Additional possible clues can be found in the titles of the two sides of the Beatles' last single. "Get Back (to where you once belonged)," John says, while Paul urges. "Don't Let Me Down."

The frantic search for clues has not been limited to Beatle music. The "request" in Her Satanic Majesty's Request, a Rolling Stones album, is supposedly that McCartney return to life. "Badge." a song on Farewell to Cream (on which George Harrison is supposed to have played guitar), is about a car wreck. Nobody has tried out yet a new interpretation of J. Frank Wilson's golden oldie. "Last Kiss."

APPLE. Inc., the Beatles' music company, has denied that McCartney is dead. Gibbs of WKNR said that Apple told him to "cool it" on airing the rumors. And last Friday Apple released a statement attributed to McCartney which read. "People can go on listening to their records and looking at their albums, but I am alive. I think the whole thing is too silly for words."

But Small of WKNR seems to be correct in saying that "whether Paul is dead or alive, there is a hoax here somewhere. The Beatles have a definite preoccupation with Paul's death- physical, spiritual, or fictional." Small mentions three possible explanations for the preoccupation besides the religious one- that Paul is alive and well and "the Beatles are playing a game for the hell of it." that Paul is dead and the Beatles are hoaxing their fans, and that Paul is very ill and has been replaced by a double.

The "playing a game" explanation, with the religious motive perhaps mixed in, seems the most likely. Death would be a likely topic for the group simply because of the sudden passing of their manager, Brian Epstein, in the summer of 1967, and Paul, specifically, may have wished to be identified with death on the Beatle albums. Most of the "clues" about Paul's death are not clear-cut; the Beatles' extensive use of symbolism and seemingly meaningless language leaves them especially open to all kids of interpretations.

If the Beatles had wanted death clues to trickle out to the public, it seems that they would have confirmed, instead of denying, the recent rumors. But until they explain such goodies as "I buried Paul," black carnations, and hands behind Paul's head, a small portion of the world's confusion will continue to focus on what has been going on in their minds.