Hey Jude

"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The ballad evolved from "Hey Jules", a song McCartney wrote to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce.[1]  "Hey Jude" begins with a verse-bridge structure based around McCartney's vocal performance and piano accompaniment; further instrumentation is added as the song progresses. After the fourth verse, the song shifts to a fade-out coda that lasts for more than four minutes.

"Hey Jude" was released in August 1968 as the first single from the Beatles' record label Apple Records. More than seven minutes in length, it was at the time the longest single ever to top the British charts.[2]  It also spent nine weeks at number one in the United States, the longest for any Beatles single. "Hey Jude" tied the "all-time" record, at the time, for the longest run at the top of the US charts. The single has sold approximately eight million copies and is frequently included on professional critics' lists of the greatest songs of all time.[3] [4] [5]  In 2013, Billboard Magazine named it the 10th biggest song of "all-time".[6]



Contents
[hide]  *1 Inspiration and writing  ==Inspiration and writing[ edit] == In 1968, John Lennon and his wife Cynthia Lennon separated due to John's affair with Yoko Ono. Soon afterwards, Paul McCartney drove out to visit Cynthia and Lennon's son, Julian. "We'd been very good friends for millions of years and I thought it was a bit much for them suddenly to be personae non gratae and out of my life," McCartney said.[7]  Cynthia Lennon recalled, "I was truly surprised when, one afternoon, Paul arrived on his own. I was touched by his obvious concern for our welfare ... On the journey down he composed 'Hey Jude' in the car. I will never forget Paul's gesture of care and concern in coming to see us."[8]
 * 2 Recording
 * 3 Composition and structure
 * 4 Single release
 * 4.1 The Apple Boutique incident
 * 5 Critical reception
 * 6 Promotional film
 * 7 Auctioned lyrics
 * 8 Charts
 * 8.1 All-time charts
 * 9 Personnel
 * 10 Sport
 * 11 Cover versions
 * 12 Notes
 * 13 References
 * 14 External links

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">The song's original title was "Hey Jules," and it was intended to comfort Julian Lennon from the stress of his parents' divorce. McCartney said, "I started with the idea 'Hey Jules,' which was Julian, don't make it bad, take a sad song and make it better. Hey, try and deal with this terrible thing. I knew it was not going to be easy for him. I always feel sorry for kids in divorces ... I had the idea [for the song] by the time I got there. I changed it to 'Jude' because I thought that sounded a bit better."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMiles1997465_7-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7]  Julian Lennon discovered the song had been written for him almost twenty years later. He remembered being closer to McCartney than to his father: "Paul and I used to hang about quite a bit—more than Dad and I did. We had a great friendship going and there seems to be far more pictures of me and Paul playing together at that age than there are pictures of me and my dad."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECross2005367_9-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Although McCartney originally wrote the song for Julian Lennon, John Lennon thought it had actually been written for him:<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESheff2000186_10-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[10] <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">But I always heard it as a song to me. If you think about it ... Yoko's just come into the picture. He's saying. 'Hey, Jude—Hey, John.' I know I'm sounding like one of those fans who reads things into it, but you can hear it as a song to me ... Subconsciously, he was saying, Go ahead, leave me. On a conscious level, he didn't want me to go ahead. <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Other people believed McCartney wrote the song about them, including Judith Simons, a journalist with the Daily Express.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHarry2000517_11-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[11]  Still others, including John Lennon, have speculated that McCartney's failing long-term relationship with Jane Asher when he wrote "Hey Jude" was an unconscious "message to himself."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEUnterberger2006_12-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[12]  In fact, when Lennon mentioned that he thought the song was about him, McCartney denied it and told Lennon he had written the song about himself.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHertsgaard1995236_13-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Writer Mark Hertsgaard noted "many of the song's lyrics do seem directed more at a grown man on the verge of a powerful new love, especially the lines 'you have found her now go and get her' and 'you're waiting for someone to perform with.'"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHertsgaard1995236_13-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]  Tim Riley wrote, "If the song is about self-worth and self-consolation in the face of hardship, the vocal performance itself conveys much of the journey. He begins by singing to comfort someone else, finds himself weighing his own feelings in the process, and finally, in the repeated refrains that nurture his own approbation, he comes to believe in himself."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERiley2002255_14-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[14]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">McCartney changed the title to "Hey Jude" because the name Jude was easier to sing.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECross2005367_9-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]  Much as he did with "Yesterday", McCartney played the song for other musicians and friends. Ron Griffith of Badfinger(known at this time as the Iveys, and the first band to join the Beatles-owned record label Apple Records), recalled that on their first day in the studio, "Paul walked over to the grand piano and said, 'Hey lads, have a listen', and he sat down and gave us a full concert rendition of 'Hey Jude'. We were gobsmacked."