Does Hey Jude also deal with Yoko Ono?

Frightwolf · Jan 20, 2005, 02:41 PM

I remember reading up that John thought Hey Jude was about him, and he said that the, "Go out and get her part" was about Paul's subconscious telling him to go get Yoko.

I think John may be partially right.

I do believe that Paul wrote the song because he worried about Julian and wanted to tell him that everything will be OK, but I think when he said, "Remember to let her under your skin, then you begin to make it better," was meant to say, "Listen, the only way it's gonna work is if you accept Yoko into your life as well, and then everything will be alright."

Any thoughts? I can't think of a single other thing the "her" can be.

matt5 · Jan 20, 2005, 02:57 PM

in my opinion, no.

lonely_rubber_peppers · Jan 20, 2005, 03:55 PM

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matt5 Posted:
in my opinion, no.

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I'm not sure what to think about this. It would certainly seem as thought Paul is telling Julian not to "knock her before he knows her" so to speak. But I always thought that him asking Julian to accept Yoko would be a bit hypocritical of him, seeing as how I don't think he ever really accepted her and the fact that she took his best friend.

So.....I'm gonna go with a big fat "I don't know" on this one.

matt2791 · Jan 20, 2005, 08:12 PM

He was giving Julian "girl advice"- that's my opinion:)

NaomiMcCartney · Jan 20, 2005, 08:16 PM

[ QUOTE ]
matt2791 Posted:
He was giving Julian "girl advice"- that's my opinion:)

[/ QUOTE ] I actually heard Paul say that himself that that was what the song was pretty much about.

matt5 · Jan 21, 2005, 07:29 AM

[ QUOTE ]
NaomiMcCartney Posted:
[ QUOTE ]
matt2791 Posted:
He was giving Julian "girl advice"- that's my opinion:)

[/ QUOTE ] I actually heard Paul say that himself that that was what the song was pretty much about.

[/ QUOTE ]

But I also think it is a metaphore for not being afraid to chase your dreams.

Celebrian · Jan 21, 2005, 08:45 AM

[ QUOTE ]
matt5 Posted:
[ QUOTE ]
NaomiMcCartney Posted:
[ QUOTE ]
matt2791 Posted:
He was giving Julian "girl advice"- that's my opinion:)

[/ QUOTE ] I actually heard Paul say that himself that that was what the song was pretty much about.

[/ QUOTE ]

But I also think it is a metaphore for not being afraid to chase your dreams.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with all the above sentiments

Suzy Parker · Jan 21, 2005, 07:15 PM

Paul might have been thinking about Julian when the song first crept into his head, but I think it moved a LONG way from there.

It is unusual for a Paul song, in that it is very generalized (the singer gives advice to Jude, but Jude could be anyone a little afraid of a new relationship). It also does not tell a story, which many Paul songs do. Put another way, it's not an obvious song.I think that's why people often discuss what the song means.

We don't often see that sort of complexity in a Paul song - complexity in Paul songs more often is musical complexity.

Despite going through periods when it gets overplayed (including by Macca himself in concerts), it remains a Beatle masterpiece.

Have you noticed that NO cover version comes close to the Beatles' own version?

NaomiMcCartney · Jan 21, 2005, 07:39 PM

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Suzy Parker Posted:

Have you noticed that NO cover version comes close to the Beatles' own version?

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I think this is true in regards to all The Beatles songs that have been done by other artists. The Beatles version of their own song always sounds best to me.

Savoy Truffle · Jan 22, 2005, 11:16 AM

[ QUOTE ]
NaomiMcCartney Posted:
[ QUOTE ]
matt2791 Posted:
He was giving Julian "girl advice"- that's my opinion:)

[/ QUOTE ] I actually heard Paul say that himself that that was what the song was pretty much about.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's interesting but wasn't Julian a little young for "girl advice" at the time.

He must have meant for later.

He may have originally intended the song for that reason and to try to cheer Julian up a little with his mom and dad's divorce but I agree with everyone that has said the song ends up meaning much more. I think that's one of the reasons that's it's a classic song.

I must admit though, I've never thought of it as anything at all about Yoko.

ilovejohnlennon · Jan 23, 2005, 08:09 AM

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"Remember to let her under your skin, then you begin to make it better," was meant to say, "Listen, the only way it's gonna work is if you accept Yoko into your life as well, and then everything will be alright."

