A handful of songs with hidden Morse code are well documented, and one of them saved morale for people held hostage. "Better Days," a 2010 Colombian pop song, carried the message "19 people rescued. You're next. Don't lose hope" in Morse code. Rush, Kraftwerk, Mike Oldfield and The Clash also used it. Below you get the facts for each song, the dots and dashes to listen for, and a step-by-step method for decoding Morse in any track with free tools.
Songs with hidden Morse code at a glance
| Song | Artist | Year | What the Morse says | Where to listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Better Days | Natalia Gutiérrez and Angelo | 2010 | "19 people rescued. You're next. Don't lose hope." | 1:31, 2:31 and 3:32 (BBC) |
| YYZ | Rush | 1981 | Y-Y-Z | The opening riff |
| Radioactivity | Kraftwerk | 1975 album, 1976 single | "radioactivity" and other phrases | Near the start and near the end |
| Amarok | Mike Oldfield | 1990 | A rude farewell to a record label boss, signed "RB" | About 48 minutes in |
| London Calling | The Clash | 1979 | S-O-S (per Wikipedia) | The fade-out |
Every song below was checked against at least one published source, which is linked in its section.
"Better Days" (2010): a song built to carry a message
This is the most remarkable case, because the Morse code was the whole point. According to the BBC, Colombian army communications officer José Espejo wanted to reach soldiers and police held hostage by the Farc in jungle camps. An advertising team learned that Colombian soldiers are taught Morse code in basic training, and the idea of hiding a message in a song followed.
The song, performed by Natalia Gutiérrez and Angelo, is a sentimental pop ballad. The producers used a synthesizer to help camouflage the code and placed it in three spots. The BBC links a recording and gives the times: 1:31, 2:31 and 3:32. Wikipedia adds that the code sits in the chorus, disguised in the keyboard melody and masked by guitar and drums, and gives the Spanish wording: "19 liberados. Siguen ustedes. Ánimo."
Wikipedia also quotes producer Carlos Portela on a practical limit: "the magic number was 20," meaning about 20 Morse words fit into a piece of music the length of a chorus without sounding odd.
Did it work? The BBC reports that one rescued hostage later said he had heard the message and passed its meaning on to the others. The campaign also won a Golden Lion award, according to the same report.
"YYZ" (1981): an airport code as a riff
Rush's instrumental "YYZ" opens with Morse you can hear plainly. YYZ is the code for Toronto Pearson airport, and Wikipedia notes that a navigation beacon at the airport broadcasts those letters in Morse. The band first met the rhythm as they flew in, and Neil Peart recalled that "the rhythm stuck in my head."
The intro, in 10/8 time, repeats Y-Y-Z in several arrangements. In Morse, Y is -.-- and Z is --.., so the pattern is -.-- -.-- --... Of the five songs here, it is the easiest to practise on: the message is three letters, and you can tap along with the track.
"Radioactivity" (1975): Morse in the arrangement
Kraftwerk's "Radioactivity" appears on the album Radio-Activity (1975) and was released as a single in 1976. According to Wikipedia, Morse signals spelling "radioactivity" appear near the beginning and again near the end. The second pass continues with "is in the air for you and me," a third spells "discovered by Madame Curie," a distorted fourth says "Radioactivity tune into the," and a last burst signs off with "Kraftwerk."
The sign-off is a good first target. KRAFTWERK is nine letters: -.- .-. .- ..-. - .-- . .-. -.-.
"Amarok" (1990): a farewell hidden in a 60-minute track
Mike Oldfield's Amarok is a single 60-minute piece released in May 1990 on Virgin Records. About 48 minutes in, a synthesizer plays a Morse message. Per Mike Oldfield's fan magazine and Wikipedia, it is a rude farewell aimed at Virgin founder Richard Branson, signed "RB." We are not printing the words here, but the letters are easy to decode once you find the spot.
Oldfield offered £1,000 of his own money to the first person who found the message, according to Wikipedia. A fan FAQ at tubular.net lists other possible Morse bursts at 15:09 and 23:18, but it treats them as uncertain, so we leave them out of the table.
"London Calling" (1979): an SOS at the fade-out
Wikipedia's article on The Clash's "London Calling" says the song fades out with a Morse signal spelling S-O-S. Its source for that detail is a study guide rather than the band, so treat it as widely reported and listen for yourself. In Morse that is ... --- ..., and our SOS Morse code guide shows how to send it by sound, light or tapping.
Morse in a music video is not Morse in a song
Lists of songs with hidden Morse code often include Metallica's "One." According to Wikipedia, the Morse code is in the music video, where a wounded soldier jolts in his bed to spell SOS. It is not in the audio. We only count Morse you can actually hear on the track.
How to find and decode Morse in a song
You can decode any of the cases above with free tools. Our site does not decode audio, so you do the listening and the typing, and the decoder does the lookup.
- Get a timestamp. Use the times in the table. If you are hunting a new one, listen on headphones for a single steady pitch that beeps in a pattern, usually in an intro, a bridge or a fade.
- Open the clip in a free audio editor. Audacity is a free, open-source editor for Windows, macOS and Linux.
- Slow it down without changing the pitch. In Audacity, Effect > Pitch and Tempo > Change Tempo changes the speed without changing the pitch, according to the Audacity manual. Cut the tempo roughly in half and listen again.
- Switch to spectrogram view. The track menu has a Spectrogram view that shows how energy changes over time. A steady Morse tone shows up as a short or long horizontal bar at one height.
- Write down short and long marks. Short is a dot and long is a dash. International Morse timing (ITU-R M.1677-1) makes a dash three dots long, with a gap of one dot inside a letter, three between letters and seven between words. Those gaps tell you where each letter ends.
- Type it into the decoder. Paste your dots and dashes into the Morse code decoder, with spaces between letters and
/between words. If the output is nonsense, re-check the longest gaps first.
When the tone follows a melody, the lengths can drift. Trust the gaps over the exact bar lengths. For a longer tour of audio tools, read our audio decoder guide, and for ear training, see how to read Morse code.
Practise with the patterns from this article
Type these into the English to Morse tool and play them back at 10 and 20 WPM, then try the real tracks:
| Message | Morse | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| YYZ | -.-- -.-- --.. |
Rush, "YYZ" |
| KRAFTWERK | -.- .-. .- ..-. - .-- . .-. -.- |
Kraftwerk, "Radioactivity" |
| SOS | ... --- ... |
The Clash, "London Calling" (per Wikipedia) |
| 19 | .---- ----. |
The first word of the "Better Days" message |
Speed matters. The translator plays at 5 to 40 WPM, so start slow and speed up until the pattern sounds like a rhythm instead of dots and dashes.
How to hide Morse in your own track
If you want a puzzle for a friend, a school project or a surprise in your own music, copy what the "Better Days" team did.
- Keep the message short. Portela's rule of thumb was about 20 words per chorus, and most songs will take far fewer.
- Make clean Morse audio. In the translator, type your message, set the speed and tone, and download the WAV file. Import it into your editor.
- Hide it under something. "Better Days" masked the code with guitar and drums, per Wikipedia. Lower the volume and let other instruments cover it.
- Keep the timing honest. A dash must stay three times a dot, or decoders will misread it.
- Give a way in. A puzzle only works if it can be solved. Add a hint, or send a friend the translator's "Share Puzzle" link, which lets them listen and copy by ear.
For ideas on other quiet ways to pass a message, see our guide to secret Morse code.
Where to go next
If one of these songs made you curious about the code itself, start with what Morse code is and the Morse code alphabet. To practise copying by ear, open the trainer.