The Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ Made Some Fans Think Paul McCartney Died
TL;DR:
- The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour features a dance sequence set to the song “Your Mother Should Know.”
- Paul McCartney wore a black carnation in the scene while the other Beatles wore red carnations.
- This caused some fans to think Paul died and got replaced with a body double.
The Beatles‘ Magical Mystery Tour made some fans think Paul McCartney was dead even though he appeared in the film. Paul discussed his feelings about this phenomenon. In addition, he discussed John Lennon’s dancing in the movie.
What Paul McCartney thought of John Lennon dancing in The Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’
The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour movie features a dance sequence set to the song “Your Mother Should Know.” In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed the “Your Mother Should Know” sequence. “The big prop was that great big staircase that we danced down, that was where all the money went: in that particular shot on that big staircase,” he said.
“I said, ‘Sod it, you’ve got to have the Busby Berkeley ending,’ and it is a good sequence,” he added. For context, Berkeley was a director known for elaborate Old Hollywood musicals.
Paul discussed John Lennon’s contribution to the scene. “Just the fact of John dancing; which he did readily,” he said. “You can see by the fun expression on his face that he wasn’t forced into anything.”
A black carnation made some of The Beatles’ fans feel Paul McCartney died and got replaced
Paul said the scene partly inspired a conspiracy theory. “People read significance into the fact that I had a black carnation on,” he said. “The truth of the matter was they’d only brought three red ones.
“There’d been a mistake, as there often is with film crews, and they’d brought three red ones and a few black ones, and for some reason, I said, ‘Well, you have them,'” he said. “I wasn’t trying to make a special point or anything, but it became part of the ‘Paul is dead’ legacy afterwards.”
For context, “Paul is dead” is a conspiracy theory that Paul died in the late 1960s and got replaced with a body double named Billy Shears. That named comes from the lyrics of “With a Little Help From My Friends.” Fans looked to The Beatles’ lyrics and album covers as confirmation of this silly theory.
How ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ and ‘Your Mother Should Know’ performed on the charts
“Your Mother Should Know” was not a single so it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The tune appeared on the soundtrack of Magical Mystery Tour. The album topped the Billboard 200 for eight weeks. The album lasted on the chart for 93 weeks.
The Official Charts Company reports “Your Mother Should Know” did not chart in the United Kingdom either. On the other hand, The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour peaked at No. 31 in the U.K. and stayed on the chart for 10 weeks.
“Your Mother Should Know” is a classic vaudeville song even if it doesn’t prove Paul actually died a long time ago.
