Abbey Road

Front Cover

The Funeral Procession It's been wondered if the way the Beatles are dressed could hold any meaning. There is one theory that they have dressed to symbolise a funeral procession. John, dressed in pure white symbolises the preacher or heavenly body. Ringo, dressed in full black symbolises the mourner. George, in scruffy denim jeans and shirt symbolises the gravedigger and Paul, dressed in a shabby, out-dated suit and barefoot symbolises the corpse.

Out of Step George, Ringo and John all have their left leg forward but Paul has his right leg forward, again seemingly showing that he is somehow different from the others. But why?

Barefoot Paul is shown bare-foot on the front cover. Paul explained that he went to the photoshoot wearing sandals and because it was a hot day he simply kicked them off and went barefoot. But if it was a hot day then surely the hot tarmac would have been even more uncomfortable for him?

The Cigarette Paul is holding a cigarette in his right hand. But isn't Paul supposed to be left handed? Also, we must remember that back in the 1960's cigarettes were commonly referred to as 'coffin nails'. Is this showing us that Paul's coffin has been nailed?

The Registration Plate Behind George there's a VW Beetle which, when you look closely, has the number plate LMW 28IF. Could this be telling us that Paul would have been 28 IF he had survived? It's been argued that since Paul was born in 1942 he would have only been 27, but he would have been in his 28th year of existance as Indian beliefs count life from conception and not birth. The Beatles made no secrets of their Indian beliefs.

The Spectators In the background we can see a group of three people dressed in white outside the Abbey Road Studios and a lone individual on the right dressed in dark clothes and hidden by shade. Could this be a symbolism of the group and how William was feeling left out? Perhaps it's symbolising how one member is different from the others?

The Police Van Behind the group is parked a police van. Is this a subtle 'thank you' for the policemen who, according to the story, arrived at the scene and then subsequantly bribed to keep quiet? Perhaps it's referring to the police being at the crash?

The Line of Cars Starting from the VW Beetle there appears to be a line of four cars in a straight line. If a line is drawn connecting their right wheels you can see that it runs straight through Paul's head, almost precisely through the parting 'scar'. Is this telling us that McCartney sustained a head unjury because of a car?

The Bloodstain There's a rather interesting little anomaly on the original early 1st pressing of the Australian version of the LP. There appears to be a rather promiment blood-stain splattered on the road just to the right of Ringo (click on the image on the left for a graphic of the full cover). A reference to a rather gory road accident?

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The Back Cover

The Cracked S On the wall there is the name 'BEATLES' which has a visible crack running through the S. Is this telling us that the group is not perfect, or that cracks are beginning to show in the group?

The Dots To the left of the name 'BEATLES' there are a series of 8 dots which, when joined together, make the number 3. Why is the back cover telling us that there are "3 Beatles"?

The Image of Death If the cover is turned approximately 45 degrees anti clockwise a crude image of the Grim Reaper can be seen from his skull head to his long black gown. Why does the back cover of Abbey Road have an image of death? Could it be the same reason as to why the S in BEATLES has a crack in it, and why the dots give us the message "3 BEATLES"? Could a death in the group have prompted these images?

The Girl Nobody is really sure why the image of a girl is shown hurredly walking to the right on the back cover. Some have speculated that this could have been Rita either fleeing from the crash or running to go get help. If you compare this girl to the one shown during the Car Crash scene of Free As a Bird there's a striking resemblance. Was this intentional?

Paul's Final Resting Place The very name on the back cover could be conveying a cryptic message as to Paul's last resting place. If we read the full writing on the wall, and split the band's name we get "BE AT LES ABBEY". Les is the French definite article (though in plural). Furthermore, if we use numerologic on the next two letters and add the two together, (R and O are the 18th and 15th letters in the alphabet) you get 33, multiply this by the number of letters (2) and we get 66. What year did Paul die? But this is not all! 33 can also be read as CC (the third letter twice). Cece is short for Cecilia, suggesting that Paul could possibly be resting in peace in St. Cecilia's Abbey in Rhyde on the Isle of Wight.

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