How Ghost Vocals Appear in Music Recordings

In a haunting episode of the aptly named video series You Can’t Unhear This, the knowledgable host explains the concept of ghost vocals on music recordings, specifically what they are, how they get there and the (at least) three reasons as to why they stay there. He then offers several examples of this recorded anomaly with a song from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin.

Have you ever heard something in a song that doesn’t seem like it was supposed to be there? You might have been hearing what is sometimes referred to as a “ghost vocal,” which is usually a leftover vocal from an earlier take of a recording. Note: In order to hear some of these anomalies, I recommend listening with a pair of headphones and setting your YouTube player to full HD quality.