Abbey Road Studios is a must-see on almost any Beatles aficionado’s tour of London. Once there, a curious sort of tourist delirium seems to take hold. People feel absolutely compelled to recreate the iconic album cover, in the same way that visitors to Pisa just have to get a shot of of themselves holding up the leaning tower.
The only hitch? That famous zebra crossing actually goes across a fully functioning road — one with cars and buses holding people who, one would assume, have better things to do than watch you fiddle with your zoom lens.
Rachel in London was therefore more a little amused to see this note from a fellow local amongst the assorted “I <3 Paul” and “I am the Walrus”-type scrawls that cover the walls near the crossing. ”I love the drawing, as it’s so true,” Rachel says. “It’s just a crossing people!!! It’s not like the Beatles are coming back to see you do this!”
Interestingly, while the Beatles themselves aren’t likely to be watching, thanks to the existence of the (strangely hypnotic) 24-hour Abbey Road webcam, you can actually watch this idiocy as it happens — over and over and over again.
related: Meanwhile, on Portabello Road
extra credit: Photoclichés.com
97 responses so far ↓
#1
wonderman
I am the ugly american, coo coo ca choo
Apr 22, 2011 at 1:03 pm rating: 90
#2
Quite Contrary
Let it be. Let it be. Oh, let it be.
Apr 22, 2011 at 1:06 pm rating: 90
#3
ButMadNNW
*adds Abbey Road to list of Places to Avoid in London*
(Not that I had any reason to go anywhere near it, anyway. I don’t like The Beatles.)
Apr 22, 2011 at 1:08 pm rating: 90
#4
Quite Contrary
But, seriously for a moment. I would either find a way to not ever have to go through this intersection or be in prison for running over the guy who chose to lay in the middle of it.
Apr 22, 2011 at 1:08 pm rating: 90
#5
kate the great
Ah, I remember visiting this place while on a pub crawl in London. There’s a pic somewhere of me flashing my boobs at the camera in that crosswalk. Good times.
Apr 22, 2011 at 1:15 pm rating: 90
#6
Vik
How will I ever get ANYTHING done EVER again now that I have the link to that live cam???
Must.Watch.CrazyPeople!!
Apr 22, 2011 at 1:16 pm rating: 90
#7
Sarah
Wow, that IS strangely hypnotic! And I only had to watch for about three minutes before some people tried it!
Apr 22, 2011 at 1:23 pm rating: 90
#8
El Jefe
Never been to the UK so this might be a stupid question….
Why are the lines all crooked?
Apr 22, 2011 at 1:31 pm rating: 90
#9
taosaur
Adding to the chaos, those jagged lines seem to indicate it’s a “fishtail wildly” zone :S
Apr 22, 2011 at 1:36 pm rating: 90
#10
Adriana
Anyone who has ever had to live in a tourist trap shares this same pain.
Apr 22, 2011 at 1:37 pm rating: 90
#11
shwo!
Why must they do it in the road?
Apr 22, 2011 at 1:42 pm rating: 90
#12
Jimmy James
I like to imagine this is the first and easiest picture to collect on a whole Beatles Photo Scavenger Hunt. Some aren’t too difficult, but most would prove daunting for a Day Tripper.
Easy:
Strawberry Fields
Kansas City
Medium:
In the Sky, With Diamonds
In a Yellow Submarine
Expert:
Back in the U.S.S.R. (No, Russia does not count.)
Across the Universe
Here, There, and Everywhere
Apr 22, 2011 at 1:56 pm rating: 90
#13
ligercorn
So pedestrian.
Apr 22, 2011 at 2:09 pm rating: 90
#14
Sue B
In the UK it is illegal for drivers to park on the road where the zig zag lines are painted. This is to ensure that the pedestrians view of oncoming traffic is not obscured.
Apr 22, 2011 at 2:23 pm rating: 90
#15
QBALL
I want a picture of me taking a picture of the PA note scrawled on the wall, THAT would be awesome!
Apr 22, 2011 at 3:32 pm rating: 90
#16
Mrs.Beasley
Oh, no! According to this sketch PAUL IS DEAD!!
Apr 22, 2011 at 5:02 pm rating: 90
#17
Nan
As if the original album cover (and album) weren’t stupid enough….now suckers are trying to see how much lamer they can be. If they started charging money to get a photo taken here, even *more* people would be lining up to do it.
