Post by Josh on Aug 23, 2008 18:52:32 GMT -8
So, I was listening to Hey Jude by the Beatles the other day and I was just thinking about why they chose to sing to "Jude". I don't know the real reason, but it occured to me that Jude simply means Jew. And that got me thinking about the lyrics on a whole new level.
As you might have noticed in some other threads of mine along these lines, I love finding double-meanings in songs. That doesn't mean I think the authors intended these meanings. I just think sometimes the Spirit can superintend meanings for us.
So, I started to think of the song as a plea to the Jews, and immediately the words of Paul came to mind, where he is expressing his sorrow and longing for his countrymen to realize Christ as the Messiah:
Romans 9:1-5
I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
Then I started thinking, well, who plays the lover in the song then? Well, that would have to be the Holy Spirit, the person of the Godhood who most often suits feminine descriptions in my mind.
So, here's Hey Jude presented as a plea to the Israel of God (Jews and Gentiles, it doesn't matter) to respond to the lover of their souls. I've put some other verses I thought of as footnotes:
Hey Jude-
Lennon/McCartney
Hey, Jude, don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better (1)
Remember to let her into your heart (2)
Then you can start to make it better
Hey, Jude, don't be afraid (3)
You were made to go out and get her (4)
The minute you let her under your skin
Then you begin to make it better.
And any time you feel the pain, hey, Jude, refrain
Don't carry the world upon your shoulders
Well don't you know that its a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder
Hey, Jude! Don't let her down (5)
You have found her, now go and get her
Remember, to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better.
So let it out and let it in, hey, Jude, begin
You're waiting for someone to perform with (6)
And don't you know that it's just you, hey, Jude,
You'll do, the movement you need is on your shoulder (7)
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
1. Isaiah 9:1
Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan...
2. Revelation 3:20
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
3. Romans 8:15
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
4. 1 Chronicles 16:13, Ephesians 1:11-12
O descendants of Israel his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
5. Ephesians 4:30
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
6. Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
7. Philippians 2:13
...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
As you might have noticed in some other threads of mine along these lines, I love finding double-meanings in songs. That doesn't mean I think the authors intended these meanings. I just think sometimes the Spirit can superintend meanings for us.
So, I started to think of the song as a plea to the Jews, and immediately the words of Paul came to mind, where he is expressing his sorrow and longing for his countrymen to realize Christ as the Messiah:
Romans 9:1-5
I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
Then I started thinking, well, who plays the lover in the song then? Well, that would have to be the Holy Spirit, the person of the Godhood who most often suits feminine descriptions in my mind.
So, here's Hey Jude presented as a plea to the Israel of God (Jews and Gentiles, it doesn't matter) to respond to the lover of their souls. I've put some other verses I thought of as footnotes:
Hey Jude-
Lennon/McCartney
Hey, Jude, don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better (1)
Remember to let her into your heart (2)
Then you can start to make it better
Hey, Jude, don't be afraid (3)
You were made to go out and get her (4)
The minute you let her under your skin
Then you begin to make it better.
And any time you feel the pain, hey, Jude, refrain
Don't carry the world upon your shoulders
Well don't you know that its a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder
Hey, Jude! Don't let her down (5)
You have found her, now go and get her
Remember, to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better.
So let it out and let it in, hey, Jude, begin
You're waiting for someone to perform with (6)
And don't you know that it's just you, hey, Jude,
You'll do, the movement you need is on your shoulder (7)
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
1. Isaiah 9:1
Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan...
2. Revelation 3:20
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
3. Romans 8:15
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
4. 1 Chronicles 16:13, Ephesians 1:11-12
O descendants of Israel his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
5. Ephesians 4:30
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
6. Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
7. Philippians 2:13
...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