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECross2005367_9-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">When McCartney introduced Lennon to his new composition, he came to "the movement you need is on your shoulder" and told Lennon "I'll fix that bit." Lennon asked why, and McCartney answered "... it's a stupid expression; it sounds like a parrot." Lennon parried with "You won't, you know. That's the best line in the song." McCartney thus left the line in and later said "... when I play that song, that's the line when I think of John, and sometimes I get a little emotional during that moment."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEThe_Beatles2000297_15-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[15] 1968 sheet music cover, Maclen Music, Inc., New York. "Recorded by the Beatles on Apple Records".==Recording<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">The Beatles recorded 25 takes of "Hey Jude" at Abbey Road Studios in two nights, 29 and 30 July 1968. These were mostly rehearsals, however, because they planned to record the master track at Trident Studios to utilise their eight-track recording machine (Abbey Road was still limited to four-tracks).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTELewisohn1988145_16-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[16]  One take from 29 July is available on the Anthology 3 CD.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTELewisohn199614_17-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[17]  The master track was recorded on 31 July at Trident Studios. According to Trident's founder Norman Sheffield, before recording took place, Mal Evans, the Beatles' assistant and pal, arrived at Trident with a truck full of marijuana plants and a large tea chest. He was met by Sheffield who looked in the chest and found that it was full of corn flakes and steaks. Sheffield told Mal that they had a full kitchen upstairs and that the food wouldn't be necessary. Evans insisted on the pot plants, however, and said that "the boys" wanted the plants in the studio to make the place "soft."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESheffield201315_18-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[18]  Four takes were recorded; take one was selected. The song was completed on 1 August with additional overdubs, including a 36-piece orchestra for the song's long coda, scored byGeorge Martin. The orchestra consisted of ten violins, three violas, three cellos, two flutes, one contra bassoon, one bassoon, two clarinets, one contra bass clarinet, four trumpets, four trombones, two horns, percussion and two string basses.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">According to Norman Sheffield, there was a lot of dissention to start with. "Some of the musicians were looking down their noses at the Beatles, I think. Paul picked up on this and confronted them straight away: 'Do you guys want to get fucking paid or not?' he said. That concentrated their minds pretty well...they soon fell into line." During the first few takes, McCartney was unhappy with the energy and passion the orchestra was putting into it. So he stood up on the grand piano and started conducting the orchestra from there.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESheffield201318_19-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[19]  While adding backing vocals, the Beatles asked the orchestra members if they would clap their hands and sing along to the refrain in the song's coda. Most complied (for a double fee), but one declined, reportedly saying, "I'm not going to clap my hands and sing Paul McCartney's bloody song!"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTELewisohn1988146_20-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[20]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Ringo Starr almost missed his drum cue. He left for a toilet break—unnoticed by the other Beatles—and the band started recording. In 1994, McCartney said, "Ringo walked out to go to the toilet and I hadn't noticed. The toilet was only a few yards from his drum booth, but he'd gone past my back and I still thought he was in his drum booth. I started what was the actual take, and 'Hey Jude' goes on for hours before the drums come in and while I was doing it I suddenly felt Ringo tiptoeing past my back rather quickly, trying to get to his drums. And just as he got to his drums, boom boom boom, his timing was absolutely impeccable."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMiles1997466_21-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[21]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">At 2:57 of the song, someone can allegedly be heard to say, "Fucking hell!" There is some dispute as to who said this, and whether it was really exclaimed at all. Sound engineers Ken Scott and Geoff Emerick claim the exclamation came from McCartney and that it was Lennon's idea to leave the mistake in the final mix. "'Paul hit a clunker on the piano and said a naughty word,' Lennon gleefully crowed, 'but I insisted we leave it in, buried just low enough so that it can barely be heard. Most people won't ever spot it ... but we'll know it's there.'"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEmerick2006263_22-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[22]  However, in the Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew book Recording the Beatles, discussing the recording processes behind the Beatles' sessions, engineer Malcolm Toft recalls, "Barry Sheffield engineered 'Hey Jude', but I mixed it ... John Lennon says a very rude word about halfway through the song. At 2:59 you will hear a 'Whoa!' from him in the background. About two seconds later you will hear, 'Fucking hell!' This was because when he was doing a vocal backing, Barry sent him the foldback level [headphone volume] too loud and he threw the cans on the ground and uttered the expletive. But, because it had been bounced down [mixed] with the main vocal, it could not be removed.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERyan2006_23-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[23]  I just managed to bring the fader down for a split second on the mix to try to lessen the effect." Others argue that the voice is Ringo Starr's.