Apr 22, 2011 at 7:13 pm rating: 90
#18
Deon
Gosh, lots of humorless cranky people here. Why do any of you care whether other people get a laugh out of visiting this intersection? How does it affect you, harm you, bother you at all? I’d much rather hang with the crazies crossing the road than with the cranks posting here.
Apr 22, 2011 at 9:29 pm rating: 90
#19
Canthz_B
I must confess to never having been a Beatles fan…I wasn’t allowed to buy a copy of The White Album.
Apr 23, 2011 at 3:05 am rating: 90
#20
Ali
First the iDaft thing, now this camera… show me more ways to enjoy wasting time!
Sadly, it’s 7pm over there and apparently people don’t like recreating the cover at this time.
Wait, NOPE! They just did it! Oh god, I can’t stop watching now.
Apr 23, 2011 at 1:02 pm rating: 90
#21
Ishie
That *is* hypnotic. Four minutes to Beatles-walk (though they waited a long time for traffic to clear), despite being 9:30 PM over there.
I’ve walked by the Dakota several times. People there, but not really more obnoxious than any of the other areas. Strawberry Fields draws a lot nearby. I think they scope the Dakota and hang out at Strawberry Fields.
I’ve also been to Dallas; there’s an X on the street where Kennedy was shot, and it’s a pretty busy road. LOTS of running out to it in between cars for pictures. Yikes. Thought we were going to have a picture of someone getting hit.
Apr 23, 2011 at 3:28 pm rating: 90
#22
Mischa
Literally 5 seconds after I turned that webcam on someone did it. Not there are huge amounts of crowds on either end, just standing their, waiting their turn to recreate the cover. I don’t think anyone is even legitimately crossing the road. This one pair of idiots has crossed it about 7 times now.
Apr 24, 2011 at 9:34 am rating: 90
#23
Edwina the Defrocked Nun
Okay that is awesome. I was hypnotized by waiting to see a vehicle run over a posing pedestrian. Didn’t happen, but if it had, I’d have been all “Team Vehicle!”
Apr 24, 2011 at 11:48 am rating: 90
#24
Nunavut Guy
Has anyone seen my empathy?I swear that I had it a minute ago.
Apr 24, 2011 at 8:01 pm rating: 90
#25
FeRD
Aw, I don’t get to play! “THIS STREAM IS TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC”.
I don’t know if that’s just because it’s 4:45am local time, of if we’ve somehow slashdotted the webcam.
Apr 24, 2011 at 10:46 pm rating: 90
#26
Susan
Funny, but yes if it happened all the time to me, I would be quite annoyed!
Apr 25, 2011 at 1:58 am rating: 90
#27
Julia
It’s not even the same crossing on the album.
Apr 26, 2011 at 4:00 pm rating: 90
#28
olive
It was definitely destined to be a tourist trap
Apr 26, 2011 at 5:17 pm rating: 90
#29
Lily
Abbey road webcam?! The internet is filled with all sorts of delights!!
Also, is that note signed by someone whose actual name is “Xanthe?” How cool is that?!?
Apr 27, 2011 at 11:47 pm rating: 90
#30
Serenity
Wow. It’s 4:30 on a friday afternoon here in the UK, so people are trying to get home from work – not the best time to be playing in the traffic.
It’s kind of sad that most of the cars don’t stop at the zebra crossing. I’d guess those are locals who’ve been held up by tourists larking about on that crossing too many times. Must be a pain if you’re legitimately trying to cross the road.
May 6, 2011 at 10:23 am rating: 90
#31
sarah
doesn’t that graffiti mean to respect the beatles and pose correctly and not with all the wavey arms business?
May 22, 2011 at 9:12 am rating: 90
#32
Xanthe
I WROTE THIS.
Someone just sent me the link on tumblr saying ‘is that you?’ and actually I love ‘The Beatles’ I wanted people to pose like they did on the album if they were going to pose at all. I felt like half the tourists didn’t actually know why they were there!
The sign was supposed to basically say ‘Hey! You’re doing it wrong!’
And me and my friend wrote a whole bunch of cliche song lyrics too (she did ‘A Day in the Life’ and I did ‘And I Love Her’ I seem to remmeber)
Anyway I can prove it, here’s a video of us on the day complaining about the way tourists were crossing the road: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiSQ1DYYpqE&feature=channel_video_title
Xanthe x
May 23, 2011 at 1:38 pm rating: 90
#33
bannie
Over here in the USA, the pedestrians do have “the right of way,” but–in my California experience–we do pause and look before we cross a road. These people don’t even take a breath or glance around!
May 28, 2011 at 12:33 pm rating: 90
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