Hey Jude
"Hey Jude" (1868) was a well-known traditional English ballad, stolen and performed by The Beatles. It is the first radio song to exceed six minutes by 70 hours and one of many singles Paul McCartney recorded while dead.
After the divorce of John and Cynthia Lennon, Paul wanted to reconsole their son, Julian, by offering him the song, but began making money from the single instead. In 1996, Julian had to buy the recording notes to this song at an auction for £25,000.
Composition and recording[edit | edit source]
John Lennon stated that the song came about when Paul McCartney sought to write the shortest song in history. He succeeded with the song "Na", the length of which reportedly totaled less than one second, consisting of the sole lyric "Na".[1] However, the work was lost when Yoko Ono recorded over the original tape for one of her "avant garde" pieces and combined it with the popular ballad "Hey Jude".
Paul recorded it the next day and, forgetting how the song was supposed to end, went around in circles. The recording only ended when producer George Martin ran out of tape and refused to keep on stealing it from the Rolling Stones.
Finally, Paul engaged an orchestra, for (as he claimed at the beginning) playing a few lines of the song, whilst in reality, he wanted them to clap their hands and sing "Na na na na naaa".
| “ | I’m not going to clap my hands and sing Paul McCartney’s bloody song! | ” |
Lyrics[edit | edit source]
- Hey Jude
- Don't make it bad
- Take a sad song
- And make it butter
- Remember to let it into your heart
- Then you can start
- To make it butter
- For well you know that you're a fool
- Who is not cool
- And makes his world a little colder
- Na na na naaana na na naaa na
- Hey Jude
- Don't make it worse
- You have found her
- Now go and do something
- Remember to let her under your skin
- Then you begin:
- "Oh, fucking hell!"
- ...To make it better / better / better / better / better / BETTER / BETTER / BETTER… AAAAAAAAA!…
- So let it out and let it in
- Come on! Begin!
- You're waiting for someone to do it with
- And don't you know that it's just you
- Hey Jude, you'll do
- The movement you need is inside your body
- Na na na na na
- na na na na yeah
- Na, na na na na na na
- na na na na, hey Jude
- Na, na na na na na na
- na na na na, hey Jude
- Na, na na na na na na
- na na na na, hey Jude
| “ | Excellent, Paul, that'll do fine. | ” |
- Na, na na na na na na
- na na na na, hey Jude
- Jude Jude a Judy Judy Judy Judy, ow
| “ | All right, that's enough. | ” |
Na, na na na na na na na na na na, Hey Jude (Jude Jude Jude Jude Jude)
| “ | I've got blisters on my fingers. | ” |
| “ | Hey, guys, cab's here… | ” |
| “ | Finally! | ” |
- Na, na na na na na na
- na na na na na, Hey Jude
- (Hey Jude Hey Jude)
- Na, na na na na na na
- na na na na, hey Jude
- na na na na, Hey Jude
Early drafts[edit | edit source]
The Beatles Archives has released several early drafts of the alternate lyrics of "Hey Jude".
- Hey, Jude!
- Don't fake a bat
- Take a sad song
- And make some money
- For well you know that you're a tool
- When wiping drool
- And making your chin a little drier
At one point, Paul tried a different approach with the original "Hey Jewd".
- Hey Jewd
- Don't be afraid
- You have no foreskin
- And it won't be better
- Remember to leave your dradle on the table
- It'll be a bagel
- Tomorrow
The first promotional attempt failed, when Paul McCartney painted the title of the song on one of the Apple Boutique's windows. When he saw the fury of the crowd, he replaced it with "Hey Jude"[3] but the window still got destroyed. McCartney later explained that the song was not at all antisemitic and refused to pay the owner of the shop.
Backmasking[edit | edit source]
Playing "Hey Jude" backwards yields you a potentially Satanic message:
| “ | eduJ yeH aaaaaan an-an-an aaaaaan an-an-an, aaan, aaaaan, aaaaaaaN |
” |
According to Paul McCartney, this is gibberish.
Sequel[edit | edit source]
A popular sequel to "Hey Jude", titled "E-Pro",[4] was released in 2005 by Beck. The song makes an honest attempt at tackling "Hey Jude"'s incredible length, but not quite in the same style. Beck also "wanted to capture the beauty of the Nas, but not sound like a total rip-off."