Spoken backwards:
Annuit Coeptis Novus Ordo Seclorum
What the devil's going on
Why don't you turn that music down
You're going deaf and that's for sure
But all you do is scream for more
Get the lead out go for broke
Pop your pills and drink and smoke
Shoot those chemicals in your vein
Anything to ease the pain
Heavy Metal Poisoning
Got a toxic wasteland in your ear canal
You're overloaded, you're suffering
Overloaded on sex and drugs
Everything is black and white
You are wrong and we are right
First we spank your big behinds
Then we'll twist your little minds
I'm Dr. Righteous, and I'm here to sing
That heavy metal is poisoning
It's a music wasteland, that destroys the young
They're overloaded on sex and drugs
And Rock and Roll
Heavy Metal Poisoning
Got a toxic wasteland at the Love Canal
You're overloaded, you're suffering
Overloaded on sex and drugs
The backwards segment at the beginning of the track is Latin and translates to:
"God has favored our undertakings. A new order of the ages."
It is located on the back of a US $1.00 bill, encircling the pyramid.
The backwards segment was a response to the Parents Resource Music Center (PRMC), an organization that thrived on the censorship of rock music, and accused Styx of adding backwards satanic messages to their music. Both the California State Legislature as well as the PRMC stated that the song Snowblind (from the album Paradise Theater) contained the backwards message "Satan move through our voice"
The album also had a sticker on the front, identifying that the album contained backward messages. This type of label would later become a permanent reality in the music industry, as in 1985 the PRMC forced the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) to include Parental Advisory labels on albums that contained certain explicit lyrics.