Shirley Bassey - Hey Jude (1987 Live in Berlin)

1987 (Shirley performs this Beatles number with her own unique/emotional style, as always! Shirley performs in Berlin celebrating the city's existence for 750 years)

ABOUT this song:
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Credited to Lennon/McCartney, the ballad evolved from "Hey Jules," a song Paul McCartney wrote to comfort John Lennon's son Julian during his parents' divorce. "Hey Jude" begins with a verse-bridge structure based around McCartney's vocal performance and piano accompaniment; further instrumentation is added as the song progresses to distinguish sections. After the fourth verse, the song shifts to a fade-out coda that lasts for more than four minutes.

"Hey Jude" was released in August 1968 as the first single from the Beatles' record label Apple Records. More than seven minutes in length, "Hey Jude" was, at the time, the longest single ever to top the British charts.[2] It also spent nine weeks as number one in the United States—the longest run at the top of the American charts for a Beatles single, and broke the record for longest stay at #1 (until the record was beaten by "You Light Up My Life"). The single has sold approximately eight million copies and is frequently included on professional lists of the all-time best songs.

In 1968, John Lennon and his wife Cynthia Lennon separated due to John's affair with Yoko Ono. Soon afterwards, Paul McCartney drove out to visit Cynthia and Julian, her son with Lennon. "We'd been very good friends for millions of years and I thought it was a bit much for them suddenly to be personae non gratae and out of my life," McCartney said.[3] Cynthia Lennon recalled, "I was truly surprised when, one afternoon, Paul arrived on his own. I was touched by his obvious concern for our welfare.... On the journey down he composed 'Hey Jude' in the car. I will never forget Paul's gesture of care and concern in coming to see us."[4]

The song's original title was "Hey Jules", and it was intended to comfort Julian Lennon from the stress of his parents' divorce. McCartney said, "I started with the idea 'Hey Jules', which was Julian, don't make it bad, take a sad song and make it better. 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."[3] Julian Lennon discovered the song had been written for him almost twenty years later. He remembered being closer to McCartney than to his father: "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."[5]

Although McCartney originally wrote the song for Julian Lennon, John Lennon thought it had actually been written for him:

LYRICS As Shirley recorded the song:
Hey Jude, don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better

Hey Jude, don't be afraid
You were made to go out and get her
Remember to let her under your skin
Then you'll begin to make it better

And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain
Don't carry the world upon your shoulders
Don't you know that it's a fool who plays it cool
By making the world a little colder
Na na na, na na, na na na na

Hey Jude, don't let me down
You were made to go out and get her
Remember to let her under your skin
Then you'll start to make it better

[ Shirley Bassey Lyrics are found on www.getlyrics.com ]
So let it out and let it in, hey Jude, begin
You're waiting for someone to perform with
And don't you know that it's just you? Hey Jude, you'll do
The movement you need is on your shoulder
Na na na, na na, na na na na

Hey Jude, don't let me down
You were made to go out and get her
Remember to let her under your skin
Then you'll begin to make it better, better, better, better

Na na na, na na na na
Na na na na, hey Jude
Na na na, na-na na na
Na-na na na, hey Jude

Na na na, na na na na
Na na na na, hey Jude
Na na na, nana na na
Na na na na, all together now, hey Jude