Interview for Life Magazine • Friday, November 7, 1969
The case of the missing Beatles - Paul is still with us
Press interview • Interview of Paul McCartney
Interview
Life Magazine published an article on the recent “Paul Is Dead” rumour, detailing the various clues found on The Beatles album cover photos, and containing a brief interview of Paul McCartney.
Life magazine’s London correspondent went to Scotland and trespassed on Paul’s farm, hoping to be granted a photo or a brief interview. It was reported that Paul was so angry at the encounter that he threw a bucket of water at him, before calming down and accepting to be interviewed and photographed.
On September 20, 1969, John Lennon announced to the other Beatles his decision to leave the band. They had decided to keep this decision secret for the time being, but Paul declared in this interview to Life Magazine:
The Beatle thing is over. It has been exploded, partly by what we have done, and partly by other people. We are individuals, all different. John married Yoko, I married Linda. We didn’t marry the same girl.
Paul McCartney
This sentence strangely went unnoticed at the time.
LIFE London Correspondent Dorothy Bacon wadded through a bog in Scotland to reach Paul McCartney’s secluded farm and get this comment from him:
It is all bloody stupid. I picked up that OPD badge in Canada [the badge Paul wears on his Sgt. Pepper suit]. It was a police badge. Perhaps it means Ontario Police Department or something. I was wearing a black flower because they ran out of red ones. It is John, not me, dressed in black on the cover and inside of Magical Mystery Tour. On Abbey Road we were wearing our ordinary clothes. I was walking barefoot because it was a hot day. The Volkswagen just happened to be parked there.
Perhaps the rumor started because I haven’t been much in the press lately. I have done enough press for a lifetime, and I don’t have anything to say these days. I am happy to be with my family and I will work when I work. I was switched on for ten years and I never switched off. Now I am switching off whenever I can. I would rather be a little less famous these days.
I would rather do what I began by doing, which is making music. We make good music and we want to go on making good music. But the Beatle thing is over. It has been exploded, partly by what we have done, and partly by other people. We are individuals, all different. John married Yoko, I married Linda. We didn’t marry the same girl. The people who are making up these rumors should look to themselves a little more. There is not enough time in life. They should worry about themselves instead of worrying whether I am dead or not.
What I have to say is all in the music. If I want to say anything I write a song. Can you spread it around that I am just an ordinary person and want to live in peace? We have to go now. We have two children at home.
Last updated on March 26, 2022