'Paul is dead'

> A Rumor alleging that Beatles member Paul McCartney secretly died and was replaced by a look-alike.

'As unbelievable as it may sound today, in the fall of 1969 a wild rumor began circulating in the media that Paul McCartney was dead. It all started when a caller named "Tom" phoned WKNR Radio in Detroit and asked disc Jockey Russ Gibb if he'd heard that Paul McCartney was dead'. Classicbands.com

'To add more fuel to the fire, The Beatles never wanted to talk about the Paul is Dead rumors and for years just laugh it off as crazy. Wich only added to the mystery of what they were up to, had they created a bunch of Paul is dead Clues to increase record sales'. Ispauldead.com

List of the 'Paul is Dead' Clues

>> From The Beatles 'Abbey Road' LP

The cover is symbolic of a funeral procession; John is dressed in white as the preacher, Ringo as the undertaker, Paul as the corpse, and George, in old jeans, as the grave digger.

Paul is walking out of step with the other Beatles. He leads with his right foot, the others with their left. This is a symbol of non-conformity with the living (because he is dead). He's also walking with his eyes closed, like a dead man, and holding a cigarette (coffin nails) in his right hand, while the real Paul is left-handed.

The white Volkswagen Beetle's license plate reads "LMW - 28IF." In other words, Linda McCartney Weeps - Paul would have been 28 if he had lived...

On the other side of the road is a police van : A reference to the police who kept quiet about Paul's death.

On the back cover, the word "Beatles" has a crack running down the letter "S," symbolizing a break in the band (Paul's death).

To the left of the tiles spelling 'Beatles' are eight dots, which when connected form the numeral '3'... three Beatles left... There is also a crack in the "S"...

In 'Come Together' : the line "one and one and one make three" refers to the remaining Beatles.

In 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' : the abrupt stop at the end of the song symbolizes the sudden death of Paul. At the end of the song, the heavy instrumental bar stops suddenly, representing the end of Paul's life.

>> From The Beatles 'Sgt Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band' LP

The whole cover is a funeral scene. The headstone is the stone statue to the right of the drum. In front of that is a yellow floral display which, when looked at carefully, can be read as "paul?" or simply the letter "P" for "Paul." Note the younger Ringo is sad, as if he had lost a friend.

To the right of the stone statue is a statue of a girl who is looking down and to the right at a flaming car. This is "Lovely Rita the meter maid," who saw Paul's accident and the flaming car. The reason Paul was in the accident was because he was looking at "Lovely Rita".

Paul himself is seen with a hand over his head, which is an Eastern blessing for the deceased.

Paul holds a cor anglais, at the end of which is a small hook, representing the reaper's scythe.

The four-armed doll at the bottom of the cover points with one arm to Paul and is holding some sort of floral bouquet.

On the record version, the inside photo of the band shows Paul with a patch on his left arm which reads "O.P.D." or, "Officially Pronounced Dead." Other sources say that it stands for "Ontario Provincial Police," where William Campbell was an officer when he won the infamous look-alike contest

On the back cover of the record version, Paul is facing backwords, symbolizing his non-conformance with the living (being dead and all).

On the back cover of the record version, George points to the line, "Wednesday morning at five o'clock," the day and time of the accident.

The record sleeve for the first printing of the album came in psychedelic red colors, which looked like it had been soaked in blood. A picture of the sleeve is on the inside back cover of the CD version.

When a mirror is put up to the drum on the cover in the middle and horizontally, it reads, "1 ONE 1 X = HE DIE (arrow pointing to Paul)." The "1 ONE 1" refers to the three remaining Beatles; the "X" to Paul. This photo makes it easier to see...

In 'Fixing A Hole' : when listened to closely, the line "see the people standing there, they disagree" can be interpreted as"silly Beatle standing there, they disagree", which speaks of William Campbell, and the line "silly people run around..." can be interpreted as "silly Beatle run around...", which is talking about Campbell trying to adjust to his new role as Beatle bassist.

In 'Lovely Rita' : the line "standing by a parking meter/when I caught a glimpse of Rita" refer to the accident, in which he lost control of his car because he was distracted by the beautiful Rita.

In 'Good Morning, Good Morning' : the lines "nothing to do to save his life", "you're on your own/you're in the street", "people running 'round/it's five o'clock (the time of the accident)", and "watching the skirts you start to flirt, now you're in gear" all refer to the accident and the scene thereafter.

In 'A Day In The Life' : if you listen to the line "nobody was really sure if he was from the house of lords", it sounds more like "nobody was really sure if he was from the house of Paul", meaning that since he was decapitated and had no hair or teeth they didn't know where he was from.

>> From The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour

The word "BEATLES" on the cover spelled out in stars becomes a phone number when viewed upside-down. The number is either 537-1438 or 231-7438. The latter is rumored to be the number to a London mortuary, but some say that when they called the number they heard, "You're getting closer..."

In the movie and in a picture in the booklet to the record version, it shows Paul at a desk with a sticker on it that reads, "I WAS."

On page 12 of the booklet in the record version, Paul is not wearing any shoes; they are to the left and covered in blood. Tire tracks are seen leading up to Paul.

In 'I Am The Walrus' : at the end of the song, the voices of the older men speaking say "bury me...bury my body" and "Paul you're darn near death...rest you."

In 'Hello Goodbye' : the line "you say goodbye/I say hello" is William Campbell speaking about Paul.

In 'All You Need Is Love' : at the end of the song, John sings the word "yesterday" which sound suspiciously like "yes he's dead" and chants "we loved you yeah yeah yeah."

>> From 'The Beatles' LP

In 'Glass Onion' : according to myth, a "glass onion" is a coffin with a glass window in it so people can look inside. John also sings "the walrus was Paul." Myth states that in some cultures, the walrus is a sign of death.

In 'I'm So Tire'd : at the very end of the song is some incoherent mumbling of John's. When played backwards, this becomes "Paul's dead man, miss him, miss him."

In 'Revolution 9' : various bits of chatter and noise can be heard that represent Paul's death, including "his voice was low and his eyes were high and his eyes were closed", "Paul died", "my fingers are broken and so is my hair. I'm not in the mood for wearing clothing", "maybe even dead", "you become naked (the way a body is buried)", and most interesting, there is a clip where a car crashes and catches on fire. "Paul" can be heard screaming "Get me out." Finally, the voice repeating "number nine, number nine" at the beginning, when played backward, says the infamous phrase "Turn me on, dead man, turn me on, dead man."