A puzzling series of oblique symbols has appeared on Radiohead’s official website, leading some fans to speculate that the band are using a secret code to drop hints about their next album. Which seems an overly-elaborate scheme: can’t they just send out a Myspace bulletin like everyone else?
Anyway, the fanciful notion that musicians, in their higher wisdom, can communicate profound truths via mysterious hidden messages, beyond the ken of mere mortals (for which read, non-fans), is one that stretches back through rock history...
New Order
Etched into the matrix of the fifth pressing of classic 12” single Blue Monday was the legend “WHERE’S MURDER?” And, on the flip-side, “I SAID WHERE’S MURDER?” A chilling Satanic incantation? Er, no. It was merely a nerdish reference to New Order obscurity Murder, which was only released as a single on Factory Benelux. Ooh, spooky.
The Beatles
Psycho cult leader Charles Manson believed The White Album was a coded message directed at him alone, spelling out an impending apocalypse, which he called Helter Skelter. Detectives who arrived at the scene of the LaBianca murders (the night after the more famous Tate murders) found that one of Manson’s crazed followers had scrawled “Healter skelter” in blood on a fridge door. Insane and dyslexic then.
Led Zeppelin
Check out this Youtube clip in which some desperate nerd - sorry, dedicated fan - attempts to prove that, if you play Stairway To Heaven backwards, you can hear Robert Plant muttering about Satan. Specifically, “Sad Satan’s little tool shed.” Eh? Are we talking about the Antichrist or Alan Titchmarsh here?
Coldplay
That X&Y cover: just a load of random coloured blocks, right? Actually, it’s a defunct form of telegraph communication, a sort of proto-Morse code, developed by Emile Baudot in 1874. Within the liner notes you’ll find a chart explaining how to translate the symbols on the cover. And the answer is…wait for it…X&Y. Christ, what a letdown.
7:12 PM | 27/09/2007
Latest Features
-
Column - The Spanish indie inquisition: Can Iberia's finest break the language barrier?
Al Horner looks at Spanish bands like We Are Standard and Polock who are trying to score success in the UK
-
New To Q With Chris Catchpole - Q308 A$AP Rocky, We Are Augustines & Ren Hervieu
Plus our new music man takes stock of last week's Q Now: The Sessions shows
-
Q308 - Q Quiz win a trip to the Snow Bombing Festival in Austria
Just 21 questions stand between you and a music festival in the Alps...
-
Q&a Sleigh Bells - the inside story on their Reign Of Terror, studio antics & getting kids to dance in cars!
Eve Barlow quizzes the New York duo as they gear up to release their second album later this month
-
The Q Festival Blog - Summer 2012 is shaping up
In our first festival update of 2012, we look at how the line-ups for the world's key events are coming together
-
Watch Mark Lanegan's new video now on Q - exclusive
See the brand new clip for the The Gravedigger's Song here
Advertisement
User Comments
Post A Comment
Post A Comment