"Paul is Dead" clues from Abbey Road
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Abbey Road was the last album recorded by The Beatles (though Let It Be was released later). This album is said to contain clues to the myth that Paul McCartney died and was replaced in 1966. However, it contains fewer clues than the band's three previous albums: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, and the so-called White Album.
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[edit] Cover
The front cover of Abbey Road is said to be a representation of Paul's funeral procession. Lennon is the clergyman or priest (sometimes interpreted as God) (dressed in white), Starr the funeral director, mourner (in black), or pall bearer (formally dressed), McCartney represents the corpse (bare feet, closed eyes, holding a cigarette or "coffin nail", and walking out of step with the others), and Harrison the grave digger (denim working clothes). Additionally, McCartney's cigarette is in his right hand; the "real" Paul is left-handed. However, smokers don't necessarily hold cigarettes in their dominant hands. Most likely he held the cigarette in the right hand so it could be seen. Although some argued that even though Paul played guitar and bass left-handed, he was indeed a right handed person in everything else he did. Also, the pavement behind them is in shadow and the one in front is in sunlight, an allusion to Paul's ascension to heaven by 'crossing into the light'.
[edit] The License Plate
The license plate of the white car reads LMW 281F. Some said that LMW stood for "Linda McCartney Widow (or Weeps)"(despite the fact that Paul and Linda had not yet met), while others said that LMW stood for a phrase such as "Left Me Waiting" or "Lost My Way"—in reference to a heated argument over which route through the city could be negotiated fastest, and the winner, arriving at the destination, wondered what was keeping Paul, this allegedly being the main reason for George Harrison's song, "Blue Jay Way".
The last part of the license plate, 281F (with the "1" interpreted to fill in for an "I"), suggests Paul would have been 28 if he had not died. It should be noted at the time of the album's release, September 26, 1969, McCartney was in fact 27. However, in certain Chinese dating systems, life begins at conception, so by that definition he would have been 28. The Beatles' interest in Buddhism and Hinduism is considered the link to this system. The actual car was a 1968 Volkswagen Beetle owned by a resident of one of the flats across the street from the studio. The symbols can also be re-arranged to "1F MWL", meaning "If McCartney Was Living".
[edit] The other cars
The car visible on the road that The Beatles are crossing is driving down the road (cars drive on the left on British roads) in perfect line with Paul, alluding to his vehicle-related death and reminding us that it happened some time ago. The police vehicle, officially present to stop traffic while the photo was being taken, supposedly represents either the officers who responded to the accident, the hearse, or allude to William Campbell's previous profession (see "The Badge" in Sgt. Pepper's).
[edit] Back cover
On the back cover, a strangely configured and placed "3" in front of the Beatles name seems to indicate three "remaining" Beatles. Also, the name Beatles has a crack running through the letter S, making it imperfect. There is a chip in the letter "O" in "Road", again supposedly because Paul was the only one in the group without an "O" in his name. Some claim that a profile of McCartney's face can be seen in the image of the girl in the blue dress, while the shadows on the wall just behind her form a skull.
The picture is a montage of an original picture of the Abbey Road name on the wall, plus parts of other road names to generate the additional letters, generated during processing.
The letter S has a crack in it - selected to approximately match the crack that was already in the wall, and careful scrutiny shows re-use of the letter E from Abbey.
The montage was retouched to hide the placement of the letters afterwards, and the crack in the S was retouched so that it is difficult to detect.
[edit] Lyrics
[edit] Come Together
"Come Together" contained several alleged clues in the lyrics. "He got hair down to his knee" is taken by believers to refer to the claim that hair and nails continue to grow after death. "He wear no shoeshine" is taken to refer to Paul being barefoot on the cover. "He got toe-jam football" is taken to refer to rugby, a sport Paul liked to play. "He got monkey finger" allegedly refers to the thin frail fingers of a dead body. "One and one and one is three" allegedly refers to there being only three "remaining" Beatles. "Got to be good looking" is believed to refer to McCartney as the "cute" Beatle. "'Cause he's so hard to see" supposedly refers to the faded memory of someone who is now gone. "Come together right now over me" supposedly refers to the scene over McCartney's grave as the mourners come together.
Additionally, the song's chorus when played in reverse is supposed to become "Heave ho...and now...Oh, thank the smoke"; interpreted to mean that they were lifting Paul's crashed car but thankfully the smoke obscured their view of Paul's body from the inside.
[edit] She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
"She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" contains the lines "And so I quit the police department/and got myself a steady job". This is taken by believers to be a reference to McCartney's supposed replacement William Campbell and his previous job as a policeman in Ontario.
[edit] Explanations
The "LMW 281F" licence plate number cannot possibly refer to Linda McCartney, as she only met Paul in 1967.
The cigarette that believers said was in the wrong hand (his right) was actually in the correct hand—the hand in which Paul would have carried it. Paul was left-handed only when playing. In everything else, he was right-handed. (Ringo was afflicted oppositely: he was left-handed but played right-handed.) In a photo taken in 1964, Paul is holding his cigarette in his right hand which proves that there was no mistake on the cover of Abbey Road.
Other photographs from the same photo shoot show that Paul was wearing sandals in some of them, which he had taken off for that particular photo.
[edit] See also
- Paul is dead
- "Paul is Dead" clues from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
- "Paul is Dead" clues from Magical Mystery Tour
- "Paul is Dead" clues from The White Album
