Isn't "Hey Jude" a bit overrated?
Jean Fontaine
I'm always amazed by the number of people rating "Hey Jude" as the
Beatles' best song. And I think it has been the band's best-selling
single too.
I don't understand that popularity. I don't say it's a terrible song,
but the Fabs' best??? What do you people like so much about it? the
lyrics? the melody? the instrumental build-up? Paul's shouting? the
never-ending "na-na-na-na-nah" sing-along (when I hear the fade-out
beginning, I can't help to think "At last!")? Sorry, but I find all
those elements too simple (compared to Beatles standards). Hey Paul,
don't make it bad, take that bad song and make it better!
Tell me, people, I want to understand.
Anyone else able to live without "Hey Jude"?
Tom Hartman
>Tell me, people, I want to understand.
>
>Anyone else able to live without "Hey Jude"?
I must say, I'm with you on "Hey Jude," and feel the same way about "Let It Be" for that matter... (I wish they would have!). I attribute it's success to its simplicity and the ability of even the most tone-deaf to sing along with it, even if they don't understand what a movement on their shoulder might be.
It's a fine song, no doubt, but you seem to have felt the same thing many of my friends and I felt way back when it was released...that The Beatles seemed not to be breaking new ground anymore. They were still the best group in the world, no doubt. But the major breakthroughs were over as the 60s wound down. They were no longer setting trends, as evidenced by delicious self-indulgence of"The Ballad of John and Yoko," and Ringo's dead steal of Iron Butterfly for his drum solo on "Abbey Road." All of this said, of course, from a one who couldn't love them more. And of course, "Abbey Road" was a brilliant effort, all in all.
Eric Huls
Jean Fontaine wrote:
>
> I'm always amazed by the number of people rating "Hey Jude" as the
> Beatles' best song. And I think it has been the band's best-selling
> single too.
>
> I don't understand that popularity. I don't say it's a terrible song,
> but the Fabs' best??? What do you people like so much about it? the
> lyrics? the melody? the instrumental build-up? Paul's shouting? the
> never-ending "na-na-na-na-nah" sing-along (when I hear the fade-out
> beginning, I can't help to think "At last!")? Sorry, but I find all
> those elements too simple (compared to Beatles standards). Hey Paul,
> don't make it bad, take that bad song and make it better!
>
>
> Anyone else able to live without "Hey Jude"?
I think the simplicity is the very thing that most people love about
this song. No weird sound effects, no backwards tapes, no
anything--Just Paul singing a lovely, very heartfelt song.
I also think the layering of additional parts as the verses go on, from
Just Paul at the beginning, to the full band at the end, help propel the
song emotionally forward. Whereas many of Paul's songs are third
person, this on seems real, or, at least, meaningful to him personally.
He isn't writing a story, he's singing about himself... Or John, or
Julian, or whoever.
Not a very clear answer, sorry. Perhaps someone can do it better?
(By the way, Jude and A Day in the Life are my two favorites, so I like
the not-so-simple stuff too.)
-Eric Huls
EVANSWINDA F. VIDAD-VALVERDE
In <336D4E...@odyssee.net> Jean Fontaine <jfon...@odyssee.net>
writes:
>
>I'm always amazed by the number of people rating "Hey Jude" as the
>Beatles' best song. And I think it has been the band's best-selling
>single too.
>
>I don't understand that popularity. I don't say it's a terrible song,
>but the Fabs' best??? What do you people like so much about it? the
>lyrics? the melody? the instrumental build-up? Paul's shouting? the
>never-ending "na-na-na-na-nah" sing-along (when I hear the fade-out
>beginning, I can't help to think "At last!")? Sorry, but I find all
>those elements too simple (compared to Beatles standards). Hey Paul,
>don't make it bad, take that bad song and make it better!
>
>Tell me, people, I want to understand.
>
>Anyone else able to live without "Hey Jude"?
How old are you anyway? Maybe you were not born yet during the time
that this was the number one song. Words can't explain how it was
during that time and if you were not there yet to experience it, I can
say that you are not qualified to give comments about this song!
Rob Miller
>I'm always amazed by the number of people rating "Hey Jude" as the
>Beatles' best song. And I think it has been the band's best-selling
>single too.
>
>I don't understand that popularity. I don't say it's a terrible song,
>but the Fabs' best??? What do you people like so much about it? the
>lyrics? the melody? the instrumental build-up? Paul's shouting? the
>never-ending "na-na-na-na-nah" sing-along (when I hear the fade-out
>beginning, I can't help to think "At last!")? Sorry, but I find all
>those elements too simple (compared to Beatles standards). Hey Paul,
>don't make it bad, take that bad song and make it better!
