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Most Beatles fans are aware of a conspiracy theory that has been around since the late 1960s which claims that Paul McCartney died and was replaced by a man who has been pretending to be Paul to this very day. While clues pointing to this possibility have ranged from questionable to highly probable, the release of a "novel" entitled "The Memoires of Billy Shears" on 9.9.09 brought a new level of credibilty to it all. Given that it is widely considered to be the authoratative P.I.D. [Paul is Dead] resource at this point, much of the information contained here inevitably builds off of it. For that reason it is advisable, but not necessary, to give it a read, or check out my older blogs on the topic [link at the bottom of this page].
Although many Beatles fans still have no idea a book called "The Memoires of Billy Shears" exists, the individuals who are aware of the book have not taken what it contains lightly. One particular Beatles Fan, Sharon Clemons, went ahead and used the book to create a rabbit trail of her own, which is quite fascinating. It indicates that Paul McCartney died in America's Pacific Northwest of all places! Her findings can be explored in the book "Forbidden Fruit: Solving the Hidden Puzzle in the Beatles' Works From the Psychedelic Era."
In this blog, I'll be exploring some of the connections Sharon Clemons has made in her book between the Beatles and Seattle. Given my previous research concerning Seattle bands of the 1990s, I'm obviously looking for connections - of which there are a few. But I am going to avoid digressing too far into certain areas simply because this is a vast topic and I want to narrow it down into 1 readable blog.
[Dale Chihuly, renowned glass artist]
“Glass onions, in particular, became a popular subject for glassblowing in Washington State, where the Walla Walla sweet onion is the state vegetable. In 1968, Dale Chihuly, the man who would become Seattle’s most famous glass artist, gave his first public glass blowing demonstration in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, at the Bellevue Arts Festival…The song “Glass Onion” was recorded in September and October of 1968, just a couple months after Chihuly’s exhibition…”
Sharon Clemon's starting point in determining that Paul's death occured in the Pacific Northwest of the United States seems to begin with the lyrics to the song "Glass Onion."
The key to unlocking hidden meanings within the Beatle's lyrics and symbolism is to assume everything has more than one layer, like the metaphorical layers of an onion. A "glass onion" can represent both an art-piece but also a kind of looking glass, where everything appears a little different. Publicly, the Beatles can always fall back on whatever explanation they prefer we hear, and deny any others they don't. Plausible deniability. This is very Freemasonic thinking, by the way.
I told you about strawberry fields
You know the place where nothing is real
Well, here's another place you can go
Where everything flows
If "nothing is REAL" in Strawberry Fields, is John suggesting an alternative location in order to get some actual REALITY? Where everything "flows?" There happens to be lots of water which FLOWS through Seattle. But so what? Lots of places have water flowing through them! True enough, but we're just getting started here.
"There are a number of annual strawberry festivals in the Seattle area…there are a large number of strawberry farms on the western side of the cascades range, the MTN range east of Seattle…it will become apparent that the strawberry fields referred to in the song “strawberry fields forever” were actually strawberry fields in western WA State…in spite of the fact that the official Beatle’s narrative about this song…refers to the Strawberry Field orphanage in Liverpool."
Looking through the bent-backed tulips
To see how the other half lives
Looking through a glass onion
"Seattle is a popular April vacation destination for lovers of Tulips…the largest grower of tulips in the United States is located just about an hour north of Seattle in Mount Vernon, WA…The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is not the only festival of interest near Seattle."
I told you about the walrus and me, man
You know that we're as close as can be, man
Well, here's another clue for you all
The walrus was Paul
What is interesting about the lyrics to "Glass Onion" is that John seems to very outwardly acknowledge that we all need a "clue" in order to make sense of the Magical Mystery contained within the song "I Am The Walrus". He seems to be saying, "Yes, this is a riddle for you to solve." The clue is that "the Walrus was Paul."
There is a large booklet that comes with the album "Magical Mystery Tour," which is basically a program guide to both the album and the film of the same name. In this comic storyboard version of the film, John Lennon is one of the "tourists" on the Magical Mystery Tour bus. As they enter "the Amazing musical land of the Walrus," John states "I Am the Walrus." A young girl then laughs and says "No You're Not!"
So why are we being given the "clue" here that John is NOT the Walrus, even though he sings the song? If we simply accept the clue and we assume "the walrus was Paul," this means the song is not about a walrus or John Lennon, it's about Paul! This tells us that all of the wacky imagery in the song is most likely a metaphor or a symbol of something else entirely. Something having to do with...Paul?
Note that the MMT booklet takes us through "the Amazing musical land of the Walrus." Why is that signifficant? It's associating the Walrus with a PLACE we are travelling through. A place having to do with Paul.
The Beatles' last 3 concerts were 8.25.66 (Seattle Coliseum), 8.28.66 (Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles), and 8.29.66 (Candlestick Park, San Francisco).
