds the myth. It’s a piece of the foundation however faulty it might be.

If you find the backmasking connection questionable then the overtly occult lyrics of the song Houses of the Holy might help you change your tune. My take on it is in bold between the verses below. It goes into areas beyond the scope of this book but you’ll understand where I’m coming from. As always; it’s just an interpretation- accept or reject as you see fit.