Whether you believe in them or not, people love to hear ghost stories. You probably had a pretty boring childhood if you didn’t spend at least one sleepover or camping trip trying to tell the best and creepiest horror story or most ridiculous urban legend. Like we do with horror movies, most of us enjoy the scary thrills of a good story – we can experience the feelings of the situation without actually being part of it. Conspiracy theories are part of that fascination because while no one seems to actually believe in them, they’re still fun to talk about, and we’re willing to let them creep us out sometimes.
Take for instance the theory that Paul McCartney has been dead for more than 40 years and was replaced by a lookalike. Although one website claims that there are 376 documented clues that Paul died in an accident in late 1966, it seems as if many of these were pulled out of nowhere just to keep the theory, and the fun, alive. The majority of the clues appear to be taken from song lyrics, reverse playing of the songs themselves, and album covers and pictures; not many are supported by official documentation. For example, supposedly if you play the beginning of “Revolution 9” backwards, you’ll hear “turn me on, dead man” and at the end of “Strawberry Fields Forever,” someone says “I buried Paul.” Certain lyrics also point to Paul’s death, including in “Come Together” (“one and one and one make three”) and in “She’s Leaving” it states “Wednesday morning at 5 o’clock as the day begins” which is the proposed day and time of Paul’s death. On many album cover and pictures, Paul is distinguished from the rest of the group: on “Abbey Road,” he’s out of step from the others and barefoot (a tradition for burying corpses).
The Sgt. Pepper cover has a “grave” of a guitar, an open palm is shown above Paul’s head (another indication of death), and if you place a mirror in the middle of the drum, an arrow points to Paul next to the words “He Die.”
While I don’t believe that Paul McCartney is actually dead, there are admittedly a suspicious number of clues. If there is a real conspiracy at all, it’s more likely that The Beatles planted some “evidence” to drive people insane and generate more interest in the band. The Beatles were a fun-loving bunch, so it’s not impossible to believe they decided to play a prank on their fans. Still, all four Beatles denied planting false evidence, so the most likely conclusion is that people like to look for patterns and signs. If they concoct a theory, they’ll find ways to make the facts fit and not the other way around.
The most fascinating part about conspiracy theories is not the surrounding speculation and rumor mill, but the people taking them so seriously. The creator of Officially Pronounced Dead? – The Great Beatle Death Conspiracy, although he has list upon list of evidence, has several pages disproving the theory, which attests to its true nature – a fun story that probably isn’t true. One minor Internet celebrity, however, has taken it to extremes by posting videos on YouTube with images and audio relating to the dead Paul theory, writing songs that sound like Beatles songs when you play them backwards, and even planting suitcases at various locations around the world with supposed clues. Of course, no one knows his or her real identity, but the celebrity theorist has implied recently that he or she came upon explosive evidence that once belonged to a long-dead former assistant of McCartney, which may be revealed.
Perhaps this fan hasn’t gotten more attention because he or she is just another kook, a crazy person who can’t let go of an idea that can’t be true (according to general opinion). But almost all of the greatest scientists in history were considered insane or ridiculous until their theories were proven correct years later. While it seems unlikely that Paul McCartney is dead, it’s possible that this believer has evidence of something just as monumental. Followers of the conspiracy believe that the former assistant’s suitcase may contain unreleased Beatles demos, a Beatles biography and proof that he had helped create the concept for “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” If turns out to be true, it could change history.
These sorts of theories can help us to not be passive observers of the world around us. By looking for hidden meanings behind our books, films, music, and whatever else, we’re able to interact with them in a deeper way. And then who knows? Maybe we’ll find and open doors that we never even dreamed of.