Shakur 1

Seattle Shakur
Professor Silver
Intermediate Writing
6 March 2017
Paul is Dead, or Maybe Not?
In September of 1969, The Beatles album entitled Abbey Road was released in the United

States. Not only was there hype surrounding the album, but new excitement came about from a

rumor of Paul McCartneys apparent death. A U.S. radio disk jockey, Roby Yonge, is credited

with spreading this conspiracy across America (Variety). One fateful night in October, when

Yonge was live on air, he discussed a college campus rumor of how Paul had gotten into a fatal

car accident in 1966. He then went on to say that Paul was replaced by a double named Billy

Shears who supposedly won a look-a-like contest to replace the dead Beatle (Benjamin). After

this, the conspiracy theory escalated when The Beatles did not address these rumors right away.

Also, things became increasingly suspicious when Paul was not seen for a while after this rumor

came about (Variety).

There are two sides when it comes to this conspiracy: the people who believe that the

Paul is dead rumor is real and those who believe it is highly unlikely and fake. Although the

sources can be put in two separate categories, they all believe that perceived evidence of Pauls

death can be found in Beatles songs and album art that was released during, and after, 1967.

This is because Pauls car accident where he died supposedly occurred in 1966 (Variety).

Analyzing anything before would be pointless because one would not be able to contribute it to

the conspiracy.
The first commonality that most of the sources agree upon is how fans can find clues

about Pauls death in The Beatles studio album art. The article, Paul is Dead Clues on Abbey

Road, goes through each section of the Abbey Road cover and analyzes the visuals shown (Dead

Man). On the cover of Abbey Road, the four members are seen walking across a crossing in what

looks to be a funeral procession. John Lennon is wearing all white and is said to look like a
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preacher. Ringo Starr looks to be an undertaker because his suit is all black. George Harrison,

being at the back of the line and wearing all denim, is seen to be the gravedigger, because his

appearance suggests that he is a worker (Dead Man).

Along with this, the author of The Beatles album cover that started a decades-long

conspiracy theory adds to the discussion on the Abbey Road cover. Out of the four, Pauls

appearance is analyzed the most and contributes the greatest amount evidence to the conspiracy.

He is holding a cigarette in his right hand, although it is a well-known fact that he is left-handed.

Also, in some places, a slang term for cigarette is coffin nail, which some say is a clear

allusion to his death. In addition to that, Paul is depicted as being barefoot, which led to a spiral

of rumors on its own (Mail). In a 2009 interview with David Letterman, when asked about the

conspiracy and the Abbey Road cover, Paul stated, . . . it was so hot that I kicked [my sandals]

off and walked across barefooted. So, this started some rumor that because he was barefooted:

hes dead. I couldnt see the connection (McCartney).

For more imagery on the Abbey Road cover, there is a Volkswagen Beetle parked on the

side of the road behind George. The license plate on the back reads 28IF. People believe this to

mean that Paul would have been 28-years-old IF he had not died in the 1966 car accident

(Dead Man).
Besides the Abbey Road cover, clues supporting the conspiracy can be found on the

covers of Magical Mystery Tour and Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Author of Paul is

Dead Clues on Abbey Road also stated that in Magical Mystery Tour, there is an image of all

four group members wearing white suits with red carnations. The only thing off about this image

is that, unlike the rest, Paul is wearing a black carnation (Dead Man). This may be just a

coincidence or a direct message telling fans that Paul is dead. According to the book, Turn Me

On, Dead Man: The Beatles and the Paul is Dead Hoax, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club

Band also shows this kind of imagery on the cover. In the front of the photo, one can see a guitar
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made out of yellow hyacinths that look to be spelling out Pauls name with a question mark after

it. Also, there are only three flower stems lying on top of the guitar, signifying that the group is

missing Paul (Reeve 5). On the inside cover of Sgt. Pepper, Paul is wearing a patch with the

acronym O.P.D on his sleeve. Some people believe that this stands for Officially Pronounced

Dead (Dead Man).

