Hey Jude at 50: four things you may not know about the Beatles hit

Paul McCartney wrote the Fab Four's 1968 singalong classic about John Lennon's son Julian, after Lennon left his first wife for Yoko Ono. At the time it was titled Hey Jules, but it was changed to Jude because McCartney said it sounded better

The Guardian YouTube network:

[geotom]

The best part of that color video was seeing a Sikh man and his turban bobbing up and down singing Hey Jude. Great to see cultural inclusiveness in a time of segregation. Truly music brings peoples together.

[nolarobert]

Paul was going to change the lyric "the movement you need is on your shoulder" because it thought it sounded like he was talking about a parrot. Lennon told him it was the best line in the song and that he knew what it meant. So when Macca sings that part today, he is reminded of his best mate John. A note on the law of unintended consequences. Paul painted "Hey Jude" on the side of their clothing store to promote the single. This prompted some in the community to think it was an anti-Semitic slur. It was the only sour note for The Beatles #1 charting single and all-time classic.

[gaynor]

I knew it was written about Julian Lennon to get him to accept Yoko Ono. I didn't know it was 7 mins long.

[pietvanbreemen]

Did Julian Lennon receive any royalties? Of course not! Because his father, one of the Greatest ROCK N ROLLERS of all time, was also ONE HELL OF AN A-S HOLE!

[rickoshea]

The way I heard it was that John felt to be "competitive' with Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone so he had told Paul about 'besting' Dylan the Beatles had to come up with a lengthy, cerebral song. This lead to Hey Jude, which John HATED coz of all the silly lyrics and that NaNaNaNaaaah, , , , and that Hey Jude was really the beginning of the end of The Beatles,

[silencetheleft]

Surprised they didnt screech about them being white

[henriksrensen]

Beatles, perhaps the most overrated band of all time.