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFinkelstein2009_24-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[24]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">George Harrison and McCartney had a disagreement over this song. According to McCartney, during a rehearsal Harrison played an answer to every line of the vocal. This did not fit with McCartney's idea of the song's arrangement, and he vetoed it.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTELewisohn1988146_20-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[20] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMiles1997466_21-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[21]  In a 1994 interview, McCartney said, "We were joking when we made the Anthology: I was saying: 'I realise I was a bossy git.' And George said, 'Oh no, Paul, you never did anything like that!'... But it was essential for me and looking back on it, I think, Okay. Well, it was bossy, but it was ballsy of me, because I could have bowed to the pressure."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMiles1997466_21-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[21]  Ron Richards, who worked for George Martin at both Parlophone at AIR Studios, and who discovered the Hollies,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMartin1994137.2C183_25-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[25]  was present for many Beatles' recording sessions. He said McCartney was "oblivious to anyone else's feelings in the studio," and that he was driven to make the best possible record, at almost any cost.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESpitz2005783_26-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[26]  Trident was paid £25 per hour by EMI for the "Hey Jude" sessions. Sheffield said Trident earned about £1,000 in total at the time, but by having the Beatles record there, and in turn raving about the facility, the value was incalculable.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESheffield201320_27-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[27]  In 2013 McCartney agreed to write the foreword to Sheffield's book "Life on Two Legs" in part recognition to his experience in recording Hey Jude at Trident. ==Composition and structure<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">"Hey Jude" begins with McCartney singing lead vocals and playing the piano. The patterns McCartney plays are based on three chords: F, C, and B-flat (I, V and IV);<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTELowry200244_2-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[2]  the second verse adds accompaniment by guitar and a single tambourine. The main chord progression is "flipped on its head" for the coda since the C chord is replaced by E-flat.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHertsgaard1995249.E2.80.93250_28-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[28]  Author Tim Riley notes, "As Ringo offers a restrained tom-tom and cymbal fill, the piano shifts downward to add a flat seventh to the tonic chord, making the downbeat of the bridge the point of arrival ('And any time you feel the pain')."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERiley2002252_29-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[29]  At the end of each bridge, McCartney sings a brief phrase ("Na-na-na na ...") and plays a piano fill which leads to the next verse; the phrase McCartney sings serves to "reorient the harmony for the verse as the piano figure turns upside down into a vocal aside." Additional details, such as tambourine on the third verse and subtle harmonies that accompany the lead vocal, are added to sustain the interest of the listener throughout the four-verse, two-bridge song.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERiley2002253_30-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[30]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">The verse-bridge structure of the song persists for approximately three minutes, after which the band leads into a four-minute-long coda. During the coda, the rest of the band, backed by an orchestra that also provides backing vocals, repeats the phrase "Na-na-na na" followed by the words "hey Jude" until the song gradually fades out. Time magazine described the coda as "a fadeout that engagingly spoofs the fadeout as a gimmick for ending pop records."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTETime1968_31-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[31]  Riley notes the repeated chord progression of the coda (I-<span class="music-symbol" style="font-family:'ArialUnicodeMS','LucidaSansUnicode';">♭ VII-IV-I) "answers all the musical questions raised at the beginnings and ends of bridges," for "The flat seventh that posed dominant turns into bridges now has an entire chord built on it." This three-chord refrain allows McCartney "a bedding ... to leap about on vocally",<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERiley2002254_32-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[32]  so he ad-libs his vocal performance for the rest of the song. Riley concludes that the song "becomes a tour of Paul's vocal range: from the graceful inviting tones of the opening verse, through the mounting excitement of the song itself, to the surging raves of the coda."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERiley2002255_14-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[14] ==Single release<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">"Hey Jude" was released on 26 August 1968 in the United States and 30 August in the United Kingdom, backed with "Revolution" on the B-side of a 7" single.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTELewisohn1988200_33-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[33]  The single was the debut release of the Beatles' record label Apple Records; in the US, it was also the first Beatles' single to be issued in a company sleeve rather than a picture sleeve.