Hey Jude was the first release on The Beatles' own Apple Records label. It was a ballad written by Paul McCartney, to comfort John Lennon's son Julian during the divorce of his parents.
Hey Jude is a damn good set of lyrics and I made no contribution to that.
John Lennon, 1980
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
It was written in June 1968,as McCartney drove his Aston Martin to Weybridge to visit Cynthia Lennon and her son. On the journey he began thinking about their changing lives, and of the past times he had spent writing with Lennon at the Weybridge house.
I thought, as a friend of the family, I would motor out to Weybridge and tell them that everything was all right: to try and cheer them up, basically, and see how they were. I had about an hour's drive. I would always turn the radio off and try and make up songs, just in case... I started singing: 'Hey Jules – don't make it bad, take a sad song, and make it better...' It was optimistic, a hopeful message for Julian: 'Come on, man, your parents got divorced. I know you're not happy, but you'll be OK.'
I eventually changed 'Jules' to 'Jude'. One of the characters in Oklahoma is called Jud, and I like the name.
Paul McCartney
Anthology
