The song's lyrics are about someone encouraging a man named Jude to go after a woman by saying things like "don't be afraid" and "you have found her, now go and get her". The song ends with the band yelling "Hey Jude" as the song slowly fades off. Paul McCartney originally wanted to call the song "Hey Jules", but decided to change some letters around in the name "Jules" to form "Hey Jude" to draw attention away from John Lennon's son Julian, who the song was written for.