Can we recognize recorded sounds when played backwards?

I am guessing no, for the simple reason that you never find examples of it. It does seem though that the sound of a tuning fork played backwards should be recognizable. What about a single note on a musical instrument? There are certain letter sounds like vowels and some consonant sounds like l, r, m and n that can be held. Would they be recognizable if played backwards? I have the feeling that entire words played backwards would not sound anything like human speech.