THE BEATLES – "Hey Jude"

i prefer the anthony michael hall version.

their biggest hit (by far i think) in the states and when i was a kid at least well known as such, their towering unending monolith. very possibly their worst single with very possibly their best single on the flip, and in the states it was a double-a though a lopsided one i’m sure.

‘hey dude’>’hey jude’

This is the classic song to do the “i prefer the [x] version” to, because so many people tried it.

It’s not in the same league as Yesterday as far as sheer numbers of cover versions goes, but it’s one of the half dozen Beatles tunes that was quickly assimilated into the popular song repertoire.

And it’s one of the more interesting cases to study, because of the length and structure of The Beatles version. (Also IMHO because the original’s so awful, for the reasons Tom points out.) What to DO with the lengthy coda was the challenge for arrangers. Some make light of it or fade it early to achieve “normal” pop song length, others (particular those doing instrumental covers) push it further than even McCartney does, beyond mere singalong Jam into the improvisational, making it the centrepiece of their cover.

Latest discovery to leave me gobsmacked: The Temptations’ version from ’69. Starts with a boogie woogie piano riff and scarcely gets any more reverent thereafter.

Of course, Hey Jude does have the great moment where John hits completely the wrong note and mumbles ‘fuckin’ hell’…
And I doubt very much that it’s coincidence that Hey Jude is exactly 1 second longer than Macarthur Park, which had recently come out and was the longest single ever released at the time…

Doctor Casino,

I never said I “hated” “Hey Jude”–it is simply that, in retrospect, I realize that it isn’t all that some of us thought it was in 1968. I don’t think it has aged well. It might have aged better if it hadn’t droned on repetitively at the for four minutes at the end.

And, as Tom said, it certainly wasn’t the worst Beatles number 1–but it certainly wasn’t the best. Then, on the other hand, it was surely far, far better than most of McCartney’s post-Beatles work. The other three were there to offer some sort of checks and balances on Paul’s excesses.

P.S. The final sentence in my previous post should have read “It [not “I”] wasn’t the worst–that one’s yet to come.”

The “Yellow Sub” comment is partly based on the (second-hand) empirical evidence of football terrace chants, where it beats “Hey Jude” comfortably! (But also see my Eleanor Rigby review for why I think YS is better too.)

Yes, it was addressed to Julian, and I think even Lennon was prepared to take it at face value, so why shouldn’t we?

I agree with the points about the second half of the song. Someone once described it as “a three-minute song with a four-minute fadeout” which sums it up (maybe someone with a stopwatch can establish whether T Rex’s “Hot Love” has similar proportions!) Sadly the point about the stadium ballad was emphasised at Live 8 when the end-of-show singalong dispensed with any of the song and just cut to the “na-na-na’s”. Now if only “Let It Be” had worked at Live Aid…

(Obscurity corner: “Sour Milk Sea”, the George Harrison song released as Apple 3 – referred to above – was later the name of a band which recruited a young Freddie Bulsara (aka Mercury) in 1970.)

I was going to mention the Julian Lennon connection. I’ve heard this, too, but the “you have found her, go out and get her” and “let her under your skin” do seem odd bits of advice to a five-year-old whose Mum and Dad are splitting for well-publicized reasons.

I’ve also heard Macca say in an interview that he wrote the song as sort of a self-affirmation in pursuing Linda Eastman. (But if he were really attempting to succour Julian and Cynthia, is it fair to ask what ever happened to Jane Asher? Hmmmm…..)

As to the snide, well the tripe-slinging between those two surely had a long, occasionally amusing, and generally embarassing history post-split, inspiring:

Too Many People (Macca)
How Do You Sleep (Lennon)–invective par excellence!
Silly Love Songs (Macca)

Anyone care to add more?

Lennon eventually gave us “Working Class Hero” and “Imagine” among others. McCartney eventually gave us “Hands Across the Water” and “High High High.”

Maybe it was really George who came out of the fray the most intact?

I think you’re mixing up the “reggae bit” in Live And Let Die with the moment when Jack Nitzsche’s strings surge into Ringo’s “Photograph.”

I’ve always understood that the song was for Julian Lennon. I met him once over fish n’ chips – nice bloke. Didn’t ask him about this though. He was pushing ” Valotte” at the time.

But with some of Macca’s contributions around this time I think that he knew it was over and was looking to write the Beatles swan song. Long & Winding Road particularily. And this would be typical of Macca’s modus operendi as the music hall master ( aka Sgt Pepper ) , it’s a reoccurring theme for him. The big closing number which he was able to realize on Abbey Road.

I think a lot of the same criticism levied ” All You Need Is Love ” can be applied to the long fade/sing along . Shooting for mass appeal and trying to send a message of encouragement to the world. And on that level it obviously works, hence its popularity.

(But if he were really attempting to succour Julian and Cynthia, is it fair to ask what ever happened to Jane Asher? Hmmmm…..)

