John Lennon’s son Julian reveals the ‘frustrating’ Beatles song that will ‘always be dark to me’

Hey Julian.

Julian Lennon, the son of Beatles bassist John Lennon, revealed Tuesday that he hates the song “Hey Jude” because it constantly reminds him of his parent’s bitter divorce in 1968 after it was revealed that John was having an affair with Yoko Ono.

Julian, 60, explained that Sir Paul McCartney penned the song to comfort both Cynthia Lennon and himself following the split.

“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,” the Beatles scion told the Esquire. “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.”

Despite the slew of bad memories it conjures, the younger Lennon said “there’s not a bad word I could say about it.”

According to the musician, people have often quoted the song to him not realizing all the pain behind the lyrics.

“Every time you quote that,” Julian said. “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.”

“I saw him maybe a couple of times before he died,” he added.” 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.”

Before his untimely death in 1980, the former Beatles bandmate was reportedly aware that McCartney, 81, had written the classic tune for his son, but said in an interview that he always thought the song was also for him.

“He said it was written about Julian, my child,” John told David Sheff per Far Out Magazine months before his death. “He knew I was splitting with Cyn and leaving Julian. He was driving over to say hi to Julian. He’d been like an uncle to him. You know, Paul was always good with kids. And so he came up with ‘Hey Jude’.”

“But I always heard it as a song to me. If you think about it … Yoko’s just come into the picture. He’s saying, ‘Hey, Jude – hey, John,’” the rock star stated. “I know I’m sounding like one of those fans who reads things into it, but you can hear it as a song to me. The words ‘go out and get her’ – subconsciously he was saying, ‘Go ahead, leave me.’”

McCarthy, who was not a fan of Ono, confirmed the story in the multimedia Beatles “Anthology” project.

Speaking with The Post in September of last year, Julian revealed that the iconic song was originally named “Hey Jules” as an ode to his nickname and that it took him a while to understand the song’s true meaning.

“Back then I was too young to understand what it represented,” Julian told The Post. “Obviously, it’s lovely to have a song written about you, and especially out of concern.”

“But I think a lot of the public never realized … that it reminds me of a very dark time in many respects, because, you know, that’s when dad walked out the door,” he continued. “That’s when he left mum and I, and my concern was for my mom’s welfare and well-being more than my own.”

The Monaco-based artist later used the name “Jude” as the title of his most recent album which was released later that month.