Songfacts®:

• Ever since The Beatles gave fuel to the "Paul is dead" rumors when it was claimed their track "Revolution 9" featured a voice saying "Turn me on, dead man" if played backwards, rock stars have been accused of leaving subliminal messages on their records. Sometimes, as in the case of Pink Floyd jokey utterance on "Empty Spaces," they really did make remarks. On other occasions, there are doubts whether anything was actually said. The issue came to a head when the mother of a Nevada teenager who killed himself in 1985 sued Judas Priest, claiming that their song "Better By You Better Than Me," contained subliminal messages which compelled him to commit suicide. Another similar case in the same era involved the Ozzy Osbourne track "Suicide Solution," when a teenage American named John McCullom shot himself while listening to the tune on his headphones. His parents sued Ozzy, claiming this song compelled him to kill himself.
  
  Both cases were eventually dismissed. This minor-key crawler is the Black Lips sarcastic tribute to that era.
• The Black Lips borrowed from one of Kesha's tunes for their experiment, singing her song forwards but then playing it backwards ("Mad Dog" backwards is "God Dam").
• Singer-guitarist Cole Alexander told Spinner about the pop star's reaction to getting the "Mad Dog" treatment. "[Our producer] Mark Ronson called me 'cause he showed her the song and she liked it but she was a little weirded out about it," he said.
• So why did the band choose Kesha? Apparently she used to come to the band's shows as her ex-boyfriend's band, Cheap Time, used to frequently play with The Black Lips.
• The song features some rousing saxophone by Cochemea Gastelum. The soul/Afro-beat musician has toured and recorded with the likes of Paul Simon, The Roots, Public Enemy, and Amy Winehouse. He's also performed as a member of the band of the Broadway musical Fela!.