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBeatles.com2004_34-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[34]  Even though "Hey Jude" was recorded during the sessions for the album The Beatles, also known as the White Album, it was always intended as a single and not an album track,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTELewisohn1988145_16-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[16] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESpitz2005782_35-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[35] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMacDonald2005302.E2.80.93304_36-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[36]  although it would eventually make its LP debut two years later as the title cut on the compilation album originally titled The Beatles Again. Lennon wanted "Revolution" to be the A-side of the single, but the other Beatles did not agree. In his 1970 interview with Rolling Stone, he said "Hey Jude" was worthy of an A-side, "but we could have had both."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWenner2000110_37-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[37]  Ten years later in 1980, he told Playboy he still disagreed with the decision.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESheff2000187_38-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[38]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">"Hey Jude" began its sixteen-week run on the British charts on 7 September 1968, claiming the top spot a week later. It only lasted two weeks on top before being knocked off by another single from Apple,Mary Hopkin's "Those Were the Days" <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECross2005481_39-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[39]  (a song which, incidentally, if not penned was actually produced by McCartney). The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on 13 September; that same week NME reported that two million copies of the single had been sold.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchultheiss1980220_40-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[40]  The song entered the US charts on 14 September 1968, where it stayed for nineteen weeks. Two weeks later, "Hey Jude" was number one in the charts and held that position for nine weeks,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECross2005539_41-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[41]  the longest time spent by a Beatles' single at number one,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECross2005604.E2.80.93605_42-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[42]  as well as being the longest-playing single to reach number one.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECross2005539_41-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[41]  The song was the 16th number one hit for the band in the US, tying Elvis Presley's record at the time for most number one songs there.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">"Hey Jude" clocked in at 7:11. The only other chart-topping song worldwide in the 1960s that ran over seven minutes was Richard Harris' "MacArthur Park". In the UK, where "MacArthur Park" did not top the chart, "Hey Jude" remained the longest number-one hit for nearly a quarter of a century, until it was surpassed in 1993 by Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)", which ran 7:58 as a single.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECross2006_43-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[43]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">On 30 November 1968, NME reported that sales had reached nearly six million copies worldwide.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchultheiss1980226_44-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[44]  "Hey Jude" became the biggest-selling debut release for a record label ever, selling an estimated eight million copies worldwide and topping the charts in eleven countries.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECross2005481_39-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[39]  "Hey Jude" was the top Billboard Hot 100 single for 1968, according to year-end charts.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBillboard.com2007_45-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[45]  Less than three weeks after its release, the record was certified gold for sales of one million copies. In 1999, it was certified 4x platinum, representing four million units shipped.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECross2006_43-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[43] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERIAA2009_46-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[46] ===The Apple Boutique incident<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">A failed early promotional attempt for the single was later recalled by the Beatles' personal assistant Alistair Taylor. On 7 August 1968, McCartney took his new girlfriend, Francie Schwartz, and Taylor to theApple Boutique, closed only a week before, in order to paint the upcoming single's title Hey Jude/Revolution on its large street-side shop window. Within a day, the hand-made piece of promotion was mistaken for an anti-Semitic graffito (since Jude, besides being an English first name, happens to mean "Jew" in German), and the window was smashed by passers-by.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-47" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[47]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">McCartney himself related the incident like this in 1996: <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">I went into the Apple shop just before Hey Jude was being released. The windows were whited-out, and I thought: "Great opportunity. Baker Street, millions of buses going around ..." So, before anyone knew what it meant, I scraped Hey Jude out of the whitewash.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">A guy who had a delicatessen in Marylebone rang me up, and he was furious: "I'm going to send one of my sons round to beat you up." I said, "Hang on, hang on — what's this about?" and he said: "You've written Jude in the shop window." I had no idea it meant "Jew", but if you look at footage of Nazi Germany, "Juden Raus" was written in whitewashed windows with a Star of David. I swear it never occurred to me.