John Lennon's Favorite Lyric in "Hey Jude"
Paul McCartney famously penned “Hey Jude” for John Lennon’s son, Julian. Subsequently, it became one of the Beatles’ most famous tracks. Even today, decades after its release, it remains a classic and an inspiring anthem in the rock space.
Though McCartney penned this song, Lennon apparently fought for one key lyric to stay in. He marked the line as his favorite in the entire song. Find out which line that is, below.
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.
While McCartney was mocking up what would become “Hey Jude,” Lennon and Yoko Ono gave their two cents on the project–at the request of Macca.
“John and Yoko came to visit and they were right behind me over my right shoulder, standing up, listening to it as I played it to them, and when I got to the line, ‘The movement you need is on your shoulder,’” McCartney once said. “I looked over my shoulder and I said, ‘I’ll change that, it’s a bit crummy. I was just blocking it out,’ and John said, ‘You won’t, you know. That’s the best line in it!’
That’s collaboration,” he continued. “When someone’s that firm about a line that you’re going to junk, and he said, ‘No, keep it in.’ So of course you love that line twice as much because it’s a little stray, it’s a little mutt that you were about to put down and it was reprieved and so it’s more beautiful than ever. I love those words now…”
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
