Creepy!

I remember hearing about the backward Led Zeppelin lyrics when I was really, really young. I clearly recall watching some sort of TV program that featured parents talking about how concerned they were about their children being influenced by "Satanic Rock Music." To demonstrate, they played Stairway to Heaven backwards on a turntable. At the time, it sounded very scary to me. (Keep in mind that I was the sort of child who would have nightmares after just watching a commercial for the Exorcist coming on TV.) For some reason, that song became ingrained in my childhood psyche, and for a number of years I could not listen to Stairway to Heaven (forward) without getting frightened.

Of course my older brother delighted in playing the song over and over again to torture me. Later on, it was one of the first songs he learned to play on his bass guitar, so I was very much tormented.

I don't know...I'm grown up now, but the song still freaks me out a little bit.

(On a related note: The reverse lyrics to The Beatles' "Help!" are actually pretty funny.)