-Paul McCartney Is Dead

It all started back on November 9th, 1966, where the Beatles were recording and Paul McCartney had got into a heated argument with his bandmates. Angry and frustrated, he goes out and goes on a night drive to try and cool his nerves. Little does he know, at 5 o'clock in the morning, the Grim Reaper comes calling. BAM! He gets into a horrific accident where his life is taken and he is pronounced dead on the scene. Or at least that's how the story goes. Because in early 1967, rumors began to circulate all around that Paul McCartney was actually deceased. Due to such tragic news, the Beatles tried their best to keep the whole thing under wraps so that way the public would not know about it. And in doing so, they actually hired someone who is commonly referred to as William Shears to try and replace Paul McCartney in secret. He did his best to impersonate him in looks as well as sound just like McCartney. In fact, there are many who actually say that there are many of these supposed clues and hints in the entirety of the work of the Beatles post-1967. But I guess they've been dropping hints and clues without any of us knowing that all point back to McCartney dying in 1966 on that November morning. While it isn't exactly new that people are creating theories and hoaxes that a certain celebrity or musician has passed away, the entire conspiracy surrounding the Paul McCartney death in 1966 definitely raises some questions. Now, it's no secret that the Beatles themselves are one of the largest rock bands to ever exist in the western culture. I mean, period. They were huge. Officially forming in Liverpool in 1960, the original Beatles comprised of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. And it wasn't too long after their formation that they completely took over the musical world and created ravaging, raving fans everywhere. That is one of the primary reasons why the whole McCartney dying in 1966 had to stay so secret. I mean, can you imagine if word had actually got out that he perished? The world would go crazy. It would be a tabloid sensation. And right around 1967, early 1967, the rumor started to circulate more and more. And it was right around the same time frame that a technique known as backmasking was being used. Now, for those that don't know, backmasking is simply the technique of recording something backwards to be played forward, if that makes any sense. This has only led to the further investigation and speculation that not only is Paul dead, but the entire discography of the Beatles post-1966 is chocked full of hints and subtle little clues here and there buried subtly in their music. In fact, there are a few pretty good examples. The first being in the song Revolutions 9, if you play the intro backwards, it sounds like the words turn me on dead man is being sung. And another at the very end of Strawberry Fields Forever, where it clearly sounds like John is saying I buried Paul. But what do you guys think of this? But it gets even stranger. The hit song Here Comes the Sun, if you play it backwards at 78 RPM, supposedly you can hear the words woe is Paul. But again, that's not all. Their self-titled album, also known as the White Album, held some lyrics that could possibly suggest that Paul is actually dead. A popular lyric from the song Glass Onion, Lennon sings this. Here's another clue for you all. The walrus was Paul. Now, supposedly walrus is actually Greek for corpse, but upon consulting with Google Translate, I couldn't find that to be accurate, but I could be wrong. Another disturbing lyrical find is also on the White Album on the song I'm So Tired. Now, there's a portion of the song when played backwards actually sounds like this. Paul is dead, man. Miss him, miss him. The speculation for all of this was pushed even further when, right around the same time, the Beatles had officially retired from touring. Was that to possibly aid in the cover up and try and get Paul's personator to be perfect? Or was this simply a mismatch of timing? It also did not help, too, at the time that the Beatles were already very notorious for dropping hints and subliminal messages on their records, so this kind of just felt like it coincided with everything the Beatles were already doing, thus adding fuel to the fire, making people concretely believe that Paul was in fact dead. And instead of a rumor of this caliber just slowly dying out over time, it actually grew and intensified. Because in 1969 in September, Tim Harper, the editor for the Drake Times Delphic, who operated out of the Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, wrote an article that talked all about this. And the article was called, Is Beatle Paul McCartney Dead? And this article had become extremely controversial, as well as the topic in general, and actually caused heated debates and discussion among the student body. Then, on October 12th of that same year, popular Detroit radio station WKNR-FM had spoke to the current disc jockey Russ Gibb on live radio, going into the entire theory, the clues behind it, the evidence behind those clues, etc. etc. And after that, other large radio stations not only picked it up, but they too ran with it, further adding fuel to this growing fire that Paul McCartney was certainly dead, and that there was indeed a massive cover up, and someone to try and replace him so nobody would know. Now, don't get me wrong. Sure, you could look at all the lyrical references and be like, okay, you know what? Those are just coincidences. They aren't really talking about Paul. But there's a sect of fans under this theory umbrella that believe that the lyrics were not the only clue hinting at Paul's death. In fact, let's look at the visuals, the most notorious being the back cover of the Sgt. Pepper's record, where every Beatle is facing the camera, except Paul McCartney. Hmm, interesting. And of course, one of the more famous ones, the cover of the Magical Mystery Tour, where everybody but McCartney is wearing a different colored suit, and the other three Beatles are holding red roses, while Paul is holding a black one. Were they visually alluding to his death? It seems like it. If not, it's a very interesting artistic choice, that's for sure. And of course, who could forget the Abbey Road cover? Now, supposedly, the Abbey Road cover is supposed to represent a funeral. Because John Lennon in this photo is wearing all white, he's supposed to represent the heavenly figure, the spirit form where Paul ascended up to heaven. Ringo is dressed in all black, and is supposed to represent the Undertaker. Then you have George Harrison wearing all denim, and that is supposed to represent the Gravedigger. And lastly, you have Paul