‘Hey Jude’-The Most Celebrated Song by the Beatles Turns Fifty

This song is about the band members and their respect for one another, and it turned out to be the biggest hit the band gave. As the song turned 50 on August 26, let us go down memory lane and see what led to the making of this masterpiece.

'Hey Jude' actually was written when the Beatles were going through a rough patch and the band was on the verge of breaking up. It was a turbulent and tumultuous year-1968. Ironically, the song was their biggest hit and topped the US charts for nine weeks.

Out of the bad times, the band was going through, came a masterpiece that has a special place in the hearts of Beatles lovers even today. This song was released at a time when Ringo parted ways with the band and when John abandoned his wife, Cynthia, and son, Julian. Paul McCartney had written this song for John’s son to console him and bring him a bit of happiness.

Though the song was written as a consolation, it was actually a conversation between friends where one is telling the other to do the right thing for the women in their life.

The song took shape in Paul’s mind in June 1968, when he was in his car driving to see Cynthia and Julian. He was on his way from London to Weybridge in Surrey. The song was meant for Julian so the lyrics were actually ‘Hey Jules’ but as the song evolved in Paul’s mind, 'Hey Jules' changed to 'Hey Jude'. McCartney was once asked why he had changed Jules to Jude, and he answered, “because it sounded better.”

McCartney was good with kids and would always play with Julian and he proved to be a good uncle to him whereas Lennon, was bad with kids. One of the pictures taken during that time shows the bond between Julian and Paul where McCartney is holding Julian, whereas Lennon is seen in the background.

'Hey Jude' was the song which brought the four members of the band together again after they began drifting apart. Till 1968, the four bandmates were like soulmates. They were totally dependent on one another and their bond was very strong. John, Paul, George and Ringo would spend as much time together even when they were not working. They depended on one another emotionally. However, after their US visit, things changed. John divorced his wife and Yoko Ono became his partner. One of the things that makes this song special is that it shows just how empathetic Paul was and he spends his day off with his friend’s abandoned wife and child just to show them he cared about them when the rest of the bandmates stopped interacting with them.

There is also a story behind the recording of the song. The first time they tried to record the song, paul had an altercation with george over the guitar part in the song. Another weird thing about the song is that while they were recording the song Ringo was in the bathroom and there were no drum beats in the beginning but when he joins in with his drums, he brings in the beats to the song making it sound wonderful.

The song was made during a time when the world was changing and things within the band also were changing but it brought in a sense of consolation and hope during that time and in the present day and age when the world is taking a new turn, the song still holds good and sends out a message to “take an old song and make it better”- giving us a consolation that all will be well.