John Lennon’s Son Julian Revealed the Sweet Way He Keeps in Touch With Paul McCartney: ‘But It’s Difficult’

Paul McCartney has stayed in contact with John Lennon’s son, Julian Lennon, through the years. But there’s something about McCartney that makes keeping up with him somewhat hard, according to Lennon. What challenges does he have in keeping in touch with “Uncle Paul”? And what does he think of the famous song he wrote about him after all these years?

Julian Lennon said Paul McCartney is ‘difficult’ to keep up with because he’s always touring

Lennon was born in 1963 and grew close to “Uncle Paul” as he went through his parents’ divorce and, eventually, his father’s murder. He might not be as close to McCartney as he once was, but they have remained in contact.

“Paul and I do keep in touch. We send each other cards for Christmas and birthdays. But it’s difficult, he is touring all over the world like the Energizer bunny he doesn’t stop,” Lennon said in an interview with BBC transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage.

Now a musician, too, he added, “That’s someone to definitely look up to in regards to longevity in a career.”

Julian Lennon said Paul McCartney’s ‘Hey Jude’ is a ‘consoling song’

McCartney was a father figure in Lennon’s life, and John Lennon once said he had a “funny feeling” his son wished his bandmate was his real dad (per Spin Magazine.) “Unfortunately he got me,” he concluded.

While speaking to BBC, Lennon talked about how he “inherited” The Beatles’ song “Hey Jude” from McCartney, who wrote it for him while he faced his parents’ divorce.

John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia, separated after she walked in on him with Yoko Ono. “She had been staying with John that night, and I came home and they were there, which was sort of curtains for our marriage, as far as all of us were concerned, really,” Cynthia told NPR’s Fresh Air (per Express.) She noted she had a “female intuition” about the nature of her husband’s relationship with Ono before that discovery.

Lennon revealed McCartney started writing “Hey Jude” when he was on his way to visit him and his mother in the wake of the split. “‘Hey Jude’ is very much a consoling song,” he shared of the result.

“When one does falls on to the hard times, to be aware that I need to remain strong, keep strong throughout, you have strength within you,” he explained. “We all do and it’s all about bringing that pride and strength back into your life.”

Julian Lennon said he remembers ‘simple’ moments with John Lennon, though ‘sadly too few’

While Lennon saw McCartney as a father figure growing up, he has “fond flashes of memories” with John Lennon.

“I just remember sitting on a roof with him before mom and dad separated, looking at the sun going down … It’s simple moments like that,” he recalled while talking to BBC. “Sadly too few.”

He guessed he saw his father less than a dozen times between his parents’ divorce and the 1980 murder. “I didn’t really know him,” he concluded.