Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Suit
John's suit is bright and green. Paul's suit is also bright and blue. George's may be red, but so is Ringo's...could this resemble blood?
The Funeral
The first thing you notice when you look at the front cover is how similar it looks to a grave scene. In the foreground we have what looks to be a freshly dug piece of earth (complete with floral decoration) with a grave-stone like bass drum facing it. The figures behind look like they're grouped around all paying respect to someone recently departed. But who? The drum also looks live a gravestone, and is it a coincidence that it is a drum, not a guitar, and that Ringo plays the drums?
The Death Association
There is one thing that every single member of that audience (bar the Beatles themselves) has in common, and that's death. Every person there had, at the time, either died, had a near-death experience or had portrayed death. For example, Edgar Allen Poe died a tragic death, Marilyn Monroe was a suicide victim, Laurence of Olivia was fatally wounded in a motorcycle crash and Bob Dylan was almost killed in a car crash in 1966. Also, we cannot forget the face of the other dead Beatle, Stuart Sutcliffe. Was it mere coincidence that all of these people had death in common, or was it intentional? If so, why?
The Bass Drum
Remember earlier when I mentioned that the bass drum logo looked like a gravestone? This bass drum was designed by a fellow called Joe Epigraph. If you split his name in two you get Epi Grave, or Grave Epitaph. Usually they feature a death date and, with a little detective work, a date has been discovered on the bass drum logo. If you place a mirror along the middle of 'Lonely Hearts' so that the top half is being mirrored you get the clear message '1 ONE 1 X HE () DIE' (is it more than coincidence that the arrow between the words HE and DIE points directly up at Ringo?). This could be interpretated as the three 1's being the live Beatles and Ringo being represented as the X, meaning that he has been crossed out. However, this is not the case (although could be considered a clue). Could this be a coded date telling us when Ringo died? If you take the first two numbers you get 11. November is the 11th month. The next two digits we get is IX which is Roman numerals for 9. Therefore could this be telling us that "November 9 He Die' with the arrow pointing right up to Ringo?
The Flat Hat
Ringo is the only Beatle wearing a flat hat. Could this resemble Ringo's head being flattened by the feet of the elephant?
Good "Mourning"
To the left of the current Beatles there are representations of the group as they were in 1964. They're all looking very upset and Paul looks to be comforting a very sad looking Ringo as they look down towards the 'grave'. Ringo is also the only member of the group not to wear a tie. Instead, he is wearing a black sweater, a sign of mourning. Could they be mourning the death of Ringo? Also, why is John looking towards the current Beatles? Is this telling us to look towards the future rather than stay with the sadder past?
The Flowers
The bands name has been written out in red Hyacinths which are apparently a mythological flower of death. Could this mean Ringo is dead?
The Death Association
The doll is sitting on what can only be described as a deathly looking figure in a black shroud. What makes this figure that little bit more sinister however is that it is wearing a blood-stained drivers glove on its hand.
Be-at-leso?
At the end of the word BEATLES there is a circular arrangement of red flowers that looks like the letter O. If this is added to the groups name and split up we get the phrase BE AT LESO. Could Leso be where Ringo is buried?
The Split Head Doll
Just above the B in BEATLES there's a doll with a split through its head. Could this be symbolising the head injuries that Ringo sustained?
The Gatefold
Badges
All except Ringo are wearing badges, which mean honesty, loyalty, and excellence. Why is Ringo not wearing the badge? Does that mean Timothy has no real talent to speak of?
The Dove
On John's shoulder, there is a dove. Doves are usually sent out on funerals. Does it mean Ringo is dead? Is it even more of a coincidence that the dove is right below Ringo's head?
The Inner Sleeve
The Blood
The inner sleeve looks quite innocent until you realise that it looks like it's soaking up blood.