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TL;DR:

  • Paul McCartney said Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” inspired The Beatles’ “Hey Jude.”
  • Paul said The Beatles were “breaking boundaries [and] questioning previous values” thanks to Dylan.
  • “Hey Jude” held a chart record until Don McLean’s “American Pie” became a hit in the United States.
The Beatles in black-and-white during the "Hey Jude" era
The Beatles | John Pratt/Keystone/Getty Images

Paul McCartney said Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” partly inspired The Beatles‘ “Hey Jude.” Notably, “Hey Jude” broke a record because of its success. Subsequently, Don McLean and Taylor Swift songs both broke the record.

Paul McCartney discussed crossing paths with Bob Dylan alongside The Rolling Stones’ Brian Jones and Keith Richards

In the 2015 book Conversations with McCartney, Paul discussed crossing paths with Dylan. “I remember going to see Dylan when he was at the Mayfair Hotel,” he said. “He’d be in the back room, there’d be me, Brian Jones, Keith Richards, a couple of guys in the next room. I remember going in, after about an hour or so. It would be your turn to see him, like a homage visit.”

Paul said he had similar meetings with other famous people. “We used to visit people a lot like that,” he said. “Went to see [philosopher] Bertrand Russell. Just ask, ‘Can I come round and see you? I’m interested.’ ‘Well certainly.’ He lived in First Street in Chelsea, I knew some American guy assisting him, and we’d talk about Vietnam.”

Paul McCartney said the length of Bob Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ inspired the length of The Beatles’ ‘Hey Jude’

Subsequently, Paul said Dylan influenced The Beatles. For example, he said John Lennon impersonated Dylan while performing “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away.”

“We were cross-pollinating each other,” Paul recalled. “He’d bring out a long record, so we knew it’d be OK to do ‘Hey Jude’ long. ‘What d’you mean, man? ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ is six minutes 30 [seconds]. Why can’t we have one seven minutes?’ You started breaking boundaries, questioning previous values.” For context, “Like a Rolling Stone” is actually six minutes and 13 seconds long.

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The Beatles’ ‘Hey Jude’: John Lennon Convinced Paul McCartney Not to ‘Fix’ a Line From the Song

How 2 other songs broke the record once held by The Beatles’ ‘Hey Jude’

It’s interesting that Paul brought up the length of “Hey Jude.” The 1968 tune is seven minutes and 11 seconds long. According to Smithsonian Magazine, the tune was once the longest song to top the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1972, Don McLean’s “American Pie” reached the pinnacle of the chart, breaking the record set by “Hey Jude.” McLean’s track is 8 minutes and 42 seconds long. Notably, “American Pie” is often interpreted as containing many references to classic rock artists, including The Beatles.

In 2021, Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” became a No. 1 single. The track is a whopping 10 minutes and 13 seconds in length. McLean said he wasn’t too upset that Swift broke his record, as he admires her talent as a songwriter.

“Hey Jude” proved a pop single could be hugely popular even if it wasn’t brief and it might not be the same without “Like a Rolling Stone.”

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