>
>Tell me, people, I want to understand.
>
>Anyone else able to live without "Hey Jude"?
>
No.
Rob
James Geren
Jean Fontaine writes:
>I'm always amazed by the number of people rating "Hey Jude" as the
>Beatles' best song. And I think it has been the band's best-selling
>single too.
>I don't understand that popularity. I don't say it's a terrible song,
>but the Fabs' best??? What do you people like so much about it? the
>lyrics? the melody? the instrumental build-up? Paul's shouting? the
>never-ending "na-na-na-na-nah" sing-along (when I hear the fade-out
>beginning, I can't help to think "At last!")? Sorry, but I find all
>those elements too simple (compared to Beatles standards). Hey Paul,
>don't make it bad, take that bad song and make it better!
>Tell me, people, I want to understand.
>Anyone else able to live without "Hey Jude"?
For me, I guess it's the "na-na-na-na-hah" sing-along and Paul's shouting.
That must be what does it for me. Well, yes, I guess I *can* live without the
song, but I don't *have* to -- still sends chills up my spine.
As for simplicity: The Beatles were at their best when they were seemingly
simple. There's lots of good complex music from the period -- mainly in the
jazz genre -- but there's very little melody crafting that can compare with
"na na na na na na na."
Jim
Disclaimer: I'm not claiming that Jude is the Beatles' *best.* Never felt
comfortable with such rankings...
MemSale
I agree with the "simplicity" explanation. The song is so basic, right
down to the "nah-nahs" that you can make anything you want of it. It can
be personalized to the listener very easily. I think that's the magic of
all the Beatles songs.
Memsale: Beatles Memorabilia For Sale at http://members.aol.com/Memsale/Beatles.html
RoughSue
>>>How old are you anyway? Maybe you were not born yet during the time
that this was the number one song. Words can't explain how it was
during that time and if you were not there yet to experience it, I can
say that you are not qualified to give comments about this song!<<<
WOW! - In my book, Hey Jude is an incredible song, but the above response
contains probably one one of the worst rationales I've heard from anyone
here, even some of the hardcore Paul haters.
While the times in which music is released plays a part, I'm sure, in the
public reaction to and mythos of a particular song, as long as one has
given a good listen to a song, he or she has every right to express their
opinions as such. The original poster didn't just come out and say Hey
Jude is bad. He just couldn't appreciate it and its popularity based on
his own impressions of the various components of the song. Let's not
support the Beatles in the same damaging way that many Paul bashers do.
Joshua Fenn
It can
>be personalized to the listener very easily.
yes it can! even John thought it was to him, but Paul said it was to
himself... I've always thought it was to me!
-Josh-
MGirsch251
>>>How old are you anyway? Maybe you were not born yet during the time
that this was the number one song. Words can't explain how it was
during that time and if you were not there yet to experience it, I can
say that you are not qualified to give comments about this song!<<<
Hmmmm, I was born in 1962, so I really wasn't aware of this song when it
was released. I didn't start listening to rock and roll (mostly the
Beatles) until I was about 12, so they were already broken up, and the 60s
era was over.
Yet, I LOVE Hey Jude. One of my all time faves. How could that be if I'm
too young to remember when it was on the charts?
Joshua Fenn
no it's not overrated.
I too believe it's the greatest song ever.
It's beautiful, uplifting, powerful - it kicks eternal ass. Those first 3
minutes always seem to take about 30 seconds... it's just so great that time
doesn't seem to pass.
-Josh-
Darla Nice
I, too, was born in '62 and remember listening to Beatles singles with
my friends. At the time I had no idea who each one really was, just the
band as a whole. Then, when I got older and realized that some of my
favorite songs of the early seventies, when I was a teenager and going
to dances, were actually by John, Paul and George of the Beatles (solo),
I rediscovered them as a band.
Hey Jude is also one of my favorite songs, but then again, I like almost
all of them. :)
Darla
tinyman
Jean Fontaine wrote:
>
> I'm always amazed by the number of people rating "Hey Jude" as the
> Beatles' best song. And I think it has been the band's best-selling
> single too.
>
> I don't understand that popularity. I don't say it's a terrible song,
> but the Fabs' best??? What do you people like so much about it? the
> lyrics? the melody? the instrumental build-up? Paul's shouting? the
> never-ending "na-na-na-na-nah" sing-along (when I hear the fade-out
> beginning, I can't help to think "At last!")? Sorry, but I find all
> those elements too simple (compared to Beatles standards). Hey Paul,
> don't make it bad, take that bad song and make it better!
