“I Was Shouted Down”: The Advice The Beatles Received (And Ignored) When Making “Hey Jude”, and How They Tackled the Issue Instead

When we think of The Beatles’ classic, “Hey Jude”, we often think of its emotional legacy—the fact that Paul McCartney wrote it for John Lennon’s young son, Julian, the fact that John thought Paul actually wrote it about his new wife, Yoko Ono, and the impending breakup of the Fab Four. From its heartfelt introduction to the rousing “na, na, na, na-na-na na”s in the song’s outro, “Hey Jude” is as riveting as it is catchy.

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But at the time, “Hey Jude” was also revolutionary. Aside from its musical, lyrical, and sentimental impact, the Paul McCartney composition also pushed the boundaries of what was considered a standard single at the time. With a runtime of seven minutes and twelve seconds, “Hey Jude” was far longer than any chart-topper in U.K. history. George Martin tried to warn the band about the length. Emphasis on tried.

“After I timed it, I actually said, ‘You can’t make a single that long,’” the producer recalled in Anthology. “I was shouted down by the boys—not for the first time in my life—and John asked, ‘Why not?’ I couldn’t think of a good answer, really, except the pathetic one that disc jockeys wouldn’t play it. He said, ‘They will if it’s us.’ And of course, he was absolutely right.”

Paul McCartney Recalled a Technical Hangup Regarding the Length of “Hey Jude”

Despite George Martin calling his disc jockey excuse “pathetic,” the producer had a point. Per Paul McCartney’s recollection, there was more to the length restriction than the listenership’s short attention span. A 45 vinyl record can only hold so much data before it starts to exhibit diminishing returns, where the music quality gets progressively worse. In a later interview, McCartney seemed to remember this being the main reason why the engineers were hesitant to release a seven-minute-plus single.

But they were The Beatles, after all, and they only worked with people who were worth their salt. “We had a good bunch of engineers,” McCartney said. “We said, ‘How long could a 45 be?’ ‘Well, it’s really supposed to be only like four minutes. [That’s] about all you can squeeze in those grooves before it seriously starts to lose volume. You know, everyone’s got to turn up.”

McCartney continued, “They did some very clever stuff, some clever work. Sort of squeezing this bit that didn’t have to be loud, and then allowing this bit. Somehow, they got seven minutes on there, which was quite an engineering feat.”

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