The second linking piece that the sources touched on was how one can find perceived

evidence supporting Pauls death in Beatles songs post-1966. As stated by the Variety Inc.

news article titled, Kids new macabre game: Is Paul McCartney Dead?, the following songs:

Strawberry Fields Forever, I am the Walrus, Glass Onion, and A Day in the Life all have

reference to Pauls death in their lyrics (Variety). According to the author of Turn Me On,

Dead Man: The Beatles and the Paul is Dead Hoax, it is speculated that the group members

were feeling guilt from hiding this secret and began to place hints in their music to ease the pain

a bit. For example, at the end of Strawberry Fields Forever, John can be heard saying words

that sound like, I buried Paul. (Reeve 5). In the lyrics of Glass Onion, John Lennon wrote, I

told you about the walrus and me-man. You know that were as close as can be-man. Well heres

another clue for you all: the walrus was Paul (The Beatles). As stated in an article by D.A. Bird,

walrus was rumored to be the Greek word meaning corpse (Bird et al.). Basically, saying the

walrus was Paul is the same thing as saying Paul was a corpse. This caused more uproar and

further supported this conspiracy.

The two songs above have more abstract meaning to them, however, there is one song

that is said to directly reference the car accident that may have killed Paul. A Day in the Life is

the song that many conspiracists look to when trying to prove their point. In it, during Johns

part, he sings, He blew his mind out in a car. He didnt notice that the lights had changed. A

crowd of people stood and stared. Theyd seen his face before. Nobody was really sure if he was
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from the House of Lords (The Beatles). Author of Paul is Dead Clues on Abbey Road

Album states that this has been seen as the groups official announcement about Pauls death and

supports the 1966 car accident theory (Dead Man).

The following songs have lyrics that support the theory that Paul was replaced by a look-

a-like named Billy Shears. In the first two songs on the Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

album, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and With a Little Help from My Friends,

they explicitly state the name Billy Shears during the end and beginning of both songs. The line,

So let me introduce to you the one and only Billy Shears . . . plays towards the end of Sgt.

Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. At the beginning of With a Little Help from My Friends,

Billy Shears introduces himself by saying his name (The Beatles). This may be the origin of the

name Billy Shears and why people attribute it to Pauls double.

A third commonality between the articles is the discussion of back masking and how it

may contribute to the conspiracy theory. Back masking is the term used for playing a recording

in reverse. Instead of a song playing from front-to-back, it plays from back-to-front. For a record

player, one must disengage the motor drive, then use their hands to manually push the record in

the opposite direction that it would normally go (Shermer). This flips all the words. For example,

the statement, Pigs can fly would change into Ylf nac sgip when undergoing back masking.

As far as Beatles songs go, if played backwards, one will hear a lot of strange messages that were

not purposefully put there. Many of these messages discuss Pauls death and are seen as even

more evidence to put onto the already mountainous stack of conspiracy proof. The most well-

known case of back masking involved in this conspiracy is in the song Revolution 9. There is a

part during the song where a recording of a man repeating the phrase Number nine, Number

nine is heard. When this specific part is played backwards, the man now says Turn me on,

Dead Man (The Beatles).

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For lesser known back masks, the song Let it Be says Hes been dead when the let it

be part of the song is played backwards. In Birthday, there is a part of the back masked song

that can be heard saying Paul is dead. And lastly, in Glass Onion the lyrics The walrus was

Paul is played backwards to say Paul took the wrong road (The Beatles).
This phenomenon did not only occur in songs by The Beatles, but also in a song that

George Harrison wrote during his solo career. On the 1971 album, All Things Must Pass, there is

a short, forty-nine second song titled Its Johnnys Birthday. This was meant to be a tribute to

John Lennon for his 30th birthday (Beatles Bible). However, when this song is played backwards,

there is a very specific message relating to Paul. So specific, in fact, that it is hard to believe it

was not purposefully done. Forward the song says, . . . birthday, and we would like to wish him

all the very best. Backwards it says, He never wore his shoes we all know he was dead

(Harrison). This can directly be related to the Abbey Road cover and how Paul was not wearing

his shoes in that picture.

