The Beatles songs that fueled the ‘Paul is dead’ myth
The two eras of The Beatles sound like they’re coming from two completely different bands. As opposed to the British Invasion moptops than won the hearts of girls the world over, the second phase of ‘The Fab Four’ was about experimenting with what the studio had to offer. It might have been their creative ingenuity that brought them to the top of the charts, but some sceptics also thought it was because one Beatle wasn’t among the living anymore.
During the mid-1960s, a rumour spread regarding whether Paul McCartney had died in a car crash in 1966. The theory seemed to be that Macca was in a car accident and killed, after which The Beatles hired a look-alike to take his place. Since the announcement of the death of one of The Beatles would have been a PR nightmare, the prevailing theory was that the group hid news of his death in their songs.
Starting with the psychedelic odyssey ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’, fans began pointing out clues alluding to McCartney’s death. Towards the end of John Lennon’s tune, the song fades back in and includes different backwards effects. Amid the chaos, Lennon can be heard saying “cranberry sauce”, which fans pointed out sounded similar to the phrase “I buried Paul”.
One song wouldn’t be enough to cover up for the death of a Beatle, and the rest of the band’s career saw fans picking apart the intricacies in their songs to find the actual message. Across The White Album, fans have pointed out several songs that could explain McCartney’s death. While ‘Glass Onion’ was initially written for Lennon to mock those who read too much into his lyrics, his utterance of “the walrus was Paul” all but confirmed rumours in fans’ minds. In many European countries, the walrus represents death.
Even sections that were never supposed to be dissected contained pivotal clues, such as the ending of ‘I’m So Tired’. Once the song ends, Lennon utters bits of gibberish, which sounds like “Paul is a dead man, miss him, miss him” when played backwards. The backwards messages also appeared on the eight-minute head trip ‘Revolution 9’. Though the original line is a man incessantly saying the phrase “Number 9”, theorists believe that the version of that line played backwards says, “Turn me on, dead man”.
Clues weren’t just reserved for song lyrics, either. In the movie Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles perform McCartney’s soft-shoe numberm’Your Mother Should Know’. While all of them are dressed in white suits, McCartney’s is the only one with a black carnation, denoting a corpse. The album covers weren’t even off the table, with Sgt. Pepper’s cover hiding clues to McCartney’s death by laying out flowers as if it’s a funeral wake.
The clearest example of the McCartney death conspiracy was the cover of Abbey Road. Since McCartney walked out barefoot on the cover, the common theory was that he was dead, seeing how some traditions bury a corpse without shoes. The procession of The Beatles was also significant, with all the fellow Beatles dressed in the formal procession, starting with John Lennon (the preacher), Ringo Starr (the undertaker), Paul McCartney (the corpse), and George Harrison (the gravedigger).
McCartney always took it in stride, eventually clearing up the rumours in the press and even cheekily releasing a live album later in life called Paul is Live, featuring a cover parodying the original Abbey Road shot. Even if McCartney were replaced with a look-alike in 1966, that look-alike is still responsible for some of the best music The Beatles ever wrote.
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