Man, I wish there was a way to pull up old threads. It was a very good and very insightful thread on here by some insightful cats. They were on the money with references P used to drop here and there during the early 80's (which are very obvious) regarding things satanic. Even in the 90's, it was brought up, during his "Gold" period. Shit I wasn't aware of. I've been told by people that knew P or had worked with P over time, that yeah, he DEFINATELY dabbled in the occult. I say this, if he didn't, he wanted people to think that he did. I've mentioned this a few times in the past that during the Controvery period, girls, especially black girls, thought for certain that P was evil. The album cover to Controversy gave them the straight up creeps. They said his eyes scared them. That he didn't "look" right in his eyes. Thus, that's why I certainly believe that's why he put his eye on the center of the record on the 1999 album. But yeah, many of u simply weren't around or wasn't into P during 80-83. So, u have NO idea what it was like when P was like he was during this period. So ya'll can't really defend shit ya'll know nothing about. It's TOTALLY different to have a dvd that contains the video Controversy or Let's Pretend We're Married and u watch it TODAY. As a oppossed to seeing it in 81 and 82 when it was fresh, during THOSE times and in that climate. Totally different impact. When the album 1999 was out, everybody KNEW that P was on to something "different". And it had, at times, a demonic slant on it. He blended in with some hard rock acts athat time that gave that vibe. But P, being black, stood out like a motherfucker when it came to other black acts at the time, that simply didn't give off that aura.

blackguitaristz said:

What you say is true, I remember spinning the song 1999 backwards on my turntable. It sure sounded like "He's dead, he's dead, Christ is dead". Try it, I may have had it wrong, but back then, it's what I heard.

But, now we have the advantage of 30 years of perspective. Prince is not evil and that was the question posed by this thread. You can't judge the guy by a small portion of his work. Did the evil overtones play well? Obviously, yes. Probably just what he needed to get his career going, but he's more than atoned for his doings, in my view. In fact, I think he's even less tempted to go back now because he knows he wasn't sending out the right message, so why pile onto a mistake. I respect the cat more than ever. He's trying to put out music that lives up to his rep, w/o returning to being the "pansexual deviant".

MarcelJ said:

Good points from both of you. Back in the day you could actuall take the "record" on the "record player" and spin it backwards to hear all of the crazy shit he had embedded in the music. My friends and I never took it as evil though...just REALLY FREAKY!!! Prince was EXTREAMLY freakly back then!!! Good Lawd!

blackguitaristz said:

Precisely. Your points are definitely dead on the money. Especially regarding the occult references with the eye sybolism. And yes, I have to agree that the early threads hidden some where in the archives really broke it down because I'm a witness and was there.

MarcelJ said:

I know that during a section of the song 1999, he does say "666", on another track under him chanting "1999". Which is an obvious play on the anti christs turning the cross upside down, if u turn the album cover upside down, u get 1999 into 1 666. I agree on the sense that P has long ago tried to atone for what he knew perfectly well he was giving off during the early 80's. What his reasoning for using it for back then, I don't know. If it was just for show or if it was sincere. I tend to believe it was both. i know that u can't "dance with the devil" or 'get in bed with the devil" and come out unscathed. satan doesn't GIVE u shit. It indeed is a trade off and you're going to have to "pay the piper" so to speak.

Now I'm scared.

DAMN PEOPLE, U ALL HAVE TOO MUCH FUCKING TIME ON YOUR HANDS

blackguitaristz said:

Absolutely. Eventually, you will have to pay the price. : That might explain in a article in the NYorker a writer wrote a article making an comparison between Dorian Gray and P. It was mentioned at HQ.http://www.newyorker.com/...frerejones
http://www.housequake.com...adid=83807
[Edited 6/25/07 21:38pm]

Prince Rogers Nelson
6 letters 6 letters 6 letters

There are also three 6's hidden in the 0(+> glyph...

Boo!!

Another thing that made many question where P was trully coming from was his excessive use of mentioning God in his music. NOBODY did that. He would mnrtion God's name and in the very same line, he would say 'motherfucker". On the Purple Rain tour, he would ask God, on stage, "would u take a bath with me?' To use God in a sexual text like that, is highly blasphemous. Period. I was a fan of Prince in the highest order during that period, and that shit made me very uncomfortable cuz I knew better. i knew that shit wasn't right nor was it cool. I felt bad for P cuz it came across like he was mocking God. In the same section of the show, he's having a conversation with God where God's voice is booming out of the speakers. That shit was so disrespectful. And he's doing this on the biggest tour of his career. I had seen P live on the Controversy and 1999 tour and I was so surprised he went this way on this tour. Many people spoke of this section and like myself, it put a weird vibe on what he was doing. Cuz it came across like he was spoofing God. It was really during this time that I started looking at all the little things I had already noticed that P was doing in his music and his pictures a lot more closely. I was no longer just "letting it slide". It all pointed in one direction. And these were things that were purposely planted by Prince alone.

blackguitaristz said:

Agreed. For years, I've questioned the inner turmoil/conflict/ hidden motive that was being this outright blasphemous shock tactic. It's also been unsettling to me from the get go. But being the forgiving soul that I am, I give this individual the benefit of a doubt and focus more so on the grooves and slow jams. After awhile, the novelty wears off and I have to take off my blinders and look at things realistic because of my spiritual convictions.

