How Cynthia Lennon’s doomed marriage to John Lennon inspired ‘Hey Jude’

WASHINGTON POST
By Justin Wm. Moyer April 2 at 5:28 AM

John and Cynthia Lennon in 1964. (Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images)

The eighth-greatest song of all time, as Rolling Stone declared it, begins quietly, just with the voice of Paul McCartney and a piano. After the first verse, the song builds — guitars, back-up vocals, Ringo Starr’s drums, percussion. Then there’s the epic outro: A chorus chanting “Na, na, na/Hey Jude” something like 18 times accompanied by a 36-piece orchestra. The song is more than seven minutes long, but it doesn’t feel like it.

“Hey Jude,” even for the first-time listener, is unforgettable. This rock ‘n’ roll gem, its composer says, was inspired by the divorce of John and Cynthia Lennon, who died on Wednesday at 75.

“Jude,” it turns out, is Julian Lennon — John and Cynthia’s son, who was about five when his parents divorced in 1968. McCartney came up with idea when making a conciliatory drive out to see Cynthia, who was cast out of the Beatles’ inner circle after John met Yoko Ono, his future wife.

“I started with the idea ‘Hey Jules,’ which was Julian, don’t make it bad, take a sad song and make it better,” McCartney said, as Howard Sounes wrote in “Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney” in 2011. “Hey, try and deal with this terrible thing. I knew it was not going to be easy for him. I always feel sorry for kids in divorces … I had the idea [for the song] by the time I got there. I changed it to ‘Jude’ because I thought that sounded a bit better.”

As McCartney explained, he intended to take out the song’s most mysterious line — “the movement you need is on your shoulder” — but John wouldn’t have it.

“I was playing the song to John, and I said … ‘I’ll be taking that out,’” McCartney said. “He said, ‘What for? … that’s the best line in it, man.’”

McCartney said he’s come to appreciate the lyric. It emerged as a sort of pep talk for Julian, meaning, “You have the wherewithal to be what you want to be,” McCartney said.

Hey Jude - Paul McCartney, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Sting, Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler, The Beatles

The Lennons got married when Cynthia got pregnant with Julian in 1962. John, who played a show on his wedding night, wasn’t all that enthused.

“I said yes, we’ll have to get married,” John later said. “I didn’t fight it.”

Then the marriage a Beatle didn’t want became the marriage the Beatles didn’t want. A teen idol with a wife and son wouldn’t go over well with the kids, and what Cynthia later deemed her “undercover existence” was kept hush-hush.

“I have read so many books and seen so many films, and it’s like we don’t really exist,” Cynthia Lennon told “Good Morning America” in 2005. “We are like walk-on parts in his life. We did spend 10 years together.”

Though John wrote “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” about a picture Julian drew, he wasn’t exactly a doting father.

“I’ve never really wanted to know the truth about how Dad was with me,” Julian Lennon said. “There was some very negative stuff talked about me … like when he said I’d come out of a whiskey bottle on a Saturday night. Stuff like that. You think, where’s the love in that? Paul and I used to hang about quite a bit … more than Dad and I did. We had a great friendship going, and there seems to be far more pictures of me and Paul playing together at that age than there are pictures of me and my dad.”



READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE HERE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/02/how-cynthia-lennons-doomed-marriage-to-john-lennon-inspired-hey-jude/

Julian Lennon says he's happy with his life, not mad at Paul McCartney Steve Marinucci Beatles Examiner

In two new interviews, Julian Lennon, who has just released a new single in the UK, "Guess It Was Me," says he's glad the way his life is now and is doing music the way he wants to. "I’m trying to do it my way. For me to be happy in the business means I have to do it myself," he told UK Metro. "I’ve only released (the single) in Britain. For the rest of the world, I’m thinking of just marketing it online and and releasing when I want to." 


Continue reading on Examiner.com Julian Lennon says he's happy with his life, not mad at Paul McCartney - National Beatles | Examiner.com  http://www.examiner.com/beatles-in-national/julian-lennon-says-he-s-happy-with-his-life-not-mad-at-paul-mccartney

Julian Lennon says criticism of Paul McCartney was a 'whimsical' joke

NME

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Photo: Press

Julian Lennon has backtracked over his recent spat with Paul McCartney by suggesting his recent criticisms of the former Beatles legend were just a joke.

Lennon - son of late Beatles singer John – had previously posted a message on his Facebook page accusing McCartney of snubbing him at several high-profile events.

The singer insisted that McCartney had "ignored" him on the red carpet at a screening of Martin Scorsese's new biopic George Harrison: Living In The Material World and had also not invited him to either of his wedding ceremonies to American heiress Nancy Shevell.

However, Lennon has now published a new post on his Facebook page in which insists people had taken his comments "a little too far" and that they had failed to understand his sense of humour.

He wrote:

Seems many have taken my comment from the other week a little too far… It was truly written, hand on heart, with a whimsical heart… The situation was laughable, more than anything.

