3. The Many References To The Paul Is Dead Conspiracy
In January 1967 Paul McCartney was killed in a car crash. Not wanting to ruin The Beatles cash cow, a major conspiracy was concocted where a lookalike would pose as Paul and the band would continue as "normal". Or at least that's what a rabid fan theory created by some students in 1969 that is so bonkers it gained some serious mainstream traction suggests. Although propagated by a true life accident, people began to read into The Beatles' output for clues that Paul McCartney was indeed dead. Things initially gravitated around Sgt. Pepper, the first album since his proposed death; the introduction of Billy Shears at the end of the opening eponymous song was taken to be the debut of Paul's replacement (it is, in fact, a remnant of that album's initial concept as a piece by the Lonely Hearts Club Band - Ringo, who sings With A Little Help From My Friends straight after the name drop, is "Billy") and the back of the LP featured Paul with his back to the camera, suggested to hide his identity. And then things get ridiculous, with a never-ending run of "clues" uncovered. At the end of Strawberry Fields Forever, John can be heard saying "I buried Paul" (actually a mishearing - it's "Cranberry sauce") and on the front of Abbey Road Paul is barefoot because he's, well, dead. Best of all, when the titular "Number nine" of Revolution 9 is played backwards, it sounds like "Turn me on, dead man" (which, in the theories defence, actually makes just about much sense as any other justification for that song). How much of this was the band playing with everyone and how much was simply overeager theorists is unclear, but boy is it a lot of fun either way. The final stage of the joke came decades after the band's break-up, when the still very-much alive McCartney did a live tour called (and this is a doozy) Paul Is Live.
