Due to the modern sound of The Beatles and their continued popularity amongst all age groups, it seems almost inconceivable that is has been fifty years since the iconic “Hey Jude” was released in 1968. The song was the first single from Apple Records, The Beatles’ record label. A momentous seven minutes in length, it remained at number one in the US for nine weeks.
Originally entitled “Hey Jules” by singer-songwriter and band member Paul McCartney, it was aimed at John Lennon’s son, Julian, to comfort him during his parent’s divorce. Apparently, McCartney composed the song during a car journey to Lennon’s home. McCartney also explained the reason for the change from ‘Jules’ to ‘Jude’, and his thought process behind the hit – “I’d heard the name in a musical — Carousel, I think: ‘Jude is dead’ or something like that […] 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…”
Only two of the four Beatles are still alive; John Lennon was shot and killed in 1980, and George Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001. Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney still make music, with McCartney releasing an album this year entitled, Egypt Station.
To listen to Paul McCartney talk more about The Beatles’ music and his own Liverpudlian background, have a watch of this Carpool Karaoke video with James Cordon, currently with over twenty-nine millions views:
