8. What is the backwards message before "Still Life?" (Iron Maiden)
Description
This article is from the Iron Maiden FAQ, by Vartan Narinian vsn@pobox.com and Steve Payne Sirpapa@aol.com with numerous contributions by others.
8. What is the backwards message before "Still Life?" (Iron Maiden)
This is probably THE most frequently asked question. IRON MAIDEN was getting
really fed up with the American bigots who'd condemned them devil worshippers
and such, so they decided to stick this sucker on the new album (PIECE OF
MIND). Right at the beginning of the song Still Life is two quick backwards
messages, one after the other. Both are spoken by Nicko in a deep Rasta
accent, not too much even understandable even when played backwards. Well,
the first says "What ho sed de t'ing wid de t'ree bonce", which means "What
ho said the monster with the three heads." The second says "Don't meddle wid
t'ings you don't understand." And of course, the message ends with a belch! :)
The Iron Maiden biography (see item 34, BOOKS related to Iron Maiden) says
that the phrases are taken from Idi Amin's books. To the best of my knowledge
Idi Amin has never written any books (I checked the Encyclopaedia Britannica).
Some fellow netters sent me the following explanation:
According to them both phrases come from a spoof '70s radio show about
Idi Amin. In the show an english actor, John Bird, impersonates Idi Amin
(complete with Ugandan accent) explaining how the disappearing Ugandan
ministers are being sent to Pluto to sort out the economy there. The material
is written by one-time editor of Punch and humourist Alan Coren.
An LP containing the broadcasts exists: It's titled "The Collected Broadcasts
of Idi Amin" (1975).
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