SUIT ALLEGES ‘HIDDEN’ OSBOURNE SUICIDE LYRICS

A 28-second instrumental segment of rock singer Ozzy Osbourne’s “Suicide Solution” contains hidden lyrics that urge listeners to “get the gun and try it,” according to court papers filed Wednesday by the family of an Indio teen who maintain he shot himself to death after listening to the recording.

A new declaration filed in the family’s wrongful-death suit against the British singer and CBS records contends the lyrics, barely audible beneath a backdrop of musical chords, are accompanied by pure sound tones intended to make the listener more receptive to their suggestions.

The hidden lyrics, sung at 1 1/2 times normal speech rate, do not appear among the printed lyrics to the song, except as “vocal frills and ad libs,” attorney Thomas T. Anderson said in his motion seeking permission to resurrect the family’s lawsuit, which was thrown out by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Cole in August.

Osbourne’s attorney, Michael O’Connor, called the new allegations “pretty wild” and said his client denies “absolutely” the presence of any hidden lyrics.

CBS attorney Douglas Abendroth said the record company “unequivocally does not place anything in its records in the nature of an intentional hum.”

John McCollum, 19, reportedly shot himself in the head in 1984 after listening to Osbourne’s “Blizzard of Oz” and “Diary of a Madman” albums repeatedly over a five-hour period.

Cole dismissed the family’s wrongful-death claims that the album lyrics prompted McCollum to take his own life, but agreed to hear new evidence the family’s attorney promised to produce about a “low-pitched hum” audible on parts of the records.

In papers filed with the court Wednesday, Anderson said an equalizer and computer analysis of the song “Suicide Solution” showed the presence of a 28-second interval during which these “masked lyrics” are audible.

A Nov. 17 hearing is scheduled before Cole, who will determine if the suit can be refiled.