Jude-not Julian Lennon

Paul did write 'Got To Get You Into My Life' about cannabis, though. Paul was always a big fan of that! 

The overwhelming consensus of Beatlemaniacs is that "Hey Jude" was written about Julian.  Also, Paul was the least druggie of the Fab Four.

Claudia Lennear was the inspiration for "Brown Sugar" and David Bowie also penned a song about her.

Whether these facts are actually true is irrelevant.  "When legend becomes fact, you print the legend."

bdp24-I was hoping you would stop by.

After 50 years, STILL discovering interesting tidbits-particularly song inspiration.

As much as I'm a Fab Four fan, I don't know much beyond basic Beatle "must know" facts-I think?

I would not be a category killer on Jeopardy or get  Daily Double.

mattmiller’s "facts" are fake news, most likely "learned" on the God-almighty internet. Everyone has known about Paul’s inspiration for the "Hey Jude" lyrics for a half-century. That’s "old news."

In McCartney's recent 2 volume set called "The Lyrics", he confirms that Hey Jude was inspired by his sympathy for Julian as John was going through a divorce from his mother. Indeed, the song started as "Hey Jules".

Heroin is not mentioned in McCartney's long narrative about the lyrics to Hey Jude. As most Beatle followers know, McCartney only tried heroine once and it did not do anything for him. It would therefore seem highly unlikely that he would write an ode to heroine.

Another possibility for the inspiration for "Brown Sugar" is that it was about the singer Claudia Lennear. There’s a segment in the documentary "Twenty Feet From Stardom" where she talks about her relationship with Jagger. And she appeared in the August 1974 issue of Playboy magazine in a pictorial entitled "Brown Sugar."

@mattmiller It’s common knowledge, uttered many times by Paul and John over the last 50-odd years, that “Hey Jude” was inspired by Paul’s empathy for Julian (a young boy who never really saw his dad that much to begin with) having his dad go be with another woman in lieu of maintaining the nuclear family.

I'd like to believe what the article mentions-

“Hey Jude,” which Paul McCartney wrote to comfort Julian when John Lennon was separating from Julian’s mother, Cynthia. Julian was only 5 years old at the time and didn’t grasp the message of the song — which was originally titled “Hey Jules"- as at least some  inspiration for the song.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, obviously about LSD? Except it was never about LSD. It was about a picture of Lucy, in the sky, with Diamonds.

@jtcf + 1.  If those are 'facts', he should have plenty of proof. I eagerly await it.  

I was counting on some additional "facts" on the song's  inspiration.

One thing for certain, the Beatles are one of the few bands with endearing  fans that have "facts."

jtcf , you were wrong.

You've spoken to them to tell us the facts? Ok.I always thought Brown Sugar was about a woman. Specifically about one of the Stone's back up singers that he had a relationship with for a while.

Wait a minute! The bottom line here is that the Beatles back in those days were on major drugs, and the song "Hey Jude" is all about doing Heroin. In the same way Mick Jagger and the Stones sang about "Brown Sugar". I love both bands and have a lot of their music but these are facts. 

IIRC, Paul came up with the idea for the song while driving out to visit Cynthia and Julian during the period when John was ignoring them.  He used the name Jude because Jules would be too obvious, obviously.  Paul has also said that John Lennon thought that he had written it to him, about the blowback he was getting about his relationship with Yoko.

Julian has also said that Paul was the Beatle who was most considerate of him during the bad times.  He would always send him birthday cards and gifts, just stayed in touch and let him know he cared.