ON THIS DAY IN 1968, JOHN LENNON AND PAUL MCCARTNEY FINISHED THE SONG “HEY JUDE”

The song was written by McCartney, originally as “Hey Jules”, a song to comfort Lennon’s son, Julian. The song begins simply and grows in complexity as it continues along the 7 minute runtime, making it the longest single to ever top the British charts at the time. The song also spent a record 9 weeks at the top of the US charts.

“Hey Jude” was one of four singles released to launch the Beatles new label, Apple Records. The company hence titled that week “Apple Week” and sent out promotional copies to the Prime Minister at the time, Harold Wilson and a number of members of the Royal Family, including Queen Elizabeth II.

The single immediately drew positive reviews, although some felt that the songs length was a bit much. It was given the number 10 spot in Billboard’s 2013 list of “Biggest” songs of all time, and Rolling Stone put it at number 8 in its 2004 list of “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, the highest placing Beatles song.

Julian Lennon reportedly only discovered that the song had been written for him almost 20 years after the composition, and in 1996 he spent £25,000 on the recording notes for the track, as well as a further £35,000 on assorted memorabilia. His manager stated that he was collecting the items for personal reasons, much like family heirlooms, and this is where they currently remain.