Unlike the other sources, the author of Undeniable Proof that Paul McCartney was

Replaced with a Look-a Like tries to prove that the conspiracy is real by doing facial

comparison of pre-1966 Paul and post-1966 Paul. First, the author goes through photos of John

and compares two photos taken ten years apart. He concludes that the faces have almost no

notable differences and that it is the face of the same person. Then, moving on to Paul, he shows

that the chin and ears of the more recent photo of Paul do not match up with the older photo.

Besides that, the faces line up perfectly. The author believes that it is too perfect of a match and,

therefore looks suspicious. He explains how the double must have gotten plastic surgery in order

to look exactly like Paul (Digilander).

To conclude, whether one believes that Paul is dead or not, most sources agree that fans

can find evidence supporting this conspiracy theory in songs and album artwork. After 58

years, people are still talking about this conspiracy theory and are currently debating whether
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Paul actually died and was replaced, or if he never died and it was all a hoax. According to Loren

Collins, author of Paul McCartney Really is not Dead, states that, in a 2013 survey, only 5

percent of respondents actually believed that Paul is dead. This is almost equivalent to the 4

percent of people who believe lizard people run the world (Collins). There is definitely a

mountain of evidence that can be used to support the theory, but it is far from practical. To

believe that a person who not only looks exactly like Paul McCartney, but also has the same

voice, musical talent, and personality is borderline insane. Or maybe its not.

Works Cited
Beatles Bible. Its Johnnys Birthday. The Beatles Bible, 9 October 2014. Web. 5 March 2017.
Benjamin, Scott. Roby on Roby. Music Radio 77, 2017. Web. 5 March 2017.

Bird, D. A., Holder, S. C. and Sears, D. "Walrus is Greek for Corpse: Rumor and the Death of
Paul McCartney." The Journal of Popular Culture, p.110121. June 1976.
Collins, Loren. "Paul McCartney Really is Not Dead." Skeptical Inquirer, 2014.
Dead Man. Paul is Dead Clues on Abbey Road Album. Turn Me on Dead Man, 19 June 2013.
Web. 7 March 2017.
Digilander. Undeniable Proof that Paul McCartney was replaced by a Look-a-Like. Libero,

2014.
Web. 6 March 2017.
George Harrison. "It's Johnny's Birthday." All Things Must Pass, Apple Records, 1970.
Jones, Josh. "How the 'Paul McCartney is Dead' Hoax Started at an American College
Newspaper and Went Viral." Open Culture, 26 December 2014. Web. 15 February 2017.
"Kid's New Macabre Game: Is Paul McCartney Dead?" Variety, Inc. [New York City, New
York], 22 October 1969.
Letterman, David. "Paul McCartney on David Letterman." Late Show with David Letterman,
2009.
Mail. Pictured: The Beatles album cover that started a decades-long conspiracy theory. Daily
Mail, 8 August 2009. 6 March 2017.
Reeve, Andru J. Turn Me On, Dead Man: The Beatles and the Paul is Dead Hoax. Author
House, 12 October 2004. P. 5-7. Web. 5 March 2017.
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Shermer, Michael. Turn Me On, Dead Man. Scientific America, p. 292. May 2005.
The Beatles. "A Day in the Life." Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, EMI studios, 1967.
The Beatles. "Birthday." The Beatles, EMI studios, 1968.
The Beatles. "I am the Walrus." Magical Mystery Tour, EMI studios, 1967.
The Beatles. "Let it Be." Let it Be, Apple Records, 1970.
The Beatles. "Glass Onion." The Beatles, EMI studios, 1968.
The Beatles. "Revolution 9." The Beatles, EMI studios, 1968.
The Beatles. Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band,
EMI studios, 1967.
The Beatles. "Strawberry Fields Forever." Magical Mystery Tour, EMI studios, 1967.

The Beatles. With a Little Help from My Friends. Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band,

EMI
studios, 1967.