Of Contracts and Kings or Paul's Little War

The Beatles had a recording contract with EMI that expired on June 4, 1966.  On June 3, 1966, the New Musical Express, an English music magazine, published an advertisement promoting the upcoming Beatles' single, Paperback Writer and Rain.  On June 4, 1966, the Disc and Music Echo another English music magazine published the same ad.  The photo in the ads was the famous "butcher cover":  The Beatles dressed in butcher coats, draped with meat and doll parts.  Paul was sending a message to the world.
Capitol Records was owned by EMI and that company distributed The Beatles' recordings in the US.  In a 2002 interview in Mojo magazine, Alan W. Livingston, the former president of Capitol Records, commenting on the "butcher cover" Yesterday and Today album said:

          "The reaction came back that the dealers refused to handle them.  I called London and we went
           back and forth.  My contact was mainly with Paul McCartney.  He was adamant and felt very
           strongly that we should go forward.  He said, 'It's our comment on the war.'  I don't know why
           it was a comment on the war or if it would be interpreted that way."

I don't think it was Paul's comment on the Vietnam War, but, instead, a comment on what was happening to Paul during that time.   Paul's little war.

There's a YouTube video that shows Paul looking at negatives from the "butcher" photo session:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS-SKwutP_g    
At 0:45-0:46 in the video, the camera is pulled back, and you can see Paul hurriedly reaching for the photo negatives.  At 0:52-0:53, you see Paul holding the negative up to his face.