Jazzmin's Garden

There are many different versions of the story but all have to deal with a car crash. The one that has been circulated the most is this... Paul got into a car crash early one Wednesday morning at 5 o'clock ("Wednesday morning at 5 o'clock as the day begins" - She's Leaving Home - Sgt. Pepper ) while looking at a pretty meter maid ("Lovely Rita Meter Maid" - Lovely Rita - Sgt. Pepper). He didn't notice that the stop light had changed (He blew his mind out in a car...he didn't notice that the lights had changed - A Day In The Life - Sgt. Pepper) and got into a car crash. He was, supposedly, killed immediately. In fact the impact was so fearsome, Paul's teeth and hair got knocked out/off ("You were in a car crash and you lost your hair" - Don't Pass Me By - The White Album).The accident occurred so early that the Wednesday morning papers would have been able to print an article about the crash but Brian Epstein quickly covered it up ("Wednesday morning papers didn't come" - Lady Madonna - Released as a Single).

The legend says that Paul McCartney was involved in a car crash, 'Wednesday morning at five o'clock'. Newspaper articles ran on October 22 and 23, 1969 in New York Newsday. He apparently 'didn't notice that the lights had changed,' He died from head wounds so severe [He blew his mind out in a car] that his teeth were knocked out, rendering dental records to identify the body useless. This may explain why the public didn't know that Paul had died for some three years and the Beatles were able to hide his death. A Paul McCartney look-alike contest was held, but the winner was never publicly announced. The winner, a man by the name of William Campbell, was given plastic surgery to complete the replication of Paul. Campbell [a.k.a. Billy Shears] was the stand-in for Paul McCartney in all photos thereafter.

On the cover of Yesterday And Today, "Paul" sits in a trunk. Turn it sideways, and he seems to be in a coffin.

On the cover of Revolver, "Paul" is turned to the side, as if he doesn't really fit in.

Revolver contains numerous references to death, such as in "She Said She Said."

On the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, a hand is held directly over "Paul's" head. This is supposed to be a symbol of death. On the same cover, "Paul's bass is laid on flowers atop a coffin. "Paul" is also holding a black musical instrument.

On the inside of the cover, "Paul" wears a black arm band with the letters OPD, which is a Canadian acronym for Officially Pronounced Dead. [Actually the arm band says OPP and it stands for Ontario Provincial Police]. On the back cover, "Paul's back is turned to the camera.

Also on the back cover, the lyrics "Without You" (part of the title "Within You and Without You") bloom from "Paul's" head. And George is pointing at the lyrics "Wednesday morning at five o'clock"; the time of Paul's death.

"A Day in the Life" contains the line, "He blew his mind out in a car"; this is supposedly the manner in which Paul died.

On The White Album track Revolution 9 there is a voice that repeats "number nine, number nine." If you play this segment backward, it becomes "turn me on, dead man."

On Lennon's song "Glass Onion", he says, "And here's another clue for you all/The Walrus was Paul." In some societies, the walrus is an image of death, but this is most important as Lennon's acknowledgment of the rumor.

The poster included with The White Album contains many references to McCartney's "death." For example, there is a picture of "Paul's" head lying back in a bath; this resembles what he may have looked like after the "the car crash."

The picture also shows a scar on "Paul's" lip, which supposedly had never been there before. [The scar he got from a motorcycle (or scooter?) accident in late '66, which was covered up by the Pepper mustache.

On the cover of Magical Mystery Tour, the words of the title are written in stars. If you turn the album upside down, the letters reveal a phone number that some say you could call to find out details of Paul's death. A Midwest Beatles fan who phoned this number in 1969 says a gruff voice answered with "You're getting closer...."

Inside the booklet accompanying Magical Mystery Tour, there is a picture of "Paul" sitting at a desk on which there is a sign that reads, "I was you."

In the "Your Mother Should Know" sequence of the Magical Mystery Tour movie, "Paul" wears a black carnation; the others wear red ones. ("Paul" has explained that they ran out of red carnations.)

At the end of the Magical Mystery Tour photo book, there is a picture of The Beatles interspersed with shots of many other people. There is a hand directly over "Paul's" head.

On the cover of Abbey Road, "Paul" is barefoot (corpses are said to be buried without shoes) and out of step with the other Beatles. His eyes appear to be closed. He is also smoking. The other Beatles wear clothing contributing to the motif: John, all in white, is the preacher; Ringo, all in black, is the pallbearer [or undertaker]; George, all in denim, is the gravedigger. There is also a Volkswagen with the license number "28 IF," symbolizing that McCartney would have been twenty-eight years old if he had lived. (But he would have been 27, so some people bring up the fact that some eastern religions count the time you spent in the womb toward your age, making Paul 28 in 1969).

On the back cover, immediately after the words Abbey Road, a skull-like drawing can be discerned.

In "Come Together", Lennon sings, "One and one and one is three." Three Beatles. What about Paul?