It is widely viewed as one of the greatest songs of all time
John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr step off a plane in London in 1964(Image: Fox Photos/Getty Images)
In the second half of the 1960s, tensions within The Beatles began to rise. Having enjoyed unparalleled success throughout the decade, the band’s recording sessions for their later albums became marked by creative differences and disagreements.
The sessions for ‘The White Album’, which was released in 1968, saw the fractures emerge as each member of the band wanted to put their stamp on their work. About that period of recording, Paul McCartney said: “There was a lot of friction during that album. We were just about to break up, and that was tense in itself” and John Lennon later added: “The break-up of The Beatles can be heard on that album.”
Creative differences and Yoko Ono’s presence in the studio have been cited as the primary reasons for the tension. 1969’s recording sessions for the ‘Let it Be’ were also famously tempestuous, but the seeds for the disharmony were sewn the year before.
One song recorded during that period seemed to capture the mood within the band, though its origins were about something different. ‘Hey Jude’ was recorded in July and August 1968 before its release on August 26 as a non-album single. It was the band’s first release on their new Apple label, hitting shelves three months before ‘The White Album’.
Credited to Lennon-McCartney, ‘Hey Jude’ was written by Paul during a time of turbulence in The Beatles’ professional and personal lives. It was originally called ‘Hey Jules’, addressed to John’s son Julian to comfort him after the separation of his dad and mum Cynthia Lennon.
John and Cynthia separated in May 1968 due to his affair with Yoko. It is said that Paul was saddened by Cynthia no longer being part of The Beatles’ social circle and he drove to the family’s Kenwood home that June to check on Julian and his mum.
Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon, at a recording studio in London in 1967(Image: PA/PA Wire)
About writing the song, Paul said in 1997: “I started with the idea ‘Hey Jules’. which was Julian, don’t make it bad, take a sad song and make it better. Hey, try and deal with this terrible thing. I knew it was not going to be easy for him. I always feel sorry for kids in divorces.”
At this point, John and Paul were not writing together, with John spending more time with Yoko than with his long-time creative collaborator. Paul presented ‘Hey Jude’ to John on July 26 and said he was going to take out the line “the movement you need is on your shoulder” but John insisted he kept it in, saying: “You won’t, you know. That’s the best line in the song.”
John also believed Paul had written the song about him, rather than Julian. In a 1980 interview with Playboy, he said: “If you think about it… Yoko’s just come into the picture. He’s saying: “Hey, Jude, Hey, John.”
“I know I’m sounding like one of those fans who reads things into it, but you can hear it as a song to me. The words ‘go out and get her” – subconsciously he was saying, Go ahead, leave me. On a conscious level, he didn’t want me to go ahead.”
There were several alternate theories about the song’s composition, with people suggesting it was about Paul’s creative differences with John or even his own love life. Writer Mark Hertsgaard said “many of the song’s lyrics do seem directed more at a grown man on the verge of a powerful new love, especially the lines ‘you have found her now go and get her’ and ‘you’re waiting for someone to perform with.'”
Music critic Tim Riley said: “If the song is about self-worth and self-consolation in the face of hardship, the vocal performance itself conveys much of the journey. He (Paul) begins by singing to comfort someone else, finds himself weighing his own feelings in the process, and finally, in the repeated refrains that nurture his own approbation, he comes to believe in himself.”
The seven minute and 12 second song topped the charts around the world, including a nine-week run at number one in the USA’s Billboard Hot 100. It is widely viewed as one of the greatest songs of all time and it is a staple of Paul’s live performances, leading to
NME’s Derek Johnson said in a review he would rather ‘Hey Jude’ was shorter but said it was “a beautiful, compelling song”, calling the first half “absolutely sensational”.