Rock-and-Roll was first used (1951) by Alan Freed, Cleveland disc jockey, taken from the song "My Baby Rocks Me with a Steady Roll". The use of rock, roll, rock and roll, etc., with reference to sexual intercourse, is traditional in blues, a form of popular music that evolved in the 1950's from rhythm and blues, characterized by the use of electric guitars, a strong rhythm with an accent on the offbeat, and youth-oriented lyrics. A form of popular music arising from and incorporating a variety of musical styles, especially rhythm and blues, country music, and gospel. Originating in the United States in the 1950s, it is characterized by electronically amplified instrumentation, a heavily accented beat, and relatively simple phrase structure.

Rock-n-roll obviously isn't anything new. As stated above, it's roots stem all the back to the 50's and even before then. The decline in our moral standards have been on the down-hill since then.

Music in general is okay, but it's the music that ungodly, unholy, deceitful and basically plain "Trash" that makes us say and do things we shouldn't do. So when the kids of the world go crazy, just think of what "Feeds their minds" daily.

Okay, lets get into our study!

Many people laugh and scoff at the ideal that Backmasking or Subliminal messages in music or movies are real. However, with the latest technology, recording machines can now play music backwards or slow down movie frames. The results and proof are here for you to hear and see for yourself.

Key Scripture:

Hosea 4:6 -- "My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge ....."

II Corinthians 2:11 -- "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."

What type of affect does music have upon people? We will take a close look at music (in particular rock music) from the perspective of truth, as defined by both the Scriptures and the Person of Jesus Christ. We will explore rock's relationship to sex, violence, suicide, drugs, rebellion, and most importantly, the occult.

The information that we are about the share has been carefully researched and documented. All quotes were either taken from the artists own writings, rock magazines, biographies or reference books. This is not about the personal slamming of musical artists; it is not an attempt to discredit the musical abilities of these entertainers. It is merely bringing to light the darkness behind the hidden agenda of the music itself.

Rock music has become a multi-billion dollar industry. The National Review recently described it as "the most prosperous industry in the world". And the music is found literally everywhere from crowded arenas to TV commercials, from movie sound tracks to television theme songs, from health spas to overhead "muzak" on elevators. The world seems to be marching to its rhythm.

The only thing more notable than rock's pervasiveness is the manner in which it helps shape the hearts and minds of the worlds' young people. Nearly every young person today is affected in some way by rock's sound -- from the way they dress to their views on the key issues of life.

And is it any wonder? Kids today wake up to it, drive to it, play it, study it, and go to sleep to it. Studies reveal that the average teenager will listen to and watch 11,000 hours of rock music or view rock videos -- more than twice the time they will spend in classrooms.

Below is a video that explains where "Rebellion" comes from and starts in the lives of our children and sadly, us adults too, see if you agree!

What is really alarming is that most parents (Christian and non-Christian alike) either don't know or do't care about what messages are filling their children's minds, or even their own minds if they are listening to it, too.

There are many different ways in which music can affect us. We will now take a look at one of the most prominent methods:

Subliminal Techniques

The word "subliminal" means hidden, beyond the conscience, something that is not perceived by the conscious mind, and is taken in through the subconscious mind. <

The topic of backwards-recording in music often presents itself. Especially in rock and electronic music, artists use these "back-masking" techniques and sometimes are accused of using them to subliminally influence their audience. It is very easy to record vocals or any other sounds backwards into music; artists that use computers or samplers can accomplish this with the press of a button. Vocals or other noises are simply recorded as usual and then flipped around backwards by the computer to be embedded "unintelligibly" into the music. Some argue, however, that it is still intelligible enough for your subconscious mind to pick up on it.

An interesting note about back-masked words is that they can easily be disguised in other sounds such as crashing waves or lapping water, blowing air or wind, cars driving by, or other ambient noises of that nature. In this clip, a note on the guitar was simply played in the background to help blend the voice into the music. This process and can be done just as easily with analog audio equipment as on a computer, and to a degree, can be mimicked in human speech. It is much harder to do, but words can indeed be back-masked phonetically.