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yeah, thats how i always thought of it. makes more sense and i like to think thats what he meant. great song anyway...

Bexy_Starkey · Jan 26, 2005, 12:48 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Savoy Truffle Posted:
[ QUOTE ]
NaomiMcCartney Posted:
[ QUOTE ]
matt2791 Posted:
He was giving Julian "girl advice"- that's my opinion:)

[/ QUOTE ] I actually heard Paul say that himself that that was what the song was pretty much about.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's interesting but wasn't Julian a little young for "girl advice" at the time.

He must have meant for later.

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah, Julian was only 5 at the time! wouldn't it be grat to have macca wirte a song for you?

suckerfly · Jan 30, 2005, 07:49 AM

If you take a look at the lyrics to this song, its shift of emphasis moves from what could be a song for a child, or written for a child about to see his parents separate, to a song advising the newly in love. Not particularly in 'spirit' with its intention. And if one is to believe Fran Schwartz, Hey Jude's date of writing is up in the air, and whether it was written in a car, or worked at for a while.

Hey, Jude, don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better

If this is addressed to Julian, only the first two lines actually apply to his situation as a child in the middle of parental divorce. If the next two lines ARE suggesting that Julian let Yoko into his heart, it may be a bit too much to ask a 5 year old child (at the time) to do, since Paul, Ringo and George had a hard enough time doing it!

This part of the verse seems a bit out of keeping with advice to a child, with its two seemingly unrelated advisories, if directed at a child.

Hey, Jude, don't be afraid
You were made to go out and get her
The minute you let her under your skin
Then you begin to make it better.

What this has to do with Julian I'm not sure. Julian was certainly in no need of going out to get anyone at 5 years old. That's if we are applying McCartney's explanation of why he wrote it, because he felt bad for Julian and his parent's situation. As future advice to Julian as to what to do should he ever fall in love, it may be a little ill timed considering his father had just forsaken his mother for another woman. This whole verse seems directed at someone else entirely. Whether this is Paul, and his romance with Jane Asher and its end, and maybe the appearance of Linda Eastman on the scene, or even his relationship with Fran Schwartz, OR John Lennon and Yoko Ono one may never know. But this aint about Julian.

And any time you feel the pain, hey, Jude, refrain
Don't carry the world upon your shoulders
Well don't you know that its a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder

This fits in with advice to a child, but it could equally be advice to an adult. And easily the best lyric in the whole song.

Hey, Jude! Don't let her down
You have found her, now go and get her
Remember, to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better.

It would be interesting to see how much time passed or was between the writing of Hey Jude, and Lennon's Don't Let Me Down, just for the first line, because as a love song, Lennon's DLMD places any failing of the relationship not on his shoulders, but on the lover's. Either way, the first line would be a very good response to Lennon's song in advice to say, how about you yourself?

Again, this verse has very little to do with Julian's situation, if at all. This is advice to a person pursuing a relationship. It is almost a blessing, or acknowledgment that whoever the narrator is, they are aquiescing the subject's pursuit of his heart, with a word of warning about the pitfalls, but the also the rewards of letting love in. It presents the fact that there was a bad situation that existed before, but this love may be the thing that sets all to right.

So let it out and let it in, hey, Jude, begin
You're waiting for someone to perform with
And don't you know that it's just you, hey, Jude,
You'll do, the movement you need is on your shoulder

Again, very little to do with Julian, if at all. There's reference to an 'It', whatever this It is, is open to interpretation. It may be love, it may be music, it may be the heart. That the next line says there is someone now to perform with suggests a great many things. Considering Lennon's withdrawal from The Beatles, and the appearance of Yoko in such a forceful way, it may be about him. It may be about Paul himself. Considering both are in the performing arts, this line isn't strange in its useage, though who it is remains unknown.

It is also suggested that regardless of this person, or lover, that really the decision and choice is down to the person this song is about. Much like Harrison's ''Try to realise it's all within yourself, no-one else can make you change'' from Within You Without You, the suggestion is that the power to make anything happen is within you, and no one else has this same power other than you. Though the movement you need is on your shoulders could easily be a parrot, as much as your own head is a bit too vague and open to suggestion.