When you’re the most famous, most beloved, and simply the gold standard when it comes to rock and roll bands, people are going to have their conspiracy theories about you. That’s just what comes with fame. These conspiracy theories often regard a band’s personal lives and the songs they unleash into the world. Such is the case when it comes to The Beatles.
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Here below, we wanted to explore three songs from the Liverpool, England-born group that plenty of fans have theories about. From hidden lyrics to subliminal messages, these are three songs from the British group that are known for (possibly) having secret meanings.
“Revolution 9” from ‘The Beatles’ (1968)
Is this a song? If so, it tests the boundaries of the very definition of the word. It’s almost a sonic collage that the band produced in the studio, featuring sound effects, random bits of dialogue, vocal inflections, and linguistic repetition. When it comes to the catalog of The Beatles, it certainly stands out for how strange and unique it is. And that’s saying something. But when it comes to hidden messages, some fans have an even stranger theory. The repeated phrase “number nine” when played backwards, some note, sounds like “turn me on, dead man.” Can you hear it?
“I’m So Tired” from ‘The Beatles’ (1968)
Along with “Number 9”, the song “I’m So Tired” also appears on the band’s self-titled 1968 LP, which is also known as The White Album. The track is sung by John Lennon, and it is about a great feeling of fatigue. You can imagine how worn out the band was thanks to their fame. But at the very end of the song, some fans have thought that the vocal mumbling sounds like someone is saying “Paul is a dead man, miss him, miss him, miss him.” Strangely, this fueled the erroneous rumor that Paul McCartney had died sometime in the 60s.
“Strawberry Fields Forever” (Single, 1967)
Did somebody say erroneous Paul rumors? Well, this song supposedly added more fuel to the fire when some listeners interpreted a John Lennon mumble at the end of this psychedelic rock single to be the singer saying, “I buried Paul.” Can you imagine if this had actually happened? It would be the biggest murder case in history, dwarfing O.J. Simpson and The Menendez Brothers. Thank goodness it’s all conjecture… Or is it?! (Ha!)
Photo by Daily Mirror/Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
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