“Hey Jude” Lyrics Sell for Close to a Million at Auction

Julien’s Auction held an online auction for Beatles memorabilia last Friday, April 10, 2020. The big seller was a sheet of plain white paper that Paul McCartney wrote down nine lines to “Hey Jude” on that was used as a guide in the studio when they were recording the song. “Hey Jude” was the best-selling single of 1968.

The auction was originally scheduled to take place at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square but was moved online due to the coronavirus. Here’s a YouTube clip of the sale:

Although the final bid was $750,000, the description says the anonymous buyer also had to pay “premiums” (like $160,00 worth) for a total of $910,000.

I’m probably in the minority of people who were teenagers in 1968 that didn’t like “Hey Jude”. The story went that McCartney wrote the song for John Lennon’s son, Julian, to cheer him up in the midst of his parents’ divorce. Well, if you ask me, the lyrics don’t exactly match up with that. “Hey Jude, don’t be afraid.
You were made to go out and get her.” How in hell would that cheer up a kid whose parents are splitting up? It’s also a little light in the lyric department. All those na-na-na-na’s!

John Lennon said in an interview that he thought the song was about him and Yoko but Paul said that the song was about him (and presumably his breakup with Jane Asher).

Whatever, I thought “Lady Madonna”, which also came out in 1968, was a better song. Here are songs I liked (and still do) from the Top 100 of 1968 (as listed on Music Outfitters):

14. Hello, I Love You – The Doors
19. Midnight Confessions – The Grass Roots
20. Dance to the Music – Sly and The Family Stone
31. Born to Be Wild – Steppenwolf
46. Since You’ve Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby) – Aretha Franklin
48. 1,2,3 Red Light – The 1910 Fruitgum Company
58. I Got the Feelin’ – James Brown and The Famous Flames
63. Bottle of Wine – The Fireballs
66. Delilah – Tom Jones
69. The Fool on the Hill – Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66
80. Elenore – The Turtles
87. Time Has Come Today – The Chambers Brothers
91. The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo) – Manfred Mann
98. Bend Me Shape Me – The American Breed

I don’t suppose you had to be there because a lot of people, young and old, like a lot of those songs.