Sir Paul McCartney’s Classic ‘Hey Jude’ Lyrics hitting High Note in New York Auction

SIR Paul McCartney’s handwritten lyrics for The Beatles’ classic Hey Jude have been sold at a New York-based online auction for £731,000.

The anonymous buyer purchased the item for almost six times more than the £128,000 estimate.

The messy lyric sheet was used when the band recorded the 1968 hit at London’s Trident Studios and later it was given to a studio engineer.

“It’s obviously a very iconic song that everyone’s familiar with,” Julien’s Auctions music specialist Jason Watkins told Reuters. “These handwritten lyrics were used in the studio as a guide when they were recording it.”

The lyrics were the highlight of the annual Beatlemania sale staged by Julien’s and was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of The Beatles.

Hey Jude, which runs for seven minutes and 11 seconds, is the longest single to reach number one in the UK and stayed at the top of the US charts for nine weeks.

Sir Paul wrote the hit after John Lennon’s split from his first wife Cynthia, in a bid to console their son Julian.

McCartney previously said: “I was mates with Julian Lennon. I was going out in my car just vaguely singing this song, ‘Hey Jules, don’t make it bad…’

“Then I thought a better name was Jude – a bit more country and western for me.”