Another thing I had heard about years later was that satanists attached the color purple with satan. This was told by certain Christian sects. Like in this magazine The Christian Science. So taking that logic, in P's title "Purple Rain", he wasn't saying "rain" in the literal sense. But as in "reign". "Purple Reign". These were just rumors that were out in the late 80's especially. But I'll never forget that one. "Purple Rain" was code for "satan reign". That's not to far from what u said that u heard with "he's dead, he's dead. God is dead." I haven't heard that in the song.

blackguitaristz said:

I've also heard that as well. Well, if you remember in the song, I Would Die 4 You. He included the following lyrics," I'm your Messiah."

When it comes to backmasking, however, how many songs actually end up sounding evil? Sometimes those things seem to be coincedental rather than contemplatively conventional. Others, though, "Prince" is on his own. Can anyone tell me how "Little Red Corvette" sounded backwards? I heard that there was some controversy over this issue.

ifiwereadolphin said:

That's the very reason why u shouldn't post on these types of threads. Don't even open them up. This is a discussion forum on P and his music. These are elements that are part of P's history. Period. Nobody on here is saying or said that we know for a fact what P was or his motives. We're sharing experiences and personal thoughts on things. u can believe it or not, that's everybody's right. I'm pretty sure there is a GRIP of things that u think that I may believe is stupid as hell. So what? I'm not going to jump all scared and shit and to deal with it being uncomfortable with it, I try to justify it by some color by numbers comment like "You all have to much fucking time on your hands." There is an arguement to be made that your ass does too since you're on this site, player.

FarrahMoan said:

I'm hip to the art of backmasking. Which is totally different than recording a track backwards, like say a guitar solo, which I've done here and there. And yeah, Farrah, songs do tend to sound spooky when vocals and music have been treated by being reversed. The Beatles and Led Zeppelin were masters at this. P was no slouch either. Many of his tracks during 81-85 employs this. Even songs that he produced by The Time and Vanity6.

FarrahMoan said:

Not hip to Little Red Corvette though. What's happening on there?

blackguitaristz said:

You're right. Little Red Corvette is a new one. That slipped by me as well.

Well, if you guys read that "Rolling Stones" interview that he did in '85, "Post-Around The World in a Day", then you can see it being mentioned around in there somewhere, although it doesn't say much. It merely mentions the speculation over "Little Red Corvette" having occult references when being played backwards. The interviewer mentions this to which "Prince" responds with a simple chuckle, I believe.

attention, there is one thing i would like to say people...christ, IS dead.

he died on the cross. so hearing that backwards, don't make it evil.

blackguitaristz said:

I haven't tried it in years. I was so shocked at the time that I threw away the single (bought it many times over again). I'm pretty sure it's the part where he sings "say say, 2000 zero zero party over, oops out of time". Play that part backwards and experiment with the speed. Ask yourself this question, why "say say", why that line? It's "yes, yes" backwards. I seem to remember the rest sounding like, "he's dead, christ is dead" And, why do we have to "say" it? Why the chant-like chorus? Why this and the apocalyptic theme of the song? The two parts I remember having backmasking were the deep voice in intro and the "say say" part. I forget which said what and I'm honestly not in a big hurry to go hear it again. The shit freaked me out then and I'm not sure I want to hear it again now.

I think it was a puzzle, a game. I don't think he took it that serious and neither did those of us who noticed. I'm actually more surprised that period hasn't been discussed more on the org. Maybe it's the fact that album art is so small these days, compared to a record cover. Have you ever looked at the 1999 cover upside down. It looks like an arrow pointing down and 666. The arrow also looks like a penis and yes, there's something shooting out of it. The guy was really dabbling with some deep sex/religious/demonic themes. I think it's brilliant and a little scary, oh and probably the coolest synth record of the era.

mirrorrorrimage said:

Now YOU are freaking me out. lol

I never noticed the 6 letters in each name. Where are the 6's in the symbol (which also has 6 letters, as does artist, both of which he was referred as)? Can anyone verify?