"On August 25, 1966 The Beatles play two concerts -- one in the afternoon, one in the evening -- at the Seattle Center Coliseum...When the Beatles arrived at the Sea-Tac Airport for their Seattle concerts, they were most likely driven north from the airport on State Route 99 directly to their hotel in downtown Seattle...The group stayed downtown at the Edgewater Inn…it was here that they gave their last press conference before the original Paul McCartney is alleged by some to have gone missing"
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen
I am the walrus, goo-goo g'joob
If Paul is the Walrus, who is the eggman? Who are the eggmen? This "word salad" tells us WHERE Paul was and what he may have seen before he died. This is done not by telling a linear story, but by simply throwing words out at random, which name landmarks. This way, most can pass it off as gibberish, while the very dedicated, and I mean DEDICATED sleuth, will be lead through "the Magical Mystery Tour" of Paul's death.
[The Arctic Building, now The Arctic Club Seattle Hotel, is a Beaux-Arts style masterpiece in the city of Seattle that was built in 1916 by two prominent Washington architects. Known as the building with the walrus tusks, it once served as the headquarters of the Arctic Club - an all-male business and social club for the city's elite. This architectural gem, with distinctive decorative features reminiscent of its namesake, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in November 1978 and is a City of Seattle Landmark.]
It seems plausible that if one were only in town for a short period, as the Beatles were, the Walrus Building is the kind of "tourist" location that would stand out. It is a landmark that, when viewed with other landmarks, tell us where we are location-wise.
[Encouraged by the rapid growth of Seattle’s business and retail districts to the north, the Hotel Waldorf, once the biggest apartment house in town, was built on the northeast corner of Pike Street and 7th... (Courtesy Museum of History & Industry) - Seattle Times]
“There was a small, short order cafe that was not far away from the Arctic building…the Golden Egg…its specialty was eggs. A short order cook who specializes in cooking eggs is often referred to as an egg man…The owner of this little restaurant…placed a giant golden egg above its entrance…was located at 7th and Pike."
I couldn't find much on the term "Egg-Man" online, but then it is a pretty self-explanatory title. As would be the term "Egg-Men," I suppose.
"...located at 7th and Pike…there were some “egg men” located just a few blocks towards the waterfront from the [Golden Egg] restaurant…farmers from nearby chicken ranches who sold their eggs at the GEM EGG MARKET…part of a larger complex that is still there, known as the Public Market (now known as the Pike Place Market)…"
[Modern Day Pike Place and Pine]
"The ground floor of the building is occupied by commercial space. Previous tenants included a poultry company, the original location of the Dunn Seed Company (then-called C. B. Strong Company), a restaurant, a grocery and bakery, a meat purveyor, and the GEM EGG MARKET." - HistoryLink.tours
Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess
Boy, you been a naughty girl you let your knickers down
“The Public Market also had, and still has, a “world famous fish market, Pike Place Fish…In England, a female fishmonger has historically been called a fishwife…when a “fishwife” at the Public Market received an order for crab for delivery somewhere around the world, she placed that crab in a locker to be shipped.”
The words “pornographic” and “priestess” appear to be words alluding to an organization that is located on Thorndyke Avenue W. In Seattle…the Order Temple Orientis, known as the O.T.O., an occult organization that has priests and priestesses and that practices sex magic rituals.”
Elementary penguin
singing Hari Krishna
Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar-Allan-Poe
"In late 1966 and 1967, individuals chanting the Hare Krisna mantra also began appearing there [Pike Place Market]…in 1966, the founder of the Krishna organization (ISKCON)…he was building a Temple in Seattle.”
"The Hare Krishna movement was prominent in Seattle in the 1960s and 1970s. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) established the Seattle temple in 1968 as it's 4th project in the United States." - Google A.I.
"The tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata), also known as crested puffin, is a relatively abundant medium-sized pelagic seabird in the auk family (Alcidae) found throughout the North Pacific Ocean." - wiki
"The word “penguin” in the song is actually pointing to Penguin Books, the British publishing house. They have an elementary division for children, known as Puffin."
The line "kicking Edgar Allen Poe" is first noteworthy because the famous author is one of the faces featured on the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band's album cover. But in reference to Seattle, Sharon Clemons decided to look for a Raven symbol, given that The Raven is one of Poe's most well known poems/writings.