Lennon went on to add: "Wasn't whining… just stating the facts… Obviously people misplace & mistake my sense of humour & character… C'est La Vie."

Julian Lennon released his sixth studio album 'Everything Changes', his first LP in 13 years, last month. Speaking about the album and his lengthy hiatus, he said: "I get twitchy if I don't pick up a guitar or sit at the piano every now and then… I have to do it; I don't have a choice."

Julian Lennon hits out at Paul McCartney over wedding reception 'snub'

Mail OnLine

By Ben Todd

Last updated at 11:03 AM on 2nd November 2011

'Ignored': Julian Lennon hit out at Paul McCartney via Facebook

Julian Lennon has extraordinarily claimed he has been ‘snubbed’ by his father’s former band-mates and their families.

The 48-year-old – the late Beatle’s son with first wife Cynthia – launched a furious attack on the rest of the Beatles.

He claimed he was not invited to a number of social events involving the band in recent months, including Sir Paul McCartney’s two wedding receptions in London and New York.

And he vowed he and Cynthia, now 72, would ‘not be eradicated from History.’
Lennon made the claims in a posting on his personal Facebook page on October 23, the day after Sir Paul, 69, and new bride Nancy Shevell, 51, had hosted a star-studded wedding reception in New York.
At the time, Lennon – who was five when his parents divorced - wrote: ‘Wow... Snubbed at Macca’s Wedding, Snubbed at the Anniversary of ‘LOVE’ in Vegas! Snubbed at Macca’s Wedding reception in NYC, last night.
‘Snubbed at George (Harrison’s)’s [sic] Film Premier... What Have I done to be ignored in such a way?’
He went on: ‘I was not invited to ANY of these events... I thought we had a relationship... Obviously not... Gimme some truth... Maybe now it’s time to tell the Truth... I & My Mother will not be eradicated from History... How Dare They.’

Ceremony: Former Beatle Sir Paul wed Nancy Shevell in London last month

As well as Sir Paul’s two wedding shindigs, Lennon – a musician – was referring to the premiere of the Martin Scorsese film, George Harrison: Living In The Material World, in London on October 2 and the five-year anniversary performance of the Beatles musical Love in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 8.
Intriguingly, Julian’s 36-year-old half-brother Sean – Lennon’s son with widow Yoko Ono, 78 - did attend both Sir Paul’s New York reception and the Love anniversary.

And Ono attended all the events bar the London wedding reception.
George Harrison’s widow Olivia and their son Dhani, 33, attended the London premiere and the London wedding reception, as did drummer Ringo Starr, 71, and wife Barbara Bach, 64.
The posting was removed shortly afterwards – though not before Beatles fans had commented on it.
One wrote: ‘Julian did get cr***ed on so I can understand his bitterness.’ Another wrote: ‘Julian has a legitimate beef.’

Close: Sir Paul holding a four-year-old Julian Lennon during a holiday in Greece

Last night, sources tried to play down the posting saying it had arisen from a ‘misunderstanding.’
One claimed that Julian was not invited to the events because everyone merely presumed he was at his home in Italy.
One said: ‘It’s more a case of c***-up rather than conspiracy. Everyone assumed that Julian was back in Italy – so he wasn’t invited.
‘Yoko and Sean of course were – especially as they both live in New York. It was just one of those things.’
Another added: ‘Julian is a very intense man. He was in New York on the night of the wedding reception but nobody realised - so there was a misunderstanding.
‘Julian put up the posting and, the problem with the Internet is, once it’s out there - there’s no hiding it.
‘Julian, though, has no problem with Sir Paul or Yoko,’ the source added.
In fact, friends claim his relationship with Yoko is on a stronger footing than it has been for some time.

Family: Julian Lennon with his father John and his stepmother Yoko Ono

Sir Paul famously wrote Hey Jude, originally called Hey Jules, for Julian as his parents’ marriage was collapsing.

He has since described Sir Paul – who he said last month he had last seen in June 2010 - as being like a father to him.

Last month, Julian admitted he had inherited a ‘short temper’ from his father.

He said: ‘I recognise myself in him. I have a short temper – I think it’s part of the Celtic background. I used to be a lot more angry, but I was quite discreet with it.

‘However, getting angry, negative and aggressive it does no good. Mum would always take a more loving way to resolve issues. Dad was the opposite. He’d shout in your face and scream.

‘I recognised traits I had that were the same as his and I didn’t like them so I cleared them.

‘Every time I see them, I pull back and breathe. I look at the bigger perspective. It makes the world of difference.’

Julian and Ono had a public reconciliation last year after he claimed to have ‘unleashed hell’ on her in 2009.

He explained recently: ‘I’d been very upset about things she’d done in the past and how she was controlling the estate.

‘We have a better relationship these days and I think she has a better idea of what his memory should be about.’

A spokesman for Sir Paul declined to comment.


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