Oh, and I agree now, dumb thread... Moving on...

Jakeasaurus said:

Man, u know,..you're the second person that I've heard say that. The phrase "old Nick" refers to satan. In the movie with Adam Sandler in Little Nicky, Adam has said that he wore his hair like P did during Purple Rain. After the song Darling Nikki, (old Nick), that's where P has his backwards hymm. "Hello, how are u? I'm fine cuz I know the Lord is coming soon. Coming, Coming,..soon. Ha,,ha..ha..ha.." Now the part that always disturbed me is WHY did P then laugh AFTER saying that? If he indeed did believe that, what's so funny about it? Notice P didn;t say I know that God is coming soon. But the "Lord". Many satanists refer to satan or Lucifer as lord. But there is only one GOD. And he's the only one that's refered to as such. It's interesting that P chose the word "lord" in that line, when in the past and after, he used the word God. Marcel, u mentioned that you're surprise that this isn't discussed more often on this site. I'm not. Many folks on here don't want to hear about this. For some, it's the first time that they've ever heard about it. But I know that there are others on here that HAS heard about it but just don't want to address it. There were some artists who were big in the late 70's and early 80's, many who were there at the We Are The World recording (that P for some crazy ass selfish reason, decided he wasn't going to take part of) could have seen P's huge success with a motion picture at that stage of his career as something "otherwordly". It was mentioned in rock mags of the day like Creem and Circus as very "Led Zeppelin-ish". Anyone who knows the rumour of Zepp and how they achieved their success will see the connection.

FarrahMoan said:

I do remember that issue and I have the issue. I don't recall anywhere him metioning Little Red Corvette.

MarcelJ said:

Yeah, I just mentioned about the 1999 is obviously 1 666 if it's turned upside down. That's just like him writing backwards "the revolution". That's letting people know that if you all see that then it MUST be other shit on there. And it is. As far as the intro goes, I've played the "Don't Worry" part in reverse. Never heard it say anything. Was not hipped to the "say say" part. I always wondered why he said it "twice".

I wonder what does Snap think of this?

When"Kiss" is reversed, within the within the first 30 seconds of the song playing backwards (during the part where Prince sings "You Don't Have To Be Rich To Be My Girl" at the end), you clearly hear the following: "Ssik" ("Kiss" said backwards sounds like "Sick"); You then hear Prince CLEARLY shouting "The Lord Is In My Life;" "The Lord is Coming Soon For You"

Everytime I play this song reversed it sends chills up my spine eventhough it's not a satanic message. But I can't help but wonder if and why would these artists do this intentionally?

In 1987 on the now defunct T.V. show "Eye On L.A. / Eye On America," the host Chuck Henry did a story on teens committing suicide after playing Vinyl records backwards. The most notorious albums that were played backwards were those by Led Zepplin, Megadeth, and Metallica (The same songs you guys talked about here were also mentioned on that show back in 1987).

It was when Chuck tested songs by Prince (and other artists) to see if there were hidden messages in his music, that I heard for the first time Kiss's hidden message.

Fourteen years after I saw Chuck Henry's report about about "Kiss", in 2001 a found a recording of it (from the "Under The Cherry Moon" soundtrack), copied it to my .... and I tested it for myself, reversed it, and sure enough I heard what Chuck was talking about ..... it freaked me out for days when I tried it .... I recorded it to a cd and quickly ran and told other people about it. I had even told someone about "Kiss" in a chatroom. That person just happened to have the song on his computer, and when he played it the way I suggested it (reversed through the sound recorder program), all he kept saying was "Oh my gosh...""Oh my gosh!" He was shocked out of his mind.

Again, what you here is "Sick"; and "The Lord is In My Life"; "The Lord Is Coming Soon For You"

In my opinion, if this was a deliberately intended, it is one heck of an eerie backwardmask to hear eventhough it's message is good (I think). And then as a Christian myself, I must question ... who is he calling "The Lord"? Is he referring to Jesus or Satan? --We may never know for sure this answer, but one thing I can speculate is this: It was rumored during the 1980's that Prince became a Christian after he'd been involved in some religious cults, (this is before he changed his name to a symbol and converted to being Jehovah's Witness) ...

Illustrator said:

MsLegs said:

I Would die for U is Prince singing as 'Jesus' I didnt read it as disrespectful I read it as a hommage to Christ. Prince being a messed up as he was at that time... I read it as his (Prince's) reassurance to himself.. re God's love etc.

FarrahMoan said:

I just tried it with Sound Recorder in Windows (had to convert the MP3 file to WAV first though).

Actually this is the scariest one!

Whenever the chorus plays, it sounds exactly like "Devil, devil is..."