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">I said: "I'm really sorry," and on and on ..."some of my best friends are Jewish, really. It's just a song we've got coming out. If you listen to the song you'll see it's nothing to do with any of that – it's a complete coincidence." He was just about pacified in the end. —Paul McCartney, The Beatles Anthology==Critical reception<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Upon the release of the "Hey Jude" single, Time contrasted it with its B-side "Revolution." Time wrote, "The other side of the new disk urges activism of a different sort" due to McCartney "liltingly exhort[ing] a friend to overcome his fears and commit himself in love."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTETime1968_31-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[31]  Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called it "one of his truest and most forthright love songs" and was critical of its omission from The Beatles.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEChristgau1971_48-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[48]  Rolling Stone also attributed the song's meaning as a message from Paul to John to end his negative relationships with women. "...to break the old pattern; to really go through with love."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-49" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[49] Music analyst Alan Pollack praised "Hey Jude," saying, "it's such a good illustration of two compositional lessons—how to fill a large canvas with simple means, and how to use diverse elements such as harmony, bassline, and orchestration to articulate form and contrast." He also said it is unusual for a long song because it uses a "binary form that combines a fully developed, hymn-like song together with an extended, mantra-like jam on a simple chord progression."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPollack2000_50-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[50]  Pollack described the song's long coda and fadeout as "an astonishingly transcendental effect,"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPollack2000_50-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[50]  while Unterberger observed, "What could have very easily been boring is instead hypnotic".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEUnterberger2006_12-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[12]  John Lennon said "Hey Jude" was "one of his [Paul's] masterpieces."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESheff2000186_10-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[10]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">"Hey Jude" was nominated for the Grammy Awards of 1969 in the Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal categories but failed to win any of them.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTELos_Angeles_Times2007_51-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[51] It did win the 1968 Ivor Novello Award for "A-Side With the Highest Sales". In the 1968 NME Readers' Poll, "Hey Jude" was named the best single of the year.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEThis_Day_In_Music2006_52-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[52]  In 2001, "Hey Jude" was inducted into theNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Grammy Hall of Fame.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAtwood2001_53-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[53]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">In 2004 and later in 2010, Rolling Stone ranked the song at number eight on "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time," making it the highest ranked Beatles song on the list. Also in 2010, Rolling Stone ranked the song at number seven on the Beatles' 100 Greatest Songs.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERolling_Stone2010_54-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[54] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-55" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[55]  It came in third on Channel 4's list of 100 Greatest Singles.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEProcolHarum.com2006_4-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[4]  The Amusement & Music Operators Association ranked "Hey Jude" the 11th-best jukebox single of all time.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBMI2006_5-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[5]  It was also voted the greatest song of all time by Mojo readers. ==Promotional film<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">The Beatles hired Michael Lindsay-Hogg to shoot the "Hey Jude" promotional film (he had previously directed a 'promo' film for "Paperback Writer"), and they settled on the idea of filming with a live, albeit controlled audience. In the film, the Beatles are first seen by themselves, performing the initial chorus and verses, and then are joined by the audience who appear as the last chorus concludes and coda begins; the audience sings and claps along with the Beatles through the song's conclusion. Hogg shot the film at Twickenham Film Studios on 4 September 1968, with McCartney himself designing the set. Tony Bramwell, a friend of the Beatles, later described the set as "the piano, there; drums, there; and orchestra in two tiers at the back." The event is also memorable because it marked Starr's return to the group after a two-week hiatus, during which he had announced that he had left the band.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTELewisohn1988151_56-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[56]  The eventual final film was a combination of several different takes<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPinch2009_57-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[57]  and included filmed 'introductions' to the song by David Frost (who introduced the Beatles as "the greatest tea-room orchestra in the world"),<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECross2005368_58-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[58]  and Cliff Richard, for their respective, eponymous TV programmes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPinch2009_57-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[57]  As filming wore on, Lennon repeatedly asked Lindsay-Hogg if he had the footage he needed. After twelve takes, McCartney said, "I think that's enough", and filming concluded.