Paul McCartney Shared The Sad Backstory Behind One Of The Beatles' Biggest Hits
English musician, singer, songwriter, and composer Paul McCartney records the Lennon-McCartney ... [+] composition 'Thingumybob' with the Black Dyke Mills Band in Saltaire, City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, 30th June 1968.
Paul McCartney is in the middle of sharing some incredible insights and backstories behind some of the biggest songs of his career. The singer-songwriter is deep into season two of his podcast Paul McCartney: A Life in Lyrics (via iHeartPodcasts and Pushkin), which sees the rocker and his friend Paul Muldoon digging into how some of his greatest works were created and what they mean. In the latest episode, he opened up about “Hey Jude,” which is both an uplifting and very sad tune.
The former Beatle stated that he once drove to see Julian Lennon, son of his bandmate John, and the boy’s mother, Cynthia. During the 45-minute trip, he began writing the song that would be “Hey Jude” for the boy, as John Lennon had just left the family.
McCartney detailed how the words came together in a seemingly very simple fashion, stating, “In my mind… ‘Hey, Jules, don't make it bad. I know this is tough for you, but take a sad song and make it better. Your dad's just left you.’” It seems so matter-of-fact when the songwriter puts it like that, but of course, anyone who has ever tried to create something as memorable and beautiful as “Hey Jude” knows it’s not that simple.
Source: Hugh McIntyre/forbes.com
