The Beatles, for a brief period in the 1960s, were unmatched in their musical dominance. Their first single was released in 1962, and by the time they announced their breakup at the start of 1970, they had achieved 20 number one hits. It’s debatable if any of the other hits that peaked at the top of the charts were more successful than the victorious “Hey Jude”.
Identifying the author of specific Beatles songs is rarely a simple task. They performed in the purest sense of a band, with each member contributing in their own special way. Nonetheless, the song’s log sheet frequently credited “Lennon-McCartney” with writing the majority of the song, indicating that they frequently collaborated on the song.
Nevertheless, Paul McCartney wrote the song “Hey Jude,” despite the fact that it is listed as another “Lennon-McCartney” composition. The song was written in May 1968, as John Lennon was finalising his divorce from Cynthia, his first wife. In a 1997 interview with Barry Miles, McCartney stated, “I started with the idea ‘Hey Jules,’ which was Julian [Lennon’s first son]. Don’t make it bad, take a sad song and make it better.”
“Hey, try to handle this awful situation. I was aware that he would not find it simple. He went on, “I always feel bad for kids in divorces. After that, McCartney worked on the song by himself while Lennon devoted all of his time to Yoko Ono. Hey Jude is one of the few songs that was virtually completely written by one member of the Fab Four alone. He had essentially finished the song by the time he presented it to the band in July.
What is ‘Hey Jude’ about?
As the song’s inspiration suggests, “Hey Jude” was originally intended to comfort Julian Lennon during his parents’ divorce. However, it has since expanded to convey a more universal message about persevering through adversity and attempting to change the course of events by defying authority.
Lennon, though, thought that this message of accepting change had another hidden meaning. In an interview with David Sheff, he pondered, “If you think about it, Yoko’s just entered the picture.” He is stating. “Hey John – Hey Jude”. You can hear it as a song to me, even though I know I sound like one of those fans who reads things into it. Subconsciously, he was telling her to go, “Go ahead, leave me,” when he said, “Go out and get her”. He purposefully didn’t want me to move forward.
What album is ‘Hey Jude’ on?
Though it was recorded during those sessions, the track was not included on the White Album. It was first released as a stand-alone single in August 1968 with “Revolution” as the B-side. The song marked the beginning of the band’s new label, Apple Records. It was one of four singles that were released concurrently.
The band’s recently hired labelmates were featured on the remaining three singles. They were “Those Were the Days” by Mary Hopkin, “Sour Milk Sea” by Jackie Lomax, and “Thingumybob” by the Black Dyke Mills Band. ‘Hey Jude’ is still one of The Beatles’ best-selling singles. It have sold well over eight million copies worldwide, even though these other songs may have become obscure.