Messages transmitted through rock are varied: sexual perversions, revolt against the existing order, insinuation of suicide, stimulation to violence and murder, and finally, dedication to the Devil.

A subliminal control signal without words is biologically and psychologically transmitted to the physical organs of the body through the syncopated beat rhythm which, as previously mentioned, especially affects sexuality. Another means of control is the strobe (flashlight effect) which is connected to the music and drastically reduces the abilities of orientation, judgment and reflex. Notably, moral judgment is diminished, substantially facilitating the intake of subliminal word messages.

Men are helpless against these techniques. Here are some examples: "Fire on High" by the Electric Light Orchestra "Face the Music album", played backwards: "Music is reversible, but time is not. Turn back". The Beatles' song "Number Nine" played backwards: "Turn me on dead man!" (an obscene expression against Christ).

There are probably thousands and possibly millions of different albums out there that contain backwards lyrics. Some bands do this openly, as in Masterhit by Front 242 on the Backwards Masking web site. Pitch Shifter, a band known for incorporating technology into their music, also includes backwards sounds in their songs and has been doing so for years. On their 1996 album Infotainment? they even go so far as to include two tracks of featured back-masked lyrics.

The first track, "Introductory Disclaimer", begins with a voice explaining, essentially, that a subliminal message is about to be played. It then proceeds to play soft, waving string music in which the words "Pitch Shifter are good: Pitch Shifter are our pals" are embedded somewhat conspicuously. The second occurrence, "(Harmless) Interlude" on track six, contains the same lyrics and music. In contrast to this open display of back-masking, the band Judas Priest was taken to court for allegedly using subliminal lyrics to urge their listeners to commit suicide. Metallica, another metal band, has supposedly embedded words phonetically into their songs. This had been well documented at a web site called Acillatem, but it has unfortunately disappeared from the web. In any case, back-masking exists and humans should be aware of what all is possible in audio production.

There are a number of books that have been published by psychologists and neurologists in which they have done years of study on the use of subliminal techniques in the advertising business. One book is called People Persuaders. Another book is Subliminal Seduction. It should be noted that these books are written by secular authors, not by Christians.

One study done in the late 1950s was a study of the movie/film industry. One film cell was inserted at a particular place in the movie (a single film cell that the eye would only see for 1/32 of a second) which read: "HUNGRY ... EAT POPCORN". The movie had no reference to popcorn, or any food. The film cell was inserted in one copy of a popular movie of that day. When the movie was shown to 42,000 people in various theatres around the country, it was recorded that the sales of popcorn at theatres showing that one altered copy of the movie increased by 72%. At the theatres with the unaltered prints of the film, popcorn sales remained the same as usual; no increase. (Referenced to in Time magazine, September 10, 1979, page 71, "Secret Voices").

In the 1970s, a popular rock group called Cheap Trick released an album called "Heaven Tonight".

One of the albums's songs, titled "How Are You", was proven to have a subliminal message in it. The words went like this ...

"I heard your voice, and I could not stand it.
You talk too much, you even scare my friends."

At this point, they put in the backwards subliminal message, which was the Lord's Prayer. You might be thinking ... the Lord's Prayer, what's wrong with that! But after the Lord's Prayer, these words are heard: "You lie, you lie, you lie!"

Can you see what they have done here? The song speaks of a person who is a Christian, who talks of the things of God (in this case, the Lord's prayer). The message is: "I hear you talking about God. I can't stand it. You're even scaring my friends. But you lie, you lie, you lie!"

Many times, Christian kids are scared to share their faith with others because they are afraid it will scare away their friends. Is it any wonder they feel this way? Satan, in this particular song, has fed many children (those who are Christians and those who are not) with the poisonous negativity of Godly Scriptures, pertaining to the Lord's prayer, teaching our children to rebel against God through subliminal messages.

