John Lennon's Son Says He's 'Driven Up The Wall' By Hey Jude

Julian Lennon has said that classic Beatles track 'Hey Jude' has always served as a "dark" reminder to him of his parents' divorce, leaving him "driven up the wall".

Despite the song being written by Beatles icon Paul McCartney as a comfort to him and his mother Cynthia over her separation from her husband and Julian's father John Lennon, 'Hey Jude', only serves to remind him of "the fact that I rarely saw my father again". 

"It’s a beautiful sentiment, no question about that, and I’m very thankful – but I’ve also been driven up the wall by it", Julian said. 

"I love the fact that he wrote a song about me and for Mum, but depending on what side of the bed one woke up on, and where you’re hearing it, it can be a good or a slightly frustrating thing". 

"a lot of pain"

Elsewhere, Julian Lennon revealed that following his parents' separation in 1968, and John Lennon's affair with Yoko Ono, he only saw his father "maybe a couple of times", before his tragic death on in December 1980 in New York.

"The weird thing with the audience is they think it’s cute sometimes, quoting 'Hey Jude’ to me, but I don’t think they realise there’s a lot of pain behind what happened," he said. "Every time you quote that, it reminds me of my mother being separated from my father, the love that was lost, the fact that I rarely saw my father again ever". 

"…A lot of people don’t quite get how intense, how emotional, and how personal that is. It’s not just a ‘pick yourself up and dust yourself off and be happy’.

"There’s deep emotional pain. I can celebrate it – but also it’s something that’ll always be dark to me".

In September 2022, Julian Lennon paid homage to his father, releasing his seventh studio album, Jude.