Hey Jude: Protective Love and Psycho-cultural Aspects
“Hey Jude”, the iconic song that was written by Paul McCartney from July 29 to July 30, 1968 (Loker 62) of the legendary British all-male band, The Beatles, is a piece of popular music that is worth praise and amazement. Forty-eight years have passed and still the music world seems not to have fully recovered from the hysteria caused by this song, and that famous singers of the present age still pay tribute to the band and the song despite of the passing of time, so much so that it still has a strong influence on the young generation of today. Surely, the song’s popularity among simple folks and artists alike must be the truest standards of excellence on what makes a song a ‘classic’ that defies short-term musical trends. More so, the theme included in “Hey Jude” is one that implies caring towards a fragile younger person, who, while not directly related to the singer, is nonetheless regarded as beloved by the singer as evidenced by the song’s lyrics. In this context, this paper will argue that the song’s emotional appeal which tends to suggest protective care for younger people holds a universal acceptance that transcends era, gender, and even psycho-cultural norms.
CBS’ “Grammy Salute” that was held in January 27, 2014, almost fifty years after The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” was first released, is a testament both to the band’s everlasting appeal and the song’s timeless beauty. This has been evidenced not only by the popularity of the CBS show when it was aired, but more so since the present generation of popular artists, young and old alike, had lent their talent in ensuring the success of the Beatles tribute. In fact, some of the popular singers that performed include Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Katy Pery, and Pharrell Williams, to name a few. Moreover, “Hey Jude” was chosen as the final song that seemed to immortalize the show, with “Mr. Starr back at the drums, Mr. McCartney moved to piano to lead the whole arena in “Hey Jude”, riding the ‘na-na’ chorus with gospelly hollers” (Pareles 1). With this development, it can then be said that “Hey Jude” is one of the legendary band’s most important songs of all time, especially since this song is considered as among the top ten songs of the entire 1960’s decade (de Clercq and Temperley 52).
One factor that contributes to the quality of the song “Hey Jude” is that it “broke the pop tradition of the two to three minute song. It lasts seven minutes with a four-minute fade out—something never done before” (Sold on Song 1). In addition, the title’s words itself is said to contain both anticipation and memory, which maximizes the thematic appeals it convey. As such, “After having heard ‘Hey Jude’ some people might even anticipate the ‘don’t make it bad” (Wittmann 6), hence implying that there are psychological bases for the easy recall commonly experienced by the listeners. Basically, researchers identify this phenomenon as the Mental Presence, which is “bound to the ability of maintaining mental representations in an active state for a certain period of time” (Wittmann 5). This makes it possible for listeners to remember the title and the words of the said song due to its innate technical and psychological appeals that are innovative and able to influence the mental response systems of the listeners.
It also must be noted that existing cultural trends and music are strongly interrelated, and that “The existence of one is an audio manifestation of the other” (Dukes et al. 643). As such, given the popularity that “Hey Jude” has been enjoying for more than forty years, and that the themes of care and love have continued to be enjoyed by listeners of various epochs suggest that such themes are generally regarded as significant, culturally. This is true even if “Hey Jude” is written “for a loved one other than one’s partner” (Dukes et al. 645), which somewhat differs from the regular love-themed songs of the modern era. Further, Dukes et al. emphasize that “the quality of love expressed in song lyrics did not vary by period, gender, or race” (649). This explains why the themes of protective care and love towards a younger person exhibited in “Hey Jude” had continued to be an important factor for the song’s success, even nearly fifty years after it was first released. Given these arguments, it can then be acknowledged that the personal, cultural, psychological aspects in “Hey Jude” are the reasons why it has stood the test of time, in that young people and artists of the present generation place it in high esteem as to pay tribute to the song’s excellence.
An example of a present-age young man who opts for classic rock songs, such as “Hey Jude”, instead of the more modern ones, is David Zeke. Zeke was a senior high school at the Thomas Jefferson High School and had been generally considered as highly intelligent, artistic and very analytical. In this regard, the Washington Post explains this trend in younger generation to choose classic rock over their more modern counterpart when it states: “there are indications that Zeke and his pals may be a part of the broader trendthe classic-rock cannon may be growing in popularity among teenagers” (du Lac 1), which is similar with the Grammy tribute stated in earlier pages. Hence, it is no wonder that artists such as Stevie Wonder and the younger ones such as Alicia Keys and John Legend, continue to pay respect to “Hey Jude” despite of being in existence for nearly half a century.
The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” is a prime example of a classic-rock song that has enjoyed mass acceptance from all walks of life due to its themes of protective love for a young and vulnerable person, and which exudes cultural and psychological significance. As such, listeners from various eras and cultural backgrounds are able to identify with Paul McCartney when he advises ‘Jude’ to be strong even in the face of dangers, problems and sadness, given that these trials are common to every human being and have to be overcome as a person grows older. “Hey Jude” then is not simply a song written to convey an emotion, but rather is a song that touches the human soul through the use of compassion and genuine desire for the younger ones to make it through life without much pain and sorrow.
Works cited
De Clercq, Trevor, and David Temperley. “A Corpus Analysis of Rock Harmony.” Popular Music 30.1 (2011): 47-70.
Du Lac, Freedom. “Hey Jude’? Duude. The Washington post.com 14 November 2005. Web. 28 February 2016.
Dukes, Richard, Bisel, Tara, Borega, Karoline, Lobato, Eligio, and Matthew Owens. “Expressions of Love, Sex, and Hurt in Popular Songs: A Content Analysis of All-Time Greatest Hits.” The Social Science Journal 40 (2003): 643-650.
Loker, Bradford E. History with the Beatles. Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear, 2009. Print.
Pareles, Jon. “50 Years Later, Beatles Steal Another Show.” New York Times.com 10 February 2014. Web. 28 February 2016.
“Sold on Song: Top 10”. BBC.co.uk. Web. 28 February 2016.
Wittmann, Marc. “Moments in Time.” Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience 5.66 (2011): 1-9.
Self-Evaluation:
In comparison, the subject of my paper’s proposal focused on the bibliographical aspect of “Hey Jude”, and its thesis on the premise that the song was written for the sole purpose of uplifting the spirits of Julian due to his parents’ divorce. On the contrary, the final version of this paper has subjects that delve on the thesis that the song is basically an appeal to the young ones to be strong despite of sorrows that a person normally faces in his or her life, and with a subject that include emotional and psycho-cultural aspects. The synthesis of these versions of the paper had been unproblematic, given that the themes included in the paper’s proposal needed only to be expanded, in terms of psychological principles and actual figures, in order to be improved. Some of the sources that were utilized as supplements to the proposal include journal articles that explain the phenomena surrounding the effectiveness of music themes, expressions of love in music, and the psychological significances of McCartney’s use of the words ‘Hey Jude’ as song lyrics. Indeed, journal articles prove to be very appropriate in explicating the complexity of music and its meaning, both in the textual implications and in analytical terms.
