'I’m very thankful - but I’ve also been driven up the wall by it...' This is what Julian Lennon really things about Hey Jude
Julian Lennon has opened up on his feelings about the 1968 Beatles song 'Hey Jude', which was written for him and his mother Cynthia Powell by Sir Paul McCartney after his bandmate John Lennon left the family home to be in a relationship with Yoko Ono.
Julian Lennon admits he has been "driven up the wall" by The Beatles song ‘Hey Jude’.
The 60-year-old musician is the son of late Fab Four legend John Lennon and his first wife Cynthia Powell, and Sir Paul McCartney wrote the ballad - originally titled 'Hey Jules' - to try and comfort Julian, then five, after John separated from his spouse in May 1968 due to his affair with Japanese artist Yoko Ono.
Julian still remains touched that Paul - who came up with the lyrics as he travelled to see Cynthia and her son at their home in Weybridge in the wake of the split - wrote a song for him, but 45 years later it can be frustrating to constantly hear it and have to speak about the track with fans.
In an interview with Esquire, he said: “It was ‘Hey Jules’ at first, but that didn’t quite sit well rhythmically. ‘Hey Jude’ was a better interpretation.
“Paul wrote it to console Mum, and also to console me. It’s a beautiful sentiment, no question about that, and I’m very thankful - but I’ve also been driven up the wall by it.
“I love the fact that he wrote a song about me and for Mum, but depending on what side of the bed one woke up on, and where you’re hearing it, it can be a good or a slightly frustrating thing. But in my heart of hearts, there’s not a bad word I could say about it.”
Julian, however, emphasised that the song means more to him now that it ever did, because the lyrics about taking a sad situation and making it better are still very poignant to him.
He continued: “Initially I think the concept of the song was about Mum. But then it came to me, and what the hell I was going to be dealing with later on in life.
[Paul] wasn’t wrong ... It’s not been smooth sailing in any way, shape, or form. I’ve always put a brave face on for the most part, but it’s been a traumatic life. No question about that. I’ve worked my way through all those episodes and traumas.
“I think that’s the saving grace about getting old - although I hate even using the word old. Age doesn’t mean anything to me. Age, for me, as long as you’re pretty healthy and of sound mind for the most part, is about wisdom and experience and how things relate to you now and what’s important in life now.
“Hey Jude” probably has more importance to me now than it ever did.