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPinch2009_57-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[57]  It was first aired in the UK on 8 September 1968, and the film was later broadcast for the United States on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on 6 October 1968.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchultheiss1980222_59-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[59] ==Auctioned lyrics<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">In 1996, Julian Lennon paid £25,000 for the recording notes to "Hey Jude" at an auction. Julian Lennon spent another £35,000 at the auction buying John Lennon memorabilia. John Cousins, Julian Lennon's manager, stated, "He has a few photographs of his father, but not very much else. He is collecting for personal reasons; these are family heirlooms if you like."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHey_Jules1996_60-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[60]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">In 2002, the original handwritten lyrics for the song were nearly auctioned off at Christie's in London. The sheet of notepaper with the scrawled lyrics had been expected to fetch up to £80,000 at the auction, which was scheduled for 30 April 2002. McCartney went to court to stop the auction, claiming the paper had disappeared from his West London home. Richard Morgan, representing Christie's, said McCartney had provided no evidence that he had ever owned the piece of paper on which the lyrics were written. The courts decided in McCartney's favour and prohibited the sale of the lyrics. They had been sent to Christie's for auction by Frenchman Florrent Tessier, who said he purchased the piece of paper at a street market stall in London for £10 in the early 1970s. In the original catalogue for the auction, Julian Lennon had written, "It's very strange to think that someone has written a song about you. It still touches me."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWardell2002_61-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[61] ==Charts<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ===All-time charts<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === ==Personnel<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==
 * Paul McCartney – lead vocal, piano, bass
 * John Lennon – backing vocal, acoustic guitar
 * George Harrison – backing vocal, electric guitar
 * Ringo Starr – backing vocal, drums, tambourine
 * Uncredited – 10 violins, three violas, three cellos, two double basses, two flutes, two clarinets, one bass clarinet, one bassoon, one contrabassoon, four trumpets, two horns, four trombones, and onepercussion instrument. EMI archives do not record the names of the studio musicians, but it has been established that one of the cellists was Bobby Kok, and two of the flautists were Bill Jackman and Brian Warren.
 * Personnel per Ian MacDonald<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMacDonald2005302.E2.80.93304_36-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[36]  and Mark Lewisohn.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTELewisohn1988146_20-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[20]

==Sport<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Paul McCartney sang the song in the closing moments of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics hosted in London. On 4 August 2012, McCartney led the crowd in a rendition of the song while watching cycling at the velodrome.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-84" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[84]  It is played at Olympia at half-time during home games of Swedish football team Helsingborgs IF.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">The coda part of the song is being used as a football chant for Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud by Arsenal fans, with the word "Giroud" replacing "Hey Jude".

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Brentford FC fans have sung "Hey Jude" for years as one of their home anthems.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Manchester City adopted the song after winning the top flight league title in the 1967-68 season. ==Cover versions<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">"Weird Al" Yankovic included the song in his first polka medley "Polkas on 45" from his 1984 album "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-85" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[85]  Katy Perry performed a cover of the song as part of the 2012 MusiCaresPerson of the Year concert honoring McCartney,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-86" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[86]  and in her 2012 film Katy Perry: Part of Me.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-87" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[87]  The song was performed by the members of glee club in the 2013 Glee episode "Tina in the Sky with Diamonds" and the soundtrack Glee Sings the Beatles, in which the song is shortened to four minutes and fifty-one seconds.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-88" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[88]  In the late 1960s, famous singer Sinn Sisamouth recorded a Cambodian version of "Hey Jude".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-89" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[89]  South African band Dr Victor and the Rasta Rebels included a version on their greatest hits album.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-90" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[90]  Wilson Pickett covered the song in 1968 with pre-Allman Brothers Bandsession musician Duane Allman on guitar.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">In the 2011 Top Gear India Special the song was covered by the "Top Gear band" - consisting of presenters Jeremy Clarkson (drums), Richard Hammond (double bass) and James May (keyboard) as well as executive producer Andy Wilman (vocals) - during a trade fair in Delhi. For rights reasons, in the DVD version of the episode it is replaced by "Sowing the Seeds of Love" by Tears for Fears.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">The Beatles & Hey Jude are name checked by Electric Light Orchestra on the track 'Shangri-La' on their 1976 album A New World Record.