However, John did think that Paul was telling him to “go and get” Yoko as his love. He figured that “Jude” was some sort of code for Paul.

1) The hand writen lyrics ( not sure which version ) were bought by Julian Lennon at an auction of Beatles personal memorabilia. He paid 25,00.00 British Pounds for them in 1997.

2) During Lennon’s lost weekend in the States he was asked if the song was written for Julian. He replied that it was written for Brian Epstein and was originally called ” Gay Jew ” !!!!

Sorry if this is obscure but I was one when this was a hit and must have heard it so many times then and only now do I hear it in a different way.

As for being a downer: the local ‘classic rock’ station here had its usual big Labor Day Weekend countdown and “Hey Jude” sounds downright merry compared to the songs just before (”Hotel California” & “Stairway to Heaven”) and the only song to best it, “Comfortably Numb.” (Yes, it’s still a battle between Led Zep & The Beatles, with the Stones somewhere in the background, and Pink Floyd at #1 again.) But I can understand its seeming ‘down’ at the time.

‘here we come, walking down the street…………………’

ITF

What is loud and clear from all the above is the animosity Paul draws. Have you guys read any of the books about the Beatles - the people who actually worked with them?

It’s quite clear that some of you think spouting left wing politics whilst high guarantees you credibility in perpetuity, but seriously, apart from being fans, have you guys ever trying performing a Lennon song? Jeez - one note melodies sung with passion (or is that just shouting?) and collage lyrics that don’t make much sense. You get bored very very quickly.

the Beatles won 17 Ivor Novello awards for songwriting. They were all Paul songs.

Good for you if you are stuck in your teenage rebellion years and really think John was some kind of saint, but I know you’d be an arse to have a pint with! I was in Liverpool recently for work and found myself, to my amusement, in Menlove Avenue where Mimi lived. It’s like a flipping country estate. Working Class Hero my foot. You poor, deluded fools.

Hey Jude is genius from first to last. Revolution is Eddie Cochran slowed down with very distorted guitars and a painfully of the time lyric. It’s embarrassing to listen to now.

Get over it…the Walrus was Paul. Or…oh dear…would admitting that mean you have to completely re-evaluate your entire life as a rebel?

ha ha

PS I actually love John’s stuff but in 100 years time I know whose songs they’ll be singing.

Oh, and on a semi-pedantic point, they didn’t exactly play ‘Hey Jude’ live on TV - David Frost turned up at what we’d now call the video shoot and faked it.
Which reminds me that I promised more trivia - how’s about the fact that George Martin was paid £25 for the orchestral arrangement, and this massive sum of money required special authorisation from EMI? And one of the string players refused to sing along on that coda, even with the promise of a double fee. And as has been suggested before, Jimmy Webb didn’t think it a coincidence that this is a second longer than ‘McArthur Park’ [on the original 45 - the stereo mix is actually slightly shorter].

Is this now the most-commented post, aside from Mike Sarne spam?

somewhat echoing wwolfe and mark gamon i’m voting coda>songproper - chop them in half and you’re left with a dull ‘let it be’ precursor and an epic/bizarre powerballad take on ‘flying’ - it might still be garbage worth no more than a 4 but it’d be alot more fun.

I also don’t at all think that is what soul is about - this was a major part of what I was saying in my old Al Green article here. I hear very little chaos and randomness in any soul records - there is the odd moment of thoughtlessness, like Otis’s ludicrous and notorious live “Sock it to her tenderly” moment, but that’s just a dumb improvised misstep in an otherwise thoroughly rehearsed and controlled set.

I don’t think I’d have given Hey Dude as much as 4, personally - goes from ‘pleasant but don’t care’ to tedious even before the decline into the singalong.

(i.e. PMac had shaved his tache off.)

Could not care less about the song. LOVE the coda.

Everyone loves to pick on Mccartney because A/he can be a jerk; B/he’s not the holy St John what was murdered tragically and yes, we can ALL remember exactly where we were when we heard the news just like President Kennedy being killed and now John’s one of the greatest Britons of all time rather than a very important rock star with a great voice who wrote some great songs and some arrant rubbish too. Just like his partner.

But:

In the late 60s, McCartney was at the peak of his vocal powers. Go back to ‘Got to Get You Into My Life’ and listen to the soul shouting at the end. Then listen again to ‘Hey Jude’. Not the la-las, but McCartney’s improvising. It’s random, it’s chaotic, it’s packed with passion. Just like great soul singing should be.

But such was not to be. In retrospect, it’s amazing they stayed together as long as they did after this and turned out an extraordinary album like Abbey Road before it was all over.