>
> Tell me, people, I want to understand.
>
> Anyone else able to live without "Hey Jude"?
Jean,
Asking me to select my favorite Beatle song is alot like asking me
which of my children I love the most, it's not a choice I'm going to
make. I do think of Hey Jude as one the Beatles best songs however, and
with a flip side of Revolution, it was the best record released in the
60's IMHO. Alot of people talk about how McCartney wrote it for Julian
during John's divorce from Cynthia, and that in itself makes the song
special, and that is an endearing story. But for a moment, forget the
reason why the song was written and look at the song as they recorded
it.
The lyrics are probably Paul's best. Obviously it's a love song, but
it is not about sexual love as in Please Pease Me, or the romantic love
of Something, or the lost love of a Yesterday. It is about the love of a
friend. It is one of the few songs that the listener is asked to look
within themselves to see how they can become a better person. I have
yet to find a line in a song that moves me as much as "For well you know
that it's a fool, who plays it cool, by making his world a little
colder". The bashers in rmb, could learn alot from just that one
line.
The melody is simple and the music fits the same formula as Let It Be,
Dear Prudence, McCartney's Maybe I'm Amazed, and Lennon's Imagine. A
voice with a piano starting the song and building the "wall of sound" as
the song progresses. It maybe a formula, but I thinks its a pretty good
one. Beehtoven is remembered as a master by taking simple melodies and
building on them.
As for the endless "na-na-na"s at the end, the songs ends in a
celebration. Have you ever been to a sporting event where your team has
won a championship, the stadium just rocks, and you don't want the
feeling to end? That's what the end of Hey Jude reminds me of, the band
is obviously having a great time playing the song, they just didn't want
that good feeling to end and just stretched it out. As for McCartney's
shouting, just think how sports fans go nuts when their team scores and
how they yell and scream, McCartney is just better at it than most
people.
I hope you give it another listen.
Tiny
Susan Juliano
>I'm always amazed by the number of people rating "Hey Jude" as the
>Beatles' best song. And I think it has been the band's best-selling
>single too.
>[...]
>Tell me, people, I want to understand.
>
>Anyone else able to live without "Hey Jude"?
I've never cared that much for "Hey, Jude" myself, so I must admit to being
as mystified as you. The never-ending "Nah nah nah"s can be fun to sing
along with at a concert or after a few (or more) drinks, but I find the
song too long and too slow without being slow enough to dance to. (Aside:
Maybe you need to be in love. I once saw a couple slow dance to Sweet's
"Ballroom Blitz"!) And I've never known anyone named Jude, so that always
brings me up short. Listening to our local Beatles tribute band, I've
noticed the consistent response to "Hey, Jude" being about 30% of the
people smile glowingly and head for the dance floor, while about 60% head
for the bar muttering, "My least favorite Beatles song!"
=====================================================================
Susan Juliano <sjul...@gte.net> "We all shine on." -John Lennon
Strawberry Fields Forever at http://home1.gte.net/sjuliano/index.html
Danny Caccavo
In article <336D4E...@odyssee.net>, Jean Fontaine
<jfon...@odyssee.net> wrote:
> I'm always amazed by the number of people rating "Hey Jude" as the
> Beatles' best song. And I think it has been the band's best-selling
> single too.
>
> I don't understand that popularity. I don't say it's a terrible song,
> but the Fabs' best??? What do you people like so much about it? the
> lyrics? the melody? the instrumental build-up? Paul's shouting? the
> never-ending "na-na-na-na-nah" sing-along (when I hear the fade-out
> beginning, I can't help to think "At last!")? Sorry, but I find all
> those elements too simple (compared to Beatles standards). Hey Paul,
> don't make it bad, take that bad song and make it better!
>
> Tell me, people, I want to understand.
>
> Anyone else able to live without "Hey Jude"?
If you really try to analyze it.....maybe it's overrated. But somehow, for
me, "Hey Jude" defies analyzing....it just has a great effect, made
greater by that long ending....
But I wouldn't rate it as their best song, not by a long shot. It's still
great, though....<g>
DC
--
Danny Caccavo (dan...@interport.net)
This Way Studios
http://www.users.interport.net/~danielj/
"Hey, Bee-atle - we shall have fun, eh?"
(delete the * from my return address for replies.....)
