Hey Jude-Dark Tower
Frank
The Beatles in The Dark Tower series. I know it's a great song and a lot of
people know it, but why this one ? Why not Imagine from John Lennon or
something from The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin ? Is it something in the
lyrics of the song or something else that makes him used this one ? Please
if you know, tell me !
Thank you.
L Goulet
Frank wrote:
Frank, have you read all of The Dark Tower series yet? If you have, you should
look at the lyrics as a whole - I found them at
http://brave.com/bo/lyrics/heyjude.htm. Roland is a mixed up, repressed, "I
don't need anything or anyone" kindof guy. He has been everything he ever
needed for most of his life, and to find the Tower and win this game, he needs
HELP. That's why King uses the song. It's simplistic, but Roland's pretty
hard-headed. He was also TRAINED to be a hard-ass.
Well, at least that's what I think! I could be wrong! : )
Matthew Miller
On Fri, 22 Jan 1999, Frank wrote:
> I'd like to know why Stephen King used so many times the song Hey Jude from
> The Beatles in The Dark Tower series. I know it's a great song and a lot of
> people know it, but why this one ? Why not Imagine from John Lennon or
> something from The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin ? Is it something in the
> lyrics of the song or something else that makes him used this one ? Please
> if you know, tell me !
>
> Thank you.
I've always thought that Hey Jude was the best sing-along song that the
Beatles ever wrote. It sounds like something that a bunch of drunk guys
in a bar might get really loud and belt out at the top of their lungs
(trust me, I've both seen it happen and done it). And the bar in Tull is
where the song makes its first and most significant appearance.
-Matt Miller
-mat...@email.unc.edu
Karsten Runge
>
> I'd like to know why Stephen King used so many times the song Hey Jude from
> The Beatles in The Dark Tower series. I know it's a great song and a lot of
> people know it, but why this one ? Why not Imagine from John Lennon or
> something from The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin ? Is it something in the
> lyrics of the song or something else that makes him used this one ? Please
> if you know, tell me !
>
> Thank you.
I suppose in the first place King mentioned it because he wrote the
initial installment of DT in early 1970, so he might have been
influenced by The Beatles in 1969 and it just occured to him to
incorporate a reference to "Hey Jude". I think there愀 another reference
to "Hey Jude" in "Strawberry Spring", along with "Scarborough Fair" by
Simon & Garfunkel, and Strawberry Spring was written roughly in the same
period when King was in college.
Karsten