McCartney himself barefoot, and out of step and line with the other three, which is supposed to represent the fact that he's a corpse. Of course, we also have the white Volkswagen Beetle with the letters on the plate, LMW 28 1F. It's speculated that the 28 1F means that if Paul had been alive, he would now be 28, whereas LMW actually means Linda McCartney, widow, and Linda at the time was his wife. And again, more visual accusations kept coming in. Another good one is that they say the real McCartney held a cigarette in his left hand, while this new imposter McCartney held a lit cigarette in his right hand. Others have also speculated that if you hold a reflective butter knife up to a portion of the black album cover of Abbey Road, a skull is reflected back. And this theory had just gotten so out of control that news reporters began to start harassing Paul McCartney himself to try and prove that he was actually alive and the footage they would release of him was for the audiences and general public to determine if that was really him or the imposter. In fact, not only did Beatles representatives and the Beatles themselves vehemently deny that this was the case and that Paul was very much alive, they and McCartney themselves were completely overcome and flabbergasted by how extreme this conspiracy had become. Now, of course, Paul McCartney has commented on this several times and saying things like, someone from the office rang me up and said, look, Paul, you're dead. And I'd say, oh, I don't agree with that. And they said, look, what are you going to do about it? It's a big thing breaking in America. You're dead. And so I said, leave it. Just let them say it. It'll probably be the best publicity we've ever had. And I won't have to do a thing except stay alive. It was a bit weird meeting people shortly after that because they'd be looking at the back of my ears, looking a bit through me. And it was weird doing the, I really am him stuff. So I managed to stay alive through it. There are many that argue that this whole theory was actually started as a massive and genius PR stunt, because as soon as this began circulating, it caused their album sales to explode through the roof. So is this really a case of conspiracy or is this a case of genius marketing? But even though this whole conspiracy was skyrocketing album sales and was giving them great PR, McCartney was growing really, really tired and weary of this thing just going on and on. Paul McCartney would continue to do press interviews and any type of interview he could to try and defend himself and claim that he is alive to try and put this whole thing to rest. But while the rumors did kind of die down eventually, the legend itself never did and continues to this very day. Paul McCartney even said himself that he almost speculates that the press started this rumor because he wasn't appearing in as many interviews as he should've or should've been deemed by the press and he had this to say about it. Perhaps the rumor started because I haven't been in much of the press lately. I've done enough press for a lifetime and I don't have anything to say these days. I'm happy to be with my family and I will work when I work. I was switched on for 10 years and I never switched off. Now I am switching off whenever I can. I would rather be a little less famous these days. However, this urban legend has continued to grow in popularity and has even worked itself into the field of academic study specifically for sociology, psychology, and communications. And in fact, just recently, back in 2009, there was even a forensic analysis done by two consultants of Wired Magazine. They had actually taken photos of McCartney's skull before and after the supposed crash and they then concluded that judging from the photos, the man who is now Paul McCartney from the Paul McCartney pre-1966 are two different individuals. Also, in the book Revolution in the Head, biographer Ian MacDonald would have this to say. Given its origins as an item of gossip and intrigue generated by a select group in the Beatles cult, Paul is Dead serves as a genuine folktale of the mass communications era. It is the most monumental hoax since Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast persuaded thousands of panicky New Jerseyists that Martian invaders were in the vicinity. I think the real question we have to ask ourselves is if this conspiracy is real, why? Why would they decide to take out Paul McCartney or did this just happen to be a freak accident? What's also very interesting to me personally is the timing of the whole thing, right? You have McCartney die right during the recording session and right before 1967, one of the Beatles' biggest years for PR, for album sales, and so this going back to the marketing plan could have been a whole thing set up to make them the best-selling, most revenue generating band in all of history. And we also have to ask ourselves, if the Paul McCartney now is actually him, then what's with all the subtle hints and lyrical concepts about him dying? Why is it that the Abbey Road album cover is set up the way it is? Why in the magical mystery tour is he the only one wearing a black rose? And of course, I could go on and on about all the other clues that could hint to him being dead, but what's the point? Is it possible that all these are just circumstantial? Or maybe the Beatles were actually running along with the concept of McCartney being dead and implementing these little subtle hints in their records and their visuals. As I've already stated that this legend has become so massive it is now still popular today and there are many who still believe the conspiracy that Paul McCartney actually did die on November 9th at 5 in the morning in a car crash after getting into a heated argument with his bandmates and they replaced him with probably the most convincing impersonator there is. But more importantly, I want to know what you guys think. I only did a tiny deep dive into all the evidence there truly is on this case because it is fascinating. Did Paul McCartney actually die on that morning in 1966 in November and they have completely covered the whole thing but leaving subtle clues to let you know? After all, the Beatles were notorious for this kind of hint dropping and subliminal messaging. Or was this the most genius PR marketing jump we've ever seen in record business history? I'd love to know what you think in the comments below, please let me know. And if you enjoyed today's video, make sure to go ahead and slap that like and subscribe button for more content just like this. As always, I love you all, keep an open mind and I'll check you guys out in the very next video. Transcribed by https://otter.ai