John M. Calabro
tinyman wrote:
> I do think of Hey Jude as one the Beatles best songs however, and
> with a flip side of Revolution, it was the best record released in the
> 60's IMHO.
> That's what the end of Hey Jude reminds me of, the band
> is obviously having a great time playing the song, they just didn't want
> that good feeling to end and just stretched it out. As for McCartney's
> shouting...McCartney is just better at it than most
> people.
I agree with Tiny.
I had to pick my favorite song of all time (not just Beatles) for a
radio station I once worked at. I took a few days to seriously think
about it, and "Hey Jude" was it - still is.
In NYC during the 70's there was a great radio station - 99X - and every
summer they would have their listeners vote for their favorite songs of
all time. "Hey Jude" finished in first place almost every year, and it
was #2 or #3 when it didn't.
Even today, WCBS-FM does the same thing every Labor Day - and "Hey Jude"
is always in the top 5 or 10.
Just goes to show ya.
John Calabro INDICT GORE, HILLARY/IMPEACH CLINTON
http://www.geocities.com/broadway/8189/
JFFSPRRY
In article <5kjt3f$3...@dfw-ixnews3.ix.netcom.com>,
ev...@ix.netcom.com(EVANSWINDA F. VIDAD-VALVERDE) writes:
>How old are you anyway? Maybe you were not born yet during the time
>that this was the number one song. Words can't explain how it was
>during that time and if you were not there yet to experience it, I can
>say that you are not qualified to give comments about this song!
>
I think anyone is qualified to give their opion on a song.:) I happen to
love
"Hey Jude." It's a wonderful pop song, and the "nah-nah" fade-out ending
is remarkable. I have always thought, however, that the "Revolution" b-
side was better...
Jeff
GaryPig
Not only over-rated,
but over-LONG, in my book.
Sarah Jones
On Sun, 4 May 1997, Jean Fontaine wrote:
> I don't understand that popularity. I don't say it's a terrible song,
> but the Fabs' best??? What do you people like so much about it? the
> lyrics? the melody? the instrumental build-up? Paul's shouting? the
> never-ending "na-na-na-na-nah" sing-along (when I hear the fade-out
> beginning, I can't help to think "At last!")?
I can relate to what you're saying. I never thought that much of it,
compared to other songs by any of the four... my feeling was it was
nice, I could sing along, the message was agreeable, hearing it with
Paul's story about it and John and Julian in mind would choke me up,
but it wasn't something I'd ever purposely put on because I had to
hear it.
This is still sort of true for me, but to me the song gives a whole
different experience in a sing-along... I was with a theater-full of
Beatle fans of all ages and backgrounds celebrating a momentous occasion,
and the climax of the evening was Hey Jude. With that song, I could
swear the Spirit-Of-Whatever was raised. At the time I'd hoped the song
that would've accomplished this would've been All You Need Is Love, but
when Hey Jude got started, I realized that Hey Jude *had* been the
correct choice -- that there was something in that song that, while
intangible, couldn't really be appreciated without a full sensory
experience such as a mass sing-along gives. That was my experience
anyway...
--Sarah
Sarah Jones sjo...@uta.edu
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile
can be the source of your joy. -Thich Nhat Hanh
HSauertieg
EVANSWINDA F. VIDAD-VALVERDE wrote about "Hey Jude":
>...if you were not there yet to experience it, I can say that you are not
qualified >to give comments about this song!
The sentiment is well-taken, but it seems a little harsh!
Howard Sauertieg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
("Thank Heaven I did not bring Caesar that huge crab I also caught!")
Ehtue
I really don't agree with the "if you weren't there, you can't judge it"
attitude. Sometimes (often, actually) you can't judge things properly at
the time, you need some significant time between an event and judgement to
make a proper analysis. My own take on the poularity of Hey Jude is
at the time, it'd been a long time (relatively) since the last Beatles
release. We were all hungry for something new from them. this _was_
something new: it seemed simple, uncomplicated and, perhaps most
importantly, long. An incredible contrast from what we'd got earlier.
You've got to remember, FM (at least in my part of the country) didn't
exist in those days, for all practical purposes. That fact that Hey Jude
was 7:11 meant it was more that twice as long as anything else getting
airtime in those days. It made it special. (for those of you old enough:
remember that Sunshine of Your Love, Light My Fire, White Room, Suite:
Judy Blues Eyes and (dare I mention it?) Inna Gadda Da Vida (or however
you spell it) all had short versions for airplay (many lp versions were
longer than 45 versions)? The length alone made the song special.
