M or F??

[Lucy]

I'm not quite sure how to word this without sounding like a total nutcase.
I was having a discussion with a Beatles-fan-friend of mine and we got into quite an interesting little debate.
The whole Julian-dedication thing aside, when you listen to "Hey Jude" and hear those lyrics, do you see Jude as male or female? The name is one of those clever little ones that can apply to either sex so it might be something that a couple of us have different ideas about.
Have any of you ever thought about this before and done the whole mental image thing or am I just totally crazy?

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[IreneMcBeatle]

It is a well known fact for me. It was said in Anthology that Paul has written this song when John was performing divorse with his first wife. And the song is written for Julian, John's son. And it was called "Hey Jule", but it is easier to sing "Jude". That is how it transformed to "Hey Jude".

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[This Message Has Been Edited By IreneMcBeatle On July 30, 2001 04:47 AM]

[SF4-EVER]

I've always thought of "Jude" as a male. But when I'm down and need encouragement, sometimes when I listen to the song, I'll mentally substitute my own name (Sandra) for "Hey Jude." That way, I can pretend they were singing it to me, even though I didn't exist yet when Paul wrote that song. Hope that makes sense.

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Author of "Move Over Ms. L." and the sequel "To Thine Own Self Be True,"
hosted at www.rooftopsessions.com (http://www.rooftopsessions.com)

[Harbidge]

I'll always consider Jude a male because I know that it was originally going to be called Hey Jules (For John's son Julian).

------------------
Containing EVERY clue ever found about this conspiracy, Paul is Dead - The Conclusive Evidence (http://www.paulisdead.net) will change your mind about this bizarre coverup.

Do you have a copy of 'Introducing the Beatles'? Do you know whether it's a fake or an original? If not, CLICK HERE! (http://introducing.cjb.net) for all the information you need!

[beatlebangs1964]

I always thought Jude was male. Jude is a male name, e.g. St. Jude, Patron Saint of Impossible Causes. Since Paul wrote the song for Julian, I to this day think of Jude as being a guy.

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Then we will remember things we said today. Yeah.
-- Beatles, 1964

BB1964

[HeyBeatle]

The only way I could see it being a girls name if it were a nickname for Judith. But on the average people would connect Jude with a boy.

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" Are you a mod or a rocker?"
" No I'm a mocker."

[Lynner]

I've always thought "Hey Jude" was male. What's rather amusing is that I have a sister-in-law named Judy and we often call out to her, "Jude, Hey, Jude", without a Beatles reference, altho' I'm sure she heard enough of that growing up in the late 60's. Another kinda cool side note, Judy's mom (my mother-in-law) is named Rita!

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[darkhorse]

Jude was a male. I hear it as a "friendship" song, more than a "love" song in the "couple love" way... It has a great friendship lyric, a strong one, one that says "I'll be there anytime, carry on"... This must be Paul's best lyric ever. And it's written for a male person. That's what I think.

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"Why don't you call me, Miss O'Dell"

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Even before I knew who it was for, I always thought Jude was a guy. What a brilliant song, by the way. http://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/smile.gif

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"If not for you my sky would fall, rain would gather too
Without your love I'd be nowhere at all, I'd be lost if not for you"

[Rellevart]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Arial, Sans-Serif">Quote:</font><HR>Originally Posted By darkhorse:
Jude was a male. I hear it as a "friendship" song, more than a "love" song in the "couple love" way.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Once again, darkhorse, you expressed my thoughts exactly, before I got a chance to do so! http://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/smile.gif

It is a pretty gender-neutral song and could easily apply to either sex, but you so rarely hear male singers/songwriters writing platonic songs about females that I just always assumed "Jude" was another guy.



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Hey, don't you know that I'm....always going back in time....

[darkhorse]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Arial, Sans-Serif">Quote:</font><HR>Originally Posted By Rellevart:
Once again, darkhorse, you expressed my thoughts exactly, before I got a chance to do so! http://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/smile.gif<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Glad to help, Rell. http://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/smile.gif



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"Why don't you call me, Miss O'Dell"

[Lucy]

Hmmm well all the way down here in wacky ol' New Zealand it is no strange thing to have a female named Jude....there is a local celebrity who has her own TV show named Jude to name but one. It isn't an all out male name but I reckon Jude is a guy too in the context of the song but I can kind of see how he could be a girl.

Oooooh and I was aware of the origin of the title and who the song was after. That is a "well known fact" to me too Irene & Harb. I did say to put the Julian dedication aside and go on what you thought the lyrics meant...so you didn't have to go to the trouble of telling me the story behind the song. What kind of fan doesn't know that anyway??

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[SleepyHead64]

I was totally unaware of the background of the song when I first heard it, and it still struck me as being addressed to a male. It sounded like a mate-to-mate song to me, and struck me as a song one friend wrote to another who was down on his luck in the girlfriend department. Even after becoming aware of the background, it took me quite awhile to "see" it as a song written for a young boy.