Ask “I’m Looking Through You,” I think…

As for Jude – I hope my comments didn’t come off as particularly hostile to Tom or Doc Mod, as I love these discussions in general! And, for the record, I also love “All Around the World,” although that one is squarely in guilty pleasure territory, whereas I really do think “Hey Jude” is good. 🙂 And “Hi Hi Hi” for that matter, so perhaps I’m just coming at this from a whole different musical ballgame.

Tripe-slinging between these two […] Anyone care to add more?

“Dear Friend” on Wild Life is Macca’s response to “How Do You Sleep,” I think. And of course he has a (slightly schmaltzy) John eulogy song on Tug of War, “Here Today.”

As for Julian – I get the impression Macca visited Julian, started thinking about what a bummer of a situation that was, started writing a song about him (purportedly originally titled “Hey Jules”), and found he could hammer words into it better if he abandoned the little kid. At least the guy knows where his strengths are, eh?

my understanding is originally written for julian as ‘chin up lad’ encouragement, reworked by neccessity into pop context (though seemingly ‘oi kid don’t let yr parents’ divorce get you down’ would seemingly be a marketable message, esp at this point judging by whichever/whenever song tom carmodized re: divorce rates earlier)(this has been tapped in movies obv and kiddie selfhelp books no doubt but are there any big hit songs aimed at this?), with john then thinking it applied to his end of the situation (understandably w/ ‘you have found her/go out and git r (done)’). question for the sunshine boys: how immediate was the backlash to john+yoko? i always think of it as primarily post-bag-ins/two virgins and amping up post-breakup, yet he’s clearly feeling heat by this point i guess. and is ‘we love you’:’all you need is love’::’you can’t always get what you want’:’hey jude’ (probably not)?

Well, I’m going to cast a lonely vote for thoroughly enjoying the long fade-out. Paul’s vocal interjections, Ringo’s drum fills, the sound of George’s rhythm guitar and the way he strums it, the slow build of the orchestration – all of these together hold my interest for the entire length of the “Na-na” part.

And I’ll say I think this is an excellent record. As several have pointed out, Paul’s initial inspiration for the lyric was his feeling of empathy for Julian, a feeling that was expressed, in Tom’s words, as “you’re not alone, you don’t have to be ashamed of needing help.” Paul quickly realized that these ideas applied to himself, vis a vis his situation with Linda and the Beatles. What I hear him saying is: I’ve found the love of my life and I’m going to summon the courage to choose that love – something real and lasting – over the glamour of life as a Beatle. John said essentially the same thing – less appealingly, to my ears – over the length of “Plastic Ono Band.” (This similarity in ideas and emotions must be why John always cited “Hey Jude” as one of his favorites of Paul’s songs.)

The beauty of the long fade is exactly the thing that Tom dislikes, if I’m reading him right – the bliss of the “Na-na’s” contrasted with Paul’s screaming vocals, with the two fighting it over a long haul. To me, all of this is essential to expressing the message of the lyrics – true love isn’t easy to find, or keep, it’s rough and painful breaking free of all the barriers standing between you and it, but it’s wonderful if you can find it and get it. In my opinion, that contrast – pain and bliss, struggle and release – IS the song, and it needs to last every bit as long as it does in this record. Finding and keeping love is a grown-up’s job, I think is one message of this song, and I hear that in Paul’s voice – it’s the first record where he sounds like a man, not a boy. He didn’t always live up to the standard he set here, and other lesser artists may have used his approach to regrettable ends (which I don’t hold him responsible for, any more than Buddy Holly is responsible for Bobby Vee); however, neither of those factors lessen his achievement here. I read in the Village Voice several years ago, in an essay about over- and under-rated singles, that you wouldn’t listen to “Hey Jude” if you knew the world was ending tonight. Well – yeah, I would.

Blount :

there was a country song : D-I-V-O-R-C-E that was a hit….

” Our little kind’s only six years old ” etc

I was discussing this debate with my sister last night, and she made an interesting observation. She thought one factor in the great popularity of “Hey Jude” was its giving the fans exactly what they wanted: an affirmation that the Beatles would go on. There had been so much negative publicity, and rumors of intra-group strife were running amok. No matter how any of us felt about the drugs, Yoko, the Maharishi, or any other thing that seemed distressing in the context of the 60s (all of which would hardly raise an eyebrow these days), it was too painful to think of life without the Beatles. I doubt that any other pop/rock performers have ever burned so deeply into the public cultural consciousness. (It is probably not coincidental that Elvis staged his big comeback concert less than three months later.) Considering that “Hey Jude” was actually performed live on television, it seemed to give the lie to the rumors and allayed our fear of loss for the time being.

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.

I remember seeing this in Minchella’s in south shields (look for it, it’s still there) and the effect seemed to be “Look! The beatles, after getting a bit strange, are back! and they look like the beatles again!)

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

o come now martin – ‘hey dude’ is very probably kula shaker’s best single!

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.

What a strange bunch of contributions.
I’ve read it all now.
Actually, Hey Jude was the Beatles biggest selling single anywhere and lots of people adored it – and still do if you go to any concert from Robbie Williams to Macca himself where the refrain gets picked up. Someone did it at our wedding and it was fantastic.

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.