John Lennon convinced Paul McCartney to keep an important lyric in “Hey Jude”

ABC/Heidi Gutman

Paul McCartney has revealed that if it wasn’t for John Lennon, he may have changed a key lyric in the classic Beatles tune “Hey Jude.”

During the latest episode of the McCartney A Life in Lyrics podcast, the rocker shared that the line, “The movement you need is on your shoulder” wasn’t initially supposed to be in the song. 

McCartney explains that he originally put the line in as a placeholder but was convinced to keep it in after he performed the song for Lennon and Yoko Ono.

“I turn around to John, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll change that,'” he shared. “And he looked at me and said, ‘You won’t, you know? It’s the best line, innit?'”

“Hey Jude” was inspired by McCartney’s relationship with Lennon’s son Julian Lennon and was written after John left his wife and Julian’s mom, Cynthia, for Yoko Ono.

The song went on to be a Beatles classic, spending nine weeks at #1, which at that time tied a record for the most weeks in the top spot.

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