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[SF4-EVER]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Arial, Sans-Serif">Quote:</font><HR>Originally Posted By SleepyHead64:
I was totally unaware of the background of the song when I first heard it, and it still struck me as being addressed to a male. It sounded like a mate-to-mate song to me, and struck me as a song one friend wrote to another who was down on his luck in the girlfriend department.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Even John took it that way; he interpreted the lyrics to mean Paul was secretly encouraging him to get together with Yoko.

------------------
Author of "Move Over Ms. L." and the sequel "To Thine Own Self Be True,"
hosted at www.rooftopsessions.com (http://www.rooftopsessions.com)

[HMVNipper]

I always saw "Jude" as being male...I knew a guy in college named Jude, and since I was already a Beatles fan, it didn't seem weird to me that it would be a guy's name! But I definitely agree with the comments about "Hey Jude" being a wonderful friendship song...such a lovely and sincere lyric!

http://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/bouncing2.gif

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[jtal909]

I never thought of it as M or F. It has always been rather generic to me.

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"We're just a band. First Paul joined, then George joined, and then Ringo joined!"

[bearkat77]

When I first heard "Hey Jude", I thought is was a song of encouragement. I never thought of it as being M or F. When I learned that Paul wrote it for Julian, then I understood the song even better.

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[joe]

Hey People-
Here's a quote from a song title post here at Beatlelinks:..."remember to let HER into your heart...

i don't think jude was a Polothene Pam.http://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/rolleyes.gif

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[Tim]

Male-after all the line is Let HER into your heart/and then you can start/to make it better

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[joe]

Very good post, SleepyHead

Another example of how Beatle music, touched and sometimes healed, our lives.

..."take a sad songhttp://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/cry1.gif, and make it betterhttp://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/yeah.gif..."

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[Angelle]

Wow, Sleepyhead, that's beautiful. I have a disabled son myself. I need to dig it out and listen to it again with that in mind. It will probably bring tears to my eyes.

Angelle, who never knew she could love or hurt so much until she became a mother.

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[SleepyHead]

I have an interesting interpretation here for you guys.

A friend of mine had a child with severe birth defects - a child who happened to be a girl. When my friend heard the song a short time later, it seemed to speak straight to her heart...

"Hey Jude... don't be afraid..."
What a world of meaning to a new mother of a child with frightening handicaps

"The minute you let her under your skin,
Then you begin to make it better."
Words of inspiration- or so my friend took them to be.

"And anytime you feel the pain...
Don't carry the world upon your shoulders."
As any parent can tell you, we do feel the pain our children feel... we feel it quite deeply and personally, and probably to a greater degree than even our children will ever truly appreciate.

"So let it out and let it in, hey Jude, begin,
You're waiting for someone to perform with."


My friend took the entire song as an instructional audio to just love her daughter, stop and take a deep breath every once in awhile, and forge ahead with doing the best she could in the circumstances she found herself in.

After hearing her interpretation, it dawned on me that this is precisely why Beatles songs remain so popular to this day... They truly speak to each of us, if we will only open our ears and hearts. Each song speaks to us in our own individual circumstances.

There may be no "real" interpretations...

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[This Message Has Been Edited By SleepyHead On August 04, 2001 12:06 PM]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Arial, Sans-Serif">Quote:</font><HR>Originally Posted By bearkat77:
When I first heard "Hey Jude", I thought is was a song of encouragement. I never thought of it as being M or F. When I learned that Paul wrote it for Julian, then I understood the song even better.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Same for me, a song that encouraged all - with "Jude" standing for anyone and everyone. And once I'd read more about it the M link with Julian became more obvious.


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http://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/king2.gif

[JCB410]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Arial, Sans-Serif">Quote:</font><HR>Originally Posted By bearkat77:
When I first heard "Hey Jude", I thought is was a song of encouragement. I never thought of it as being M or F. When I learned that Paul wrote it for Julian, then I understood the song even better.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Same here-http://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/smile.gif I know what you mean
exactly. I also thought in some of the 1st
times I heard the sound of the word "Jude",
it sounded a bit weird to me-- only ironic
I guess in that the sound of "Jules" didn't
agree with Paul when he first was coming up
with the "right word" to use for the song..

http://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/alien3.gif


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//*//--"you may say I'm
a dreamer, but
I'm not the only
one"--

[shyGirl]

Like everyone else, I thought of Jude as a male. But I think the song could be sung to anyone male or female, despite the name. It's a good "just hold on, everything will be okay" type song.

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"I get by with a little help from my friends."
"I'm a loser and I'm not what I appear to be."
"Everybody seems to think I'm lazy. I don't mind, I think they're crazy."

[bearkat77]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Arial, Sans-Serif">Quote:</font><HR>Originally Posted By shyGirl:
It's a good "just hold on, everything will be okay" type song.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Exactly, shyGirl. http://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/images/icons/grin.gif

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