The Phantom’s Mystery Poem

A spooky, backmasked poem and song from the grooves of Phantom’s Divine Comedy, Part 1

Courtesy of imgonline.com and funny pho.to.

If you’ve listened to the Phantom’s ersatz “Jim Morrison solo album,” Phantom’s Divine Comedy: Part 1, from 1974, you know there is a cryptic, eight stanza, backwards poem between the nine cuts of the album.

Here’s the backward, eight stanzas as one continuous cut . . . then reversed, frontwards, for your enjoyment:

Okay, so that’s the infamous poem . . . but is there a “backmasked” Phantom song, you ask?

Well, everyone has reversed and backmasked the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. So why not the Phantom?

Now, let’s remember: Backmasking is always open to one’s personal interpretation. And this is what I heard upon repeated listens of a reversed version of the album’s Hammond B3 organ-driven opening cut, “Tales from a Wizard.”

The image of the song’s title, if stared at in a “mirror”: is “draziW a fo selaT.” If the title is written “backwards”: it is “selaT fo a draziW.” So, take your pick — but the backward title is more accurate, which is why “selaT” sounds like “Satan,” and “d-raz-iW” sounds like “walks here” or “was here,” at least to my ears. . . .

Once you’ve listen to the reversed poem’s theme against the backmasked version of “Tales from a Wizard,” the backmasked lyrics, fit, right?

Enjoy! Make up you own lyrics! And Happy Halloween!

selaT fo a draziW

Satan walks here

Oh, Satan walks here
Satan walks here
Satan walks here
Satan walks here
Satan walks here

He has the power
And he won’t fear
We will worship him
Oh, you’ll love him

In the end you are lost
Everyone a slave
You are so lost
All are so lost
He condemned us
And there is nothing
You’re full of sin
Life of no escape

(solo)

You are a slave

(solo)

Ohhh.
Blood and breathe
Lust in him
Oh, lust in him
Lust in him
Lost in me
Lost in me
Lost in me
Lost in him
With everyone that’s left
You are lost
You will see him under
You will go
You will let him
You will stay
He said you’re lost
You will rest with Satan
Everyone is a slave. . . .

How close do the Phantom and Jim Morrison, sound? Check out this crossfade comparison of the Phantom’s “Merlin” with the Doors’ “Blue Sunday” and feel the chills.

You can read about keyboardist Russ Klatt’s insights of joining Phantom and playing the Hammond B3 on “Tales from a Wizard” with his two-part interview. You can also learn more about the band’s history prior to their 1974 recording, with previous keyboardist Paul Cervanek — who taught Russ Klatt how to play keyboards, prior to either joining Phantom.

Behind the Shroud of a Detroit Rock ’n’ Roll Mystery: Part 2

Tales from Detroit’s Rock ’n’ Roll Renaissance with keyboardist Paul Cervenak

For the full listening experience of Phantom’s Divine Comedy, Part 1 (1974), you can purchase the official, remastered digital album provided by Capitol Records and Hideout Productions to YouTube through SongCast, Inc., which also makes the album commercially available on Spotify for purchase. It’s a stellar digital conversion — better than any of the many CD or LP rips that abound on the web — and a nicely done tribute to the artist.

Courtesy of Song Cast, Inc.’s ”Phantom Topic” playlist.

Image Credits:
Banner: Still courtesy of Tom Weschler, 1974 (original color still appears in “Part 1” of the Russ Klatt interview).
Poem: Phantom (front) photo from Phantom’s Divine Comedy: Part 1, 1973, by Tom Weschler. Jim Morrison photos by Joel Brodsky.
Backmasked Song: Phantom (rear) photo from Phantom’s Divine Comedy: Part 1, 1973, by Tom Weschler.
Crossfade Song: Morrison by Joel Brodsky. Phantom by Tom Weschler. Jim Morrison Paris Ghost photo by Brett Meisner.

— R.D Francis