I Buried Paul....

[Albert]

Well, I did a search of the forum and didn't see that this topic was ever discussed. While in Jr. High (circa 1980) I had a teacher who was convinced that the "Paul is Dead" urban legend was in fact true. For those unfamiliar with the concept, it is alleged that Paul McCartney was killed in a car accident and replaced by "Billy Shears", with various album covers, lyrics, and backward messages giving clues to the circumstances of his demise.

Here's a link detailing many of the "clues"... http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/3674/pid.html

Wikkipedia also has a decent accounting of it.


This man could talk for hours on the subject, and it was fascinating to see someone so convinced of something so bizarre and unlikely. So, I was wondering... has anyone else met someone who believed or believes this hoax?

[Choreoanimation]

I have a book on this topic called "The Walrus Was Paul"...it's very good, pretty convincing, and at times creepy.

[Gary Joyce]

You know i had never heard of this before.But my first thoughts after checking up about it where hey its like Eddie and the Cruisers come to life.Interesting stuff though.

[Albert]

I have a book on this topic called "The Walrus Was Paul"...it's very good, pretty convincing, and at times creepy.

I may have to check that out, thanks for the tip. While most of the "clues" are obviously the product of pure imagination, there does seem to be signs that some were planted there, for whatever reason. As has been suggested before, I do think that those involved were reticent about coming clean about the hoax due to the grisly Manson Family murders. After all, when Charlie's claiming to have heard messages on the White Album, it looks pretty bad to come out and say "well yeah, there were messages about Paul being dead-- but that was a joke, man."

[Choreoanimation]

Here's a link to the book on amazon.com. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684850621/sr=8-1/qid=1153795788/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-3338669-4177631?ie=UTF8)

It's been several years since I've read it, but it's good. There's a lot of stuff that's believable, there's some stuff that possible but unlikely, and then there's some things in that book that are so outlandish you dismiss it and close the book.

Then you remember you're dealing with the Beatles in the late 60's and you never know what the hell was going on, so you open the book again. Now I want to read the book again, but I've let a lot of friends borrow it and I don't even know if I have it anymore.

***Following are a few items from the book that I can recall...I guess you can call them spoilers, but really they're just a few examples found in the book. You've been warned...***

Seriously though, there are some things in this book that really make you wonder if any of this is legit, such as a section in the book about how audio tests on the Beatles later work reveals that "Paul's" voice patterns and waves and other technical things more closely resemble those of John on the same work than it does Paul from earlier work, thus leading to the theory that everything sung by "Paul" in the late 60's was actually sung by John, who was doing his best Paul empression. The book also talks about how the conspiracy was carried over to "Paul's" solo career and clues can be found on his albums...there's an old saying in England that "life is a bowl of cherries", and one of the first McCartney albums has an empty bowl with cherries spilled onto the table. The book talks about album covers a lot, which is really interesting. I remember something about if you take "Magical Mystery Tour" and draw a line to connect the stars on the cover, then look at it in a mirror, you will see a phone number that supposedly connected you to a funeral home in Liverpool. That's one of the things I was talking about in my earlier post when I used the word "creepy".

[Albert]

You've piqued my curiosity, Choreo. I'll definitely pick it up.

The thing I find interesting is the vast number of "clues" that have been accumulated. Of course, this goes back to the who "Bible Code' theories, prophecies of Nostradamus and such. If you take any large body of work, whether it be the Old Testament, Shakespeare's written works, or the albums of the Beatle's (especially if you include Wings and other solo work) and start digging with a preconceieved notion, you'd likely find "evidence" to support anything. Particularly when you start juxtaposing, incrementing, and reversing text and lyrics.

The audio tests are a new wrinkle I haven't heard about. Given the fact that the Beatles as a whole were disintigrating and spinning off into their own interests at the time, it wouldn't surprise me if John had "pinch-hit" on vocals on some occasions. The fact that alot of songs credited as being written by Lennon-McCartney were written by one or the other seems to set a precedent for such an activity.

Now I'm not saying that you came away a believer, don't get me wrong. But obviously some things "creeped" you out-- which is a good enough reason for me to check this out. :D However, what interests me most is the sociological impact of these sort of things, whether they be Elvis sightings or what-have-you. Invaraiably, conspiracy theorists fascinate me more than their theories.

[Ontir]

I love Urban Legends, but hadn't heard about the Walrus Was Paul.... This shoudl be made into a film!

[Choreoanimation]

Now I'm not saying that you came away a believer, don't get me wrong. But obviously some things "creeped" you out-- which is a good enough reason for me to check this out. :D However, what interests me most is the sociological impact of these sort of things, whether they be Elvis sightings or what-have-you. Invaraiably, conspiracy theorists fascinate me more than their theories.

I'm not a believer that this event actually happened (Paul waking up dead), but I am a believer that they did these things intentionally just to screw with everyone. And, apparently, it worked...because here we are, forty years later, still talking about it. Of course, I also agree with what you said about people finding things to support their position. I think there are a lot of clues that are "happy accidents", meaning they were not intentional, but they worked and fell in line with the rest of the story. I also think there are a lot of things people have found and forced into the theory, or see things that aren't really there...such as, "Paul's head is bigger than the other three in the white album photos, so he must be dead."

As far as me being creeped out by this stuff...first off, I'm not a fan of scary movies or things like that, so it doesn't take much for me to get a little paranoid. Secondly, I think those creepy feelings came not only from the subject matter, but the fact that I was reading it at 15 years old on dark stormy nights in south Louisiana...atmosphere and environment can do a lot to perception. And, another thing you said that I hadn't even thought of...I need to re-read this since I am a sociology student...I would have an entirely new lens through which to view this story. Anywho, it is definately worth reading for any Beatles fan or any conspiracy theorist.

On a semi-related note, for all you conspiracy theorist out there...just in case some of you didn't know this, there is a movie in production (due out next year) called "Chapter 27" about MD Chapman's obsession with "Catcher In The Rye" and his eventual murder of John Lennon. The book "Catcher In The Rye" had only 26 chapters, and legend has it Chapman felt he was writing a 27th chapter to the book by killing Lennon

[Albert]

On a semi-related note, for all you conspiracy theorist out there...just in case some of you didn't know this, there is a movie in production (due out next year) called "Chapter 27" about MD Chapman's obsession with "Catcher In The Rye" and his eventual murder of John Lennon. The book "Catcher In The Rye" had only 26 chapters, and legend has it Chapman felt he was writing a 27th chapter to the book by killing Lennon

I did not know this, but will look for it. I'm only peripherally aware of the details about Chapman, though of course I knew about the Catcher in the Eye connections, and how Watching the Wheels was supposedly (in Chapman's mind anyway) was related to the carousel scene in the book.

I'm not a believer that this event actually happened (Paul waking up dead), but I am a believer that they did these things intentionally just to screw with everyone. And, apparently, it worked...because here we are, forty years later, still talking about it.

That's my feeling as well. The Chapman assassination may be another reason why no one has "come clean" about any hidden messages in the songs: after Manson, and then Chapman, its got to be a very sore subject.

Knowing your age when you read the book brings that part into perspective. I had a similar experience when reading The Amityville Horror at that age, and it seemed very convincing at the time. I was 14 when I had my conversation with this teacher on the subject of the Paul "conspiracy", and dating an older (well, she was 16) girl who was sort of an acolyte on the topic. So, I originally learned of it by oral tradition, the typical way Urban Legends are circulated. Given your background in Sociology, I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts after you have re-read the book.