Sgt. Peppers Lonely
Hearts Club Band
"Let me introduce to you,
the one and only Billy Shears..."
Who is this we're being introduced to, and why is he being
introduced as a member of the band? Perhaps the name 'Billy
Shears' is a play on words (something that the Beatles,
and in particular John Lennon, were famous for). For example
- Billy Shears : BillyS hears : Billys Heres : Billy's Here!
"I
don't really want to stop the show."
Why is the show being cut short so early on in the album?
Could this be a reference to the group, and how they didn't
want to stop the show after Paul was killed?
"Billy
Shears!"
Sung at the very end of the song before 'With a Little Help
From my Friends' starts. Is this is reversed you get the
message "Fish is dead." Another play-on-words?
I'm probably missing something obvious here, but currently
the only link I can think of is that you can get a bass
fish, and Paul was the bass player.
Getting Better
"I
have to admit it's getting better, a little better all the
time."
Is this William telling us that every day he's getting a
little better at what he's doing? If this phrase is reversed
you get the message "After all, Paul is dead. He lost
his hair, head." Quite startling!
Fixing a Hole
"I'm fixing a hole where
the rain gets in and stops my mind from wandering."
Could this be a reference to a head injury? Paul's head
injury in the alleged crash is letting the rain in due to
the downpour he was driving through at the time, and the
hole was fixed to stop his mind (brain) from wandering?
She's Leaving Home
"Wednesday morning
at 5 o'clock as the day begins."
This is the time that, according to the story, Paul was
pronounced dead. It's also the line of lyric that George
points to on the back cover of the Sgt. Peppers LP cover.
Within You Without
You
"Never glimpse the truth,
then it's far too late as they pass away."
Is this telling us that the group will take their secret
to the grave? We will never glimpse the truth, and as they
pass away it'll be too late for answers.
"If
they only knew."
Knew what exactly?
"We
were talking about the love that's gone so cold."
Could this be referring to the group love that's now gone
cold after the death of their friend? Or maybe they're referring
to Paul as love and that Paul has gone so cold?
"And
the people who gain the world but lose their soul."
A reference to William Campbell? He gained the world when
he became the new Paul but lost his true soul as William.
"And
life flows on within you and without you."
The life of the group? The life flows on within Paul because
he was the member replaced and so the the life of the group
is managing to flow on without him.
Lovely Rita
"Got the bill, and Rita paid
it."
In Britain, saying that someone had 'paid it' meant that
they had been killed. Also, could the bill be referring
to William? Was Rita also killed?
"I
took her home, I nearly made it."
Remember that, according to the story, Paul picked up Rita
to take her home, but never made it.
Good Morning Good
Morning
"Nothing to do to save his
life, call his wife in."
What was said at the crash site?
"Nothing
has changed, it's still the same."
Well, on face value, nothing really did change did it?
Sgt Pepper Reprise
"1...
2... 3... 4..."
During the count-in for the reprise you can hear John quietly in the
mix saying the word 'Bye'. What's interesting however is that he's saying
it as Paul counts in the number 3. If you turn your attention back to
the Pepper cover you'll see that Paul is the third person along
from left to right. Is this John associating a goodbye with Paul?
"Sgt.
Peppers lonely hearts... (Paul is dead!) club... (Really dead!) band."
You really have to listen close to hear this because for some reason
it was buried away deep into the mix. With a little audio wizardry however
using the OOP (Out Of Phase) effect the lines shouted by McCartney during
the final line of the song can be enhanced. Why is he shouting that
he is really dead? Also, if this line is played backwards we get the
eerie phrase "It was a fake moustache"...
A Day in the Life
"And though the news was
rather sad, well I just had to laugh I saw the photograph."
The news of McCartney's death? John was never good on taking
in the death of somebody close to him - perhaps making light
of it was his way of coming to terms with it?
"He
blew his mind out in a car. He didn't notice that the lights
had changed. A crowd of people stood and stared. They'd
seen his face before, nobody was really sure if he was from
the house of Lords."
The story of Paul's crash? Paul 'blew his mind out' or was
decapitated in the car crash because he didn't see that
the lights had gone to red. The crowd of people that gathered
couldn't recognise him because of the facial disfigurements.
The interesting thing was that since Paul was knighted along
with the other members would would have been allowed in
the house of Lords. However, it's been suggested that John
doesn't sing 'Hall', but rather 'Paul'.
"And
though the holes were rather small, I had to count them
all."
If the holes could be seen in the context of clues (i.e.
the holes in their plan) then this would make more sense.
The clues were small but people out there (like me!) who
just had to find and count them all.
The Inner Groove
"Never
could be any other way / We'll f**k you like we're supermen!"
This little segment was only ever included on the original
1967 mono 1st pressings of the UK release and showed just
how far the group would go to hide little messages in their
work. Firstly it starts with a high pitched whistle that
apparently only dogs can hear before a multitude of gibberish
starts repeating itself over and over. Listen closely and
you can hear the line "Never could be any other way".
what couldn't be? The situation? The cover-up? Reverse it
however and you get an obscene message. During a mid 70's
interview Paul claimed to have no idea how it got on the
record.
