Paul is Dead Conspiracy
I’m sure everyone knows the Beatles. For those who are unaware, the Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The Band comprised of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.
It is regarded as one of the most influential bands of all time. They created great music, which is relevant even today. Who can forget ‘yesterday’ or ‘hey Jude, their music is just perfect with fantastic lyrics.
Unfortunately, John Lennon was murdered on 8 December 1980 at the age of 40.
George Harrison died on November 29, 2001, at the age of 58.
Paul and Ringo of the fab four are still with us, but did you know that Paul was dead according to a conspiracy theory?
Paul is Dead
A strange rumor surfaced in 1966 that Paul McCartney, lead vocalist of acclaimed Beatles was dead. The urban legend suggests that after a fight between Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Paul died in a car crash.
The legend goes on to say that Beatles replaced him with a Paul McCartney ‘look alike’ contest winner, sometimes identified as “William Campbell” or “Billy Shears”. The myth goes further and suggests that the Beatles used songs and album art to inform Paul’s death to the fans.
Where did it Begin?
‘Paul was dead’ rumor really started with articles penned by undergrad students in America. In Tim Harper Drake University newspaper it was written that; when you play a portion of White album’s Revolution 9, you can hear repeatedly the line ‘turn me on dead man’ but curiously only if you play backward.
In November 1968, the Beatles white album was released and John Lennon in an interview said he purposely confused listeners with lines such as ‘the walrus was Paul’ reference to the song ‘I am the walrus’.
Strawberry Fields Forever
Strawberry Fields Forever is a song based on Lennon’s childhood memories of playing in the garden of strawberry field, a salvation army’s children’s home in Liverpool. Fans found that John Lennon said ‘I buried Paul’ in strawberry fields forever. But Lennon said he was actually saying ‘cranberry sauce.
The Iconic Abbey Road
The Beatle’s final album ‘abbey road’ was released on 26th September 1969. Fred Labour wrote a review for Michigan Daily in Michigan University. The headline said ‘McCartney Dead’ new evidence brought to light.
Fred analyzed the album’s famous cover and concluded that it was a funeral procession.
In white John was the holy man, leading the way. Ringo dressed in black was the undertaker. George looking like a working man in jeans was the gravedigger. Finally, out of step with others and barefoot, Paul was the corpse.
Yes, it does sound crazy. It was not the funeral of Paul of course, but it was the end of Beatles as a band. Paul McCartney himself poked fun at ‘Paul is dead conspiracy’ in 1993. He released an album called Paul is Live.
It is basically a parody of abbey road cover art.
I don’t think Paul died in a car crash, because I saw his carpool karaoke with James Corden. Paul shared so many fascinating stories about how he wrote lyrics for iconic songs, and also visited his old house. I am pretty sure he was not a ‘look-alike contest winner.
In 2009, Time magazine included ‘Paul is dead in its feature on ten of “the world’s most enduring conspiracy theories”.
