“I would always turn the radio off and try and make up songs, just in case… I started singing: ‘Hey Jules–don’t make it bad–take a sad song, and make it better.” —Paul McCartney1
In June of 1968, Paul McCartney went to visit John Lennon, his wife Cynthia, and their five year old son Julian. While hanging out and visiting, John and Cynthia announced to Paul that they were getting a divorce. Paul, who Julian considered more his father than John due to their closer connection, thought about how it would affect Julian. It was rumored that the reason why John and Cynthia were getting a divorce was because of John’s infidelity with an artist named Yoko Ono. In a letter written by John to Cynthia, he addressed the fact that John knew that their marriage was long over before the events that happened with Yoko Ono.2
Paul McCartney said, “I thought, as a friend of the family, I would motor out to Weybridge and tell them that everything was all right: to try and cheer them up, basically, and see how they were. I had about an hour’s drive. I would always turn the radio off and try and make up songs, just in case… I started singing: ‘Hey Jules – don’t make it bad, take a sad song, and make it better…’ It was optimistic, a hopeful message for Julian: ‘Come on, man, your parents got divorced. I know you’re not happy, but you’ll be OK.”3
“Hey Jude” was recorded at Abbey Road on July 29-30, in 1968. John and Paul finished the final touches for the song in Paul’s house. They recorded it with Ringo and George that following Monday at Abbey Road. While they were figuring out how to play the song, they brought out an orchestra, and one of the other orchestra men, didn’t thinking that the song would be a huge hit at the time, walked out saying that he wasn’t “going to clap [his] hands and sing Paul McCartney’s bloody song.”4
The Beatles only took one take to record their hit song. While recording the song, Ringo Starr had to go to the bathroom, got up and left, and didn’t let anyone know. He came back, and nobody realized what had happened, for the first couple of seconds in the song. Paul liked how there was no drums and ended up sticking with it.
The final song is 7 minutes and 11 seconds long, and nobody intended on it being that long. “Hey Jude” was released as a single, that later was put into a collection of singles release by The Beatles. The song was released in the Unites States on August 26, 1968 and in the UK on August 30, 1968. “Hey Jude” had a permanent residence at #1 on the Billboards Top 30 for 8 weeks. All in all, it spent 18 weeks in the Top 30. Within the initial release of the song, there were five million sales in the first six months, and 7.5 million in 4 years. 5
When John first heard the song, he though it was about him and Yoko, and telling him “to go out and get her.” “Well, when Paul first sang ‘Hey Jude’ to me… or played me the little tape he’d made of it… I took it very personally. ‘Ah, it’s me,’ I said, ‘It’s me.’ He says, ‘No, it’s me.’ I said, ‘Check. We’re going through the same bit.’ So we all are. Whoever is going through a bit with us is going through it, that’s the groove.”6
In 1987, after the song was released, Paul reached out to Julian and said that the song was about him, and that Julian always felt a better connection to Paul, than his dad, John. The recording notes were auctioned off by Julian in 1996, and then Cynthia Lennon tried to auction off the original handwritten lyrics, but Paul took it to court preventing it from even happening.7
People and critics believe that throughout all the rough, creative, and changing time in America, “Hey Jude” gave people a sense of “letting go of your childhood innocence,” by giving them a message of reassurance, and trying to help them make the step to move forward with their lives. “The process of singing the song testifies that uplifted spirits are earned, not just willed; no peace is possible without struggle.”8
To this day, the Beatles are one of the most well-known bands in the world. They were part of “The British Invasion” and created an international legacy that will never die. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and John Lennon and Paul McCartney were also inducted as solo artist.
