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"The movement you need is on your shoulder"....

The Waiting Trophy ManThe Waiting Trophy Man Niagara region, Ontario, Canada Posts: 12,158
edited September 2008 in Other Music
Paul McCartney wrote that line in 'Hey Jude'. He was going to change it, but John Lennon told him to keep it. He said it was the best line in the song. I always wondered what it meant. Any ideas?
Another habit says it's in love with you
Another habit says its long overdue
Another habit like an unwanted friend
I'm so happy with my righteous self
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • stylo17stylo17 Posts: 1,001
    First a little background on the song. the song was written to John Lennon's son, Julian, to help him with his father's divorce. McCartney originally wanted to use "Hey Jules" but "Jude" went better so he stuck with it.

    I think the line, "the movement you need is on your shoulder" is McCartney telling Julian that all he needs to do is keep his head straight and that everything will be fine. not to worry about anything, and to "take a sad song and make it better."
    6/11/08 WPB


    ♬♪♫ and I will not, grow tired of crayon stars and fire

    ♬♪♫ cause a soldier's death is so much better than defeat just hanging around
  • weenieweenie Posts: 1,623
    If you were in your "youth" back in the 60's when the song came out, there were a lot of theories about not only this line, but the song itself. Some said the song was about heroin. Based on ALL the lyrics to the song, I don't think the song was about John's son and the divorce. The Beatles tended to make up stuff about what their songs were about to cover up the fact that many of them were about drugs. Like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". John said it was about a drawing his son did, but if you were doing acid in the 60's, you KNEW it was about LSD. The press badgered them about drugs. Particularly after their appearance changed and their music became more psychedelic (60's term).

    In the 60's, people referred to "head" as your awareness. Within that context, "the movement you need is on your shoulders" takes on a different connotation.

    Bottom line is this, none of us really know what they meant by what they wrote. Only they themselves know. Many times they lied to the public just to keep the real meanings to themselves. And like the great songwriters we love and admire today (Vedder for example) the words have meaning for a lot of people, but in different ways.
    ~I want to realize brotherhood or identity not merely with the beings called human, but I want to realize identity with all life, even with such things as crawl upon earth.~
    Mohandas K. Gandhi

    ~I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance than I should have been by any epaulette I could have worn.~
    Henry David Thoreau
  • Evacuation RulesEvacuation Rules Posts: 2,162
    weenie wrote:
    Like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". John said it was about a drawing his son did, but if you were doing acid in the 60's, you KNEW it was about LSD.

    Actually, John had said that the song was indeed about tripping, but that he never noticed the L-S-D initials...he always said that it was a coincidence. It wasn't a story to cover up what the song was about. Paul has also been very open about the fact that the song was about an Alice In Wonderland drug thing.

    "Hey Jude" was written during a car ride to visit Julian, and written for him to sing to Julain when he arrived. Paul has said on more than one occasion that "Got To Get You Into My Life" is about drugs. Why would he lie about "Hey Jude"?
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