University of Virginia Library

Ringo Dead

Amidst all this speculation as to
the fate of Paul McCartney we
would like to present evidence that,
whether or not he is alive, Ringo
Starr is, in fact, dead. We are not
irresponsibly attempting to breed
rumors, rather we are simply trying
to show some highly irregular
inconsistencies which give one
cause to doubt Mr. Starr's existence.

It all begins with the Revolver
album. Here we have "Ringo Starr"
singing "Yellow Submarine," a song
about a magical submarine beneath
a mystical green sea. The submarine
can be viewed as a coffin image.
The sea of green represents the
eternity beyond life. In the next
album Sgt. Pepper's, in the song
"With a Little Help from my
Friends," "Ringo" is asked "What
do you see when you turn out the
lights?" by the other Beatles, and
he answers "I can't tell you but I
know it's mine." Doesn't this
suggest that he has come to a
confrontation with his own conception
of the hereafter? On the cover
of the Sgt. Pepper's album, to the
left of the Beatles themselves rest
four wax likenesses of them. Ringo
is wearing a black turtleneck
(representative of death) while the
rest are merely wearing white shirts
and ties. In addition, Paul's arm is
comfortingly placed on Ringo's
shoulder as a friend "helping"
Ringo "get by" to the hereafter,
casing the transition.

On the double album, Ringo
sings the song "Don't pass Me by"
(obviously symbolic) in which a
revealing line "You were in a car
crash/and you lost your hair"
appears. Car crash, is, of course,
death here and the loss of hair for a
Beatle is synonymous with death.
The last song on the album has
"Ringo" bidding us "Goodnight"
saying: "Close your eyes/And I'll
close mine - Goodnight - Sleep
tight./ Now the moon begins to
shine - " This is "Ringo's" farewell
to everyone and his recognition of
the hereafter.

Lastly, we come to Abbey
Road, their latest album, the cover
of which shows the Beatles crossing
the street and "Ringo" is conspicuously
the only one wearing black.
In "Octopus's Garden" is found
one of the strongest arguments
supportive of our case. "Ringo"
sings "I'd like to be/under the
sea/in an octopus's garden with
you;" clearly a death wish. One
final point in relation to this song
would support the thesis that both
Paul and Ringo are dead because
with both of them gone, there are
only two Beatles left and two
divided into eight i.e. the number
of arms of an octopus, gives four
which is the original number of the
Beatles. This we respectfully submit
in hopes that some light will be
shed on this perplexing controversy.