(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
The Beatles - "Hey Jude"
Hit Number 1: September 28, 1968
Stay at Number 1: 9 Weeks
John Lennon and his wife at the time, Cynthia, were reaching the end of their relationship. This was because Lennon had been caught cheating on her with Yoko Ono, who would become Lennon's wife until his death in 1980. This had a negative effect on the Beatles as a group, since Cynthia was part of the Beatles' social circle for almost their entire existence, and Paul McCartney couldn't help but wonder what Lennon's son, Julian, was going through. He wrote the song "Hey Jules" to try to help comfort the young boy, but the song soon evolved into being about helping a guy find love. After a slight name change, the song was now "Hey Jude", because McCartney thought that "sounded better". So yep, that song that we've been drunkenly singing for decades evolved from Lennon and his first wife's divorce. Doing this blog continues to teach me all kinds of weird stuff.
I think we all know at this point that 1968 was a rough time in American history, but it wasn't the best time in the Beatles' history either. Aside from Lennon's affair, him and McCartney could never agree on anything, George Harrison got into frequent arguments with McCartney about guitar parts in songs, and even Ringo Starr decided to leave the band for a short while, and only returned because of the "Hey Jude" promotional video that was soon to be shot. Apparently he decided to stay afterwards. Starr was never someone to cause any drama. But even despite all the issues that would turn into "Hey Jude", you would have no idea listening to the song that the band's personal lives were on the rocks. I don't think there's any Beatles song where the group sounds more "together" than they do on "Hey Jude".
Ultimately, the song is about trying to make good out of a bad situation, and to persevere even when it seems like all hope is lost. The main message in "Hey Jude" is McCartney coaching a guy into getting the girl he wants. At that point, though, the Jude character is no longer based off of Julian, since Julian was only five at the time of the creation of "Hey Jude", and probably wasn't chasing after any girls. Though that may be true, the appeal of the song isn't in the backstory. The thing that struck a nerve the most with Americans in 1968, and still continues to do so today, is the sense of unity the song brings upon everyone. I won't lie, I got chills watching the video above, and everyone in the studio audience joined the Beatles on stage and sang "na na na na Hey Jude!" together. Even with the Vietnam War raging, civil rights movements ablaze, Martin Luther King Jr.'s death months before, and the Beatles personal struggles on top of that, it must've seemed like a moment where all was right with the world. It was a ray of sunshine in the stormy year that was 1968.
Besides the sense of unity and togetherness the song evokes, "Hey Jude" also has other qualities working in its favor. McCartney's lead vocal is rich and clean, and hard not to sing along with. We finally get to hear the classic Beatles harmonies again, and we're also treated to some soft, mellow, lovely piano melodies from McCartney. The only uncertainty I have with the song is how long it is. The "na na nas" at the end go on for just over four minutes, and I'm not sure that that part really needs to be that long. Maybe the Beatles were lost in the moment, and they were feeling the unity with each other, and didn't want to end the song. But once the song is reaching the end, I'm kind of ready for it to end. McCartney, to his credit, keeps it interesting with some improvised yelps and screams all the way to the end though. Again, the power of "Hey Jude" isn't in the song's songcraft. It's the optimistic vibes it puts out, and how even in the worst of times, it can bring people together. That is why, 52 years later, the song is still going strong. If there ever was a song that you could compare to a fine wine, "Hey Jude" would be a pretty damn good pick.
"Hey Jude" did not signify the end of the Beatles though. Even though things were getting rocky, they'll still appear in this blog a few more times.
GRADE: 9/10
JUST MISSED:
So, while a song about optimism was at #1, a song about burning in hell peaked at #2 behind it. That would be the Crazy World of Arthur Brown's "Fire", and it's an especially strange song. It's a 4.
ALSO JUST MISSED:
O.C. Smith's gloopy, nursey-rhyme sounding "Little Green Apples" also peaked at #2 behind "Hey Jude". It's also a 4.
YET ANOTHER JUST MISSED:
Another strange song peaked at #2 behind "Hey Jude", but it's a "better" kind of strange if you catch my drift. It's Mary Hopkin's "Those Were the Days", and it's a 6.
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