- Andrew Leonard, “Hey Jude,” The Beatles Bible. 7 June 2018. Accessed September 09, 2018. www.beatlesbible.com/songs/hey-jude/ . ↵
- John Lennon to Cynthia Twist, November 15, 1976, in Steve Marinucci, “John Lennon Disputes Yoko Ono Ending His marriage In Unearthed Letter to First Wife,” Billboard, August 8, 2017. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7896840/john-lennon-yoko-ono-cynthia-lennon-divorce-letter. ↵
- Andrew Leonard, “Hey Jude,” The Beatles Bible, 7 June 2018. Accessed September 09, 2018. www.beatlesbible.com/songs/hey-jude/. ↵
- Guesdon, Jean-Michel. All The Songs, The Story Behind All The Beatles Release. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2013. ↵
- Dmitry Murashev, “Beatles History,” DM’S Beatles Site, 2012. Accessed 13 November 2018. ↵
- John Lennon, interview by Jonathan Colt, in Rolling Stone Magazine, November 23, 1968, reproduced in Dmitry Murashev, Beatles History – 1968 Year. Accessed November 10, 2018. http://www.dmbeatles.com/interviews.php?interview=67. ↵
- Andrew Leonard, “Hey Jude,” The Beatles Bible, 7 June 2018. Accessed September 09, 2018. www.beatlesbible.com/songs/hey-jude/. ↵
- Encyclopedia Of Great Popular Song Recordings, 2013, s.v. “Hey Jude (1968)—The Beatles.” ↵
92 comments
Kaleb Werku
I don’t think I have ever listened to a Beatles song from front to back. That is how little I know about them, but this article gave me an insight into one of their songs that had layers of meaning to it. The song “Hey Jude” was inspired by the events that were happening in their lives at that moment. I know thats cool and all but 7 minutes! Jesus i would fall asleep by the end of it.
Zoe Peña
Like many others, I’ve heard this song many times, but I don’t know much about the Beatles personal lives and this article gave me better insight on that. It was interesting to read about the meaning that Paul had intended this song to have, along with John’s divorce and also the fact that Ringo had left the room in the middle of recording
Eloy Cruz
I am a huge fanatic of this song, and I always thought it was a love song about somebody who is hurt and trying to get past their broken heart, but after reading this article I am dead wrong! I never would have thought that Paul McCartney would have written a song to a child of one of his band members. I think that this song is a really great one and one that deserves to be talked about more when it comes to the true story.
Gabriella Urrutia
It is always interesting to read about the inspiration for artists songs and the message that they put in their songs. I never knew about the story of how this song by the Beatles was created. I’ve listened to a few of their songs but I didn’t know much about them. This article was very informative and it taught me details that I didn’t know before.
Jake Mares
It is weird to see the true makings of one of the most popular songs of all time. Everything from the bathroom break leading to the absence of drums to understanding the motivations behind the song make it even more spectacular. This also adds to the message of the song and helps it reach those who need to hear it, those who need to get past something in life.
Nicholas Hatch
The Beatles are probably the best band of all time. With “Hey Jude” being one of the most popular songs by them. I’ve heard the song many times but never knew the story behind it. The article was very informing about the story behind such as how it was written for John Lennons son Julian. This article was well written and was very informing on the story behind the song.
Nelly Perez
Amazing to learn about the Beatles and one of their iconic hit songs. Going through a parents’ divorce as a child is not easy. The reason why is that you, as a child, won’t understand why it’s happening. So Paul made the effort to write the song for Julian as a message. “Hey Jude” does have a good message that everything will be okay and that the spirits would be lifted.
Rosa Robledo Martinez
It’s amazing to know how the Beatles created an amazing hit. I like that they created an amazing song, not just for people to listen to, but so that it had personal meaning to them. I only heard the song a couple of times, and find it very intriguing to listen too. I never knew that the song was written by Paul McCartney for Julian (John Lennon’s son) but now it makes sense why this song broke records. I think the message was to insprire hope to people saying that life is going to be a rollercoaster and only you can control what you want to do with it.
Alexander Avina
This was a really interesting article about a subject that I wasn’t too familiar with. I enjoyed hearing about the origin of this great song. It was weird to hear that Paul McCartney got the inspiration for the song from his bandmate’s daughter. This article was written on a very intriguing subject. This was written very well and included many important facts that I didn’t know before. The article kept me interested all the way through its entirety.
Raul Vallejo
Amazing to read about how one of the most famous songs of all time was actually written and why. you never really know how or why nowadays since artists tend to hire professionals to come up with the lyrics for them, but this song being personal and becoming such a success makes it all that much better!