Not to say that it's not a great song. I agree with those who have said
it's perhaps overrated (Revolution, in my mind, then and now, is much
better), but it's still one of their best.
What's difficult to do now is to see it in the progression of songs coming
from the Beatles, without knowing the whole work. In August 68, you didn't
have the knowledge of the white album and beyond. It was a turning from
the psychodelic, back to _almost_ basic instumentation. Very reasurring
for the time .... almost the complete antithesis of its flipside,
Revolution, which shook the hell out of you.
Also, it was the first Apple record, which, I think, helped sales, too.
Who knows?
But, all in all, I think the proper people to judge the song on its own
merits are those who don't have all this background of the feelings of the
time when it came out. If it is truly a timeless song, it should stand
beyond how one felt at the time, important as that is for those of us were
around at the time.
William J. Holland
Jean Fontaine <jfon...@odyssee.net> wrote:
>I'm always amazed by the number of people rating "Hey Jude" as the
>Beatles' best song. And I think it has been the band's best-selling
>single too.
>I don't understand that popularity. I don't say it's a terrible song,
>but the Fabs' best??? What do you people like so much about it? the
>lyrics? the melody? the instrumental build-up? Paul's shouting? the
>never-ending "na-na-na-na-nah" sing-along (when I hear the fade-out
>beginning, I can't help to think "At last!")? Sorry, but I find all
>those elements too simple (compared to Beatles standards). Hey Paul,
>don't make it bad, take that bad song and make it better!
>Tell me, people, I want to understand.
>Anyone else able to live without "Hey Jude"?
For a very long time, I also kind of grimaced whenever "Hey Jude" came
on the radio. The first part of the song was okay, but the "nah nah"
section quickly became monotonous. So I understand completely how the
nay-sayers feel about this song.
Just the same, I've experienced a sort of transformation in regards to
"Hey Jude". Perhaps it started at the end of a "Beatles - A to Z"
weekend on a local radio station, when I sat in the dark in front of
my stereo, not wanting the special Beatles programming to end, and
"Hey Jude" was the final song. Or perhaps it began while driving home
late at night from a week-end trip, while driving down a dark,
deserted highway when the song came on the radio. I'm not sure when it
started, but at times like the two I mentioned above, I noticed a
certain magic, a certain warm, happy feeling because of the song.
Yeah, I know, that sounds kind of silly, like something a heavily
sedated hippy might say. But what can I tell you? Every once in a
while, we all experience moments where everything just comes together
in the right way, and we feel GREAT for no particular reason. I just
found that happening to me several times when "Hey Jude" came on the
air.
Since then, I've also listened more closely, and I find myself almost
in awe of the way the Beatles took a plain, quiet song and slowly
integrated various instruments and harmonies until the musical
arrangement became full, lush and remarkably complex, building to a
full out, emotional ending. The Beatles (or was George Martin??) were
masters at quietly slipping in little touches that added texture to
the music, be it a flugelhorn here or a simple harmony there. There
are numerous such touches in "Hey Jude", and I gain more respect for
the Fabs everytime I hear them.
"Hey Jude" isn't the best Beatle song of all time, and I probably
haven't changed anyone's mind with my ramblings. But "Hey Jude" has
really grown on me over the years, and hey......you asked!!!
BTW......I also think Pauly Mac did a few brilliant things lyrically
with this song. Susan Juliano commented how she's never met anyone
named Jude.....for me, that leaves the song open to be about or to
anyone. By using an uncommon name, McCartney kept this song accessible
to us all. That adds to it for me. As does the "infamous" line "the
movement you need is on your shoulder...". By leaving the thought
somewhat abstract, it sparks debate over the meaning, it makes you
think and it can mean different things to different people. I've
always thought it to mean "Think for yourself....all the answers you
seek, all the things you need to know, are right there in your mind".
Another listener may think my explanation is totally absurd and that
they have a better meaning behind the words. And that is the beauty of
it all!!!
Murcura
> Not only over-rated,
> but over-LONG, in my book.
Sir Paul might be tempted to say ...
"It's the bloody Beatles' "Hey Jude"! Sharrup!"
*****************************
Sean Murdock
mur...@aol.com
Fiffio11
Hey Jude was 'the song' which I saw them perform on TV and it changed my
life.
I was only 4 when they arrived in America so Of course I wasn't
cognitive of that.
But seeing them when I was 8 that day, well I've been a
songwriter/musician ever since . So for me the, answer has an emotional
involvement.
But it is all the things you mentioned and the ingenius way they
all flow together,and there's just the pure inspiration involved.