Looking back on The Beatles "Hey Jude" from a world a little colder

Even as something of a Beatlephile, I learned a few things reading this Rolling Stone article from 2018 about The Beatles' most "open-hearted masterpiece," Hey Jude.

Cynthia and Julian thought Hey Jude was for them. John heard it as the ballad of John and Yoko. But neither side was wrong countless people around the world have heard this homily speaking to them. The movement you need is on your shoulder John was so right about that line, and as Paul says, he thinks of John every time he sings that part. Hey Jude is a tribute to everything the Beatles loved and respected most about each other. Even George, who plays the most low-profile role in this song, tipped his cap with the na-na-na-na finale of Isnt That a Pity, which you can hear as a viciously cheeky parody, an affectionate tribute or (most likely) both. The pain in Hey Jude resonated in 1968, in a world reeling from wars, riots and assassinations. And its why it sounds timely as our world keeps getting colder. After more than 50 years, Hey Jude remains a source of sustenance in difficult times a moment when four longtime comrades, clear-eyed adults by now, take a look around at everything thats broken around them. Yet they still join together to take a sad song and make it better.

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