Although the Totem Pole at Pioneer Square is indeed as signifficant a landmark as any in Seattle, this connection to Poe by way of the Raven is not one of the more compelling connections to me. However, the circumstances surrounding Poe's death do seem like they might be relavant, especially given Poe's presence at Paul's "public funeral" [Sargent Pepper's album cover, that is]
"The actual cause of death remains a mystery...One theory dating from 1872 suggests that Poe's death resulted from cooping, a form of electoral fraud in which citizens were forced to vote for a particular candidate, sometimes leading to violence and even murder." - wiki
Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar-Allan-Poe
See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly
See how they smile like pigs in a sty, see how they snied
"Place Pigalle, located at Pike St and Post Alley. It was named after the public square in Pigalle, the red light district of Paris…It was a seedy inn and bar next to what was once a historic brothel, and it also acquired the name “pig alley.”"
Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come
“…Hanford Street Grain Terminal…located at Terminal 25, Pier 25 at the time. The Hanford Terminal had grain elevators, which were used for elevating grains and grain derivatives into storage…wheat and wheat derivatives, such as semolina, as well asa corn, rice, cereal, and other items…occasionally some might fall loose and be blown by the wind, especially products that were light, such as cornflakes.”
Semolina pilchard, climbing up the Eiffel Tower
“The second terminal was the Spokane Street Terminal, which stood between Piers 24 and 25 (between Spokane and Hanford Streets) in the 1960s…. In addition to crab, it would also store the type of small fish that can be canned such as sardines and pilchard(s), which are plentiful in Puget Sound. Actually, some refer to pilchard as the sardines of the Pacific Northwest…”
“At several points along the highway, the facilities would have appeared against a backdrop of Seattle’s Space Needle in the distance…The Space Needle has often been referred to as America’s Eiffel Tower…If he [Lennon] had seen the grains and fish being elevated into the storage facilities with Seattle’s Space Needle in the background, it might well have seemed to him as if semolina and pilchard really were climbing up America’s Eiffel Tower.."
Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun
If the sun don't come, you get a tan from standing in the english rain
"…these 2 words [english and garden] are pointing to a very special botanical garden in Seattle, created by a man named English. It is located at 3015 NW 54th ST. and is on the grounds of the Hiram M Chittendon locks…if one were sitting in the English Botanical Gardens, one might have to wait a while for the sun to come out…since Seattle is known as “rain city.”
"At the end of the Beatle’s recording of “I Am A Walrus,” an excerpt from the death scene in Shakespeare’s King Lear is spoken…At the time the Beatle’s visited Seattle for the first time [1963], the inaugural season for the Seattle Repertory Theatre was receiving growing praise from critics around the country…They had a smash hit with their inaugural production - King Lear…"
[Screenshot taken from seattlerep.org]
Let's go back to the Glass Onion lyrics again:
Fixing a hole in the ocean
Trying to make a dovetail joint, yeah
“John refers to a hole that is located in the ocean…refers to the Octopus hole - a conservation area that is part of Hood Canal. Hood Canal is an extension of Puget Sound…an inlet of the Pacific Ocean…the Octopus Hole is technically a hole within an ocean. The same Octopus Hole is also aluded to in the song “Octopus Garden” from the Beatle’s Abbey Road album. The lyrics to this song indicate that this particular Octopus’ Garden has a cave nearby. In fact there is a cave that is very close to Octopus Hole. It is just North of it off HWY 101."
"Before the tech industry exploded in the 1970s, Seattle was probably best known for its lumber industry. John’s reference to the “Dovetail” type of joint is what is relevant here….Dovetail joints join 2 pieces of lumber without using any mechanical fasteners.”
“While “Glass Onion” points to areas near Seattle to the West (the Octopus Hole), to the North (tulips), and to the east (the Cascades - and the strawberry fields up and down their west side) “I Am the Walrus” points to a place South of Seattle with its reference to a “Tuesday” that was “Bloody.”
Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday
Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long
"That place is Centralia, WA, the location of the infamous Centralia Massacre, which occurred on Tuesday in 1919."
"The references to the 4 places together paint an area around Seattle with the city in the bulls eye."
In case you missed all that, the 4 places referred to here are:
Centralia, South of Seattle, location of the Centralia Massacre
Octopus Hole, West of Seattle, referenced in "Fixing a Hole" and "Octopus Garden."
Cascade Mountains, East of Seattle, abundant Strawberry farms/Festivals
Mount Vernon, North of Seattle, largest grower of tulips in the U.S.
As part 1 comes to a close here, I must acknowledge that part of me wonders if this is all elaborate bullshit, or a riddle that was never really intended to be solved by anyone on the "outside." In other words, it was intended to be revealed in the future, which is NOW, by those who PLANTED the clues. And just as "The Memoires of Billy Shears" seems almost impossible to have been written by anyone other than someone with inside Beatles information - I almost feel that way about Sharon Clemons' book as well. Given that Clemons sort of emerged from out of nowhere, with seemingly no other books under her belt and with no publisher, the thought does occur to me that she may not just be some mere Beatle's fan with an extraordinary ability to solve "Paul is Dead" riddles. But at this point I am more concerned with the information she has given us, than I am with who she is or how she managed to come up with it all.
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