THE BEATLES

The Beatles had a song entitled "I Am the Walrus". At the end of the song, there is some sound effects that say "oompa, oompa, oompa, oompa" over and over again, many times to get you used to the sound, and then they fade the sound effect out. With the music still playing, the sound effect is reinserted with the same music, but words have been added to say: "smoke pot, smoke pot, everybody smoke pot" over and over. Plus they refer in the song to Hari Krishna. As most of us know, the Beatles were the beginning of the "British Invasion", paving the way for such groups as the Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, and countless others who have influenced the minds of the last two or three generations.

If their were any questions about weither or not John Lennon was into the occult or satanism, look at the symbol he's flashing in this picture with the rest of the group. It makes one wonder if John's death latter in life could have be attributed to his involement in the occult word....I'm quessing YES it did. It's been known that once satan uses you, alot of (Occult members end up dead.)

A Press Officer for the Beatles "Derek Taylor" said of the Beatles:
"They're COMPLETELY ANTI-CHRIST. I mean, I am anti-Christ as well, but they're so anti-Christ they shock me which isn't an easy thing."

"I believed that he (John Lennon) was Satan himself at times" George Martin, Beatles Producer

"Jesus, a garlic-eating, stinking little yellow, greasy fascist bastard catholic Spaniard." John Lennon, A Spaniard in the Works, p.14)

"Christianity will go, it will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that. I'm right and will be proved right. You just wait.. . .We're more powerfull than Jesus ever was.." Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me." John Lennon

Music and sound can affect the physical world in some pretty amazing ways! For example, research has found that shrill sounds of extreme volume can congeal proteins in liquid. To illustrate, an egg placed in front of a speaker at a loud rock concert could become hard-boiled mid-way through the concert! (The Day Music Died, Bob Larson Ministries). I call this the "microwave affect", because it cooks it from the inside out.

The same affect can be demonstrated through other objects. Repeated experiments have shown that plants respond positively to clasical music, growing and flowering faster than if there was no music at all. On the other hand, music such as heavy metal, actually slows down the growth or even kills the plant.

And then there is the affect of rock music on the mind. Studies have found that rats have a much more difficult time learning to pass through a maze if they are subjected to rock music.

And who could deny music's power on our emotions? Its ability to influence moods is one of music's greatest attractions. It changes our consciousness.

In 1981, musician David Crosby told Rolling Stone magazine that his music could alter his audience's value systems and steal them away from their parents. And in 1969, the late Jimi Hendrix told Life magazine, "I can explain everything better through music. You hypnotize people to where they go right back to their natural state, and when you get people to their weakest point, you can preach into their subconscious what you want to say".

Oscar-winning composer Eddie Manson summed it all up: "Music is used everywhere to condition the human mind. It can be just as powerful as a drug and much more dangerous, because nobody takes musical maniuplation very seriously".

Music reaches the greatest heights of power and influence. Even the word "music" suggests something spiritual. It comes from the root word "muse". To the ancient Greeks, "muses" were spirit beings who were responsible for the inspiration of all art. And today, many people still feel that musicians are "inspired by spiritual forces".

Artist Joni Mitchell was described by Time magazine in this way: "Joni Mitchell's own strongest creative impulses come to her in a somewhat unusual way. She deeply believes in a male muse name Art who lends her his key to what she call the "Shrine of Creativity" (Time magazine, December 16, 1974).

Guitarist John McGlaughlin gave an even more startling description: "One night we were playing and suddenly the spirit entered into me, and I was playing but it was no longer me playing" (Circus Magazine, April, 1972).

THE PLASMATICS

I'll end this week's lesson on a shocking note. On the last song of The Plasmatics album "Coup d'etat", the late Wendy O. Williams sings an inaudible segment of the song. It's a short section, and you can't understand the words. But when the song is played backwards, it is a message that is very clear to understand. The message says:

"Consenses programing is dangerous to your health. The brainwashed do not know they are brainwashed."

Sadly, these might very well be the most true words ever recorded in rock music.