14 September 1968
Even taking into account the local dominance of showbands, the contemporary folk boom, the demon seed of Jim Reeves, the ready availability of low-grade Merseybeat, and the pop-cultural isolation of our country at the time, it’s still been surprising to me just how few of the genuinely iconic ’60s hits actually got to number one in Ireland. No Supremes or any Motown, no Beach Boys, no Aretha or Dionne or Dusty, no Ronettes: arguably just ‘Satisfaction’, ‘Mr Tambourine Man’, ‘My Boy Lollipop’, ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin”, ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’, and some but not all the singles by The Beatles.
So, ‘Hey Jude’ is one of those few ’60s big beasts which got to the top of the Irish charts without being stymied by parochial folk and their parochial folk. But what exactly is its standing today? Has ubiquity dampened our enthusiasm for it? Has not being on a Beatles album dimmed its light for the musos and hipsters? I love The Beatles—duh—but I can’t remember ever seeking out ‘Hey Jude’ to listen proactively; it seems like basic Beatles. Or am I just a pop hipster? It’s hard to say.
By the same token, hating on ‘Hey Jude’ feels a little stale and silly too, like being at a children’s party and rolling your eyes at ‘Happy Birthday To You’. After all, the ubiquity is down to its spirit of generosity and community, from its origin story as a song of consolation for young Julian Lennon to the greatest mass-singalong outro ever. The melody is instantly memorable and stirring, and the simple piano chords make it feel accessible and inclusive.
And yet Paul does his utmost to try and turn us off ‘Hey Jude’. His instinct for empathy with young Jules, as with Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie, is spoiled by his competing instinct for maudlin schmaltz in turning it into a conventional boy-girl love song. Also, he just can’t let that mass singalong alone; he has to go and almost spoil it with his naff, tin-eared pseudo-soul wailing. Plus John and George are bit players here: no guitar solos, no vocal response lines or shared verses. If ‘Hey Jude’ embodies the best of Beatle Paul, it also foreshadows the worst of solo McCartney. But that’s for another time; let’s not spoil the moment.
