As John Lennon’s marriage to Cynthia was disintegrating in the wake of his affair with Yoko Ono, friend and bandmate Paul McCartney grew concerned for the welfare of their son Julian. He decided to write a song (originally titled “Hey Jules”) for the boy to comfort and encourage him through that difficult time. A couple of months after the separation, Paul took a drive out to the country to visit Cynthia and Julian. She had been close to the band since they had been unknown, and he found it strange that there was now a sort of wall between them. He composed much of the song as he was driving to see them, and it warmed her heart and her son’s to see Paul’s show of friendship.
“Hey Jude” turned out to be a record-breaking song. At over seven minutes long, it was the longest number one at the time, as well as spending the longest time at number one of any Beatles song. It is on many critics’ and fans’ lists of the greatest songs of all time and continues to inspire to this day.
“Wild World” by Cat Stevens
For a couple of years before his big breakout in 1970, Cat Stevens was romantically involved with actress Patti D’Arbanville. She was the muse for at least two of his songs, including “Lady D’Arbanville” (obviously) and possibly the biggest hit of Stevens’ career, “Wild World.” Both songs were released in 1970.
The song, for all its romantic love and longing, is almost a paternal sort of warm protective plea for Stevens’ former lover to take care of herself and not get hurt as she chooses to abandon his watchful embrace. D’Arbanville, a former fixture of Andy Warhol’s New York scene, has appeared in numerous movies and television shows over the years. Cat Stevens followed “Wild World” with a string of hits over the next few years before shocking his fans by largely retiring from the music business in 1978 to focus on his spiritual journey as a religious Muslim with the new name Yusuf Islam. Since 1995 he has returned to the spotlight, performing music in public once again.
“It Ain’t Me, Babe” by Bob Dylan
The accepted wisdom is that Bob Dylan wrote “It Ain’t Me Babe” for his girlfriend at the time, Suze Rotolo, whom he dated from 1961 until 1964. She was studying in Italy in 1963, and Dylan went there looking for her and wrote the song during his journey. ‘It Ain’t Me Babe” has become one of Dylan's most popular and most covered songs. Probably the most popular version, even more so that his own, was the one recorded by another girlfriend of his, Joan Baez, that same year. Dylan and Baez had a very rocky relationship that covered the period between Dylan’s obscurity and his superstardom. They broke up after a big fight in 1965. Soon after, when Dylan was in the hospital with an illness, Baez showed up to make amends, only to find him there with his new girlfriend and future wife, Sara Lownds.
Few artists in history have been both more famous and more mysterious than Bob Dylan. Having radically reinvented himself more times than most artists have songs, he has been a driving force in folk music, folk-rock, electric rock, spiritual music, and much more besides. And he has been touring virtually non-stop for longer than many readers of this article have been alive.
“Happy Birthday” by Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder has been one of the most powerful people in the music industry since the 1960s, and he was not above using his power to try to do good in the world. Whether it was politics or social issues, you could often find Stevie Wonder at the forefront. “Happy Birthday” was not written for a friend celebrating growing a year older; it came from Wonder’s long-time advocacy on behalf of making the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. a federal holiday. Ronald Reagan would eventually sign it into law in 1983, and it was observed nationwide for the first time in 1986.
Ironically, the same Ronald Reagan would be the subject of another scathing Stevie Wonder track, 1987’s “Skeletons.” Stevie Wonder famously performed “Happy Birthday” at the 1986 concert commemorating the first national Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He also performed it for the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2012 at her Diamond Jubilee Concert.
“My Sharona” by The Knack
Doug Feiger, guitarist and lead singer for The Knack, had been suffering from writer’s block until the day he saw 17-year-old Sharona Alperin. He was eight years older, but he was head over heels in love and started writing song after song after song inspired by the new beautiful girl in his life. One of those songs would go on to become one of the biggest worldwide smash hit singles of all time: “My Sharona.”
Feiger and Alperin dated for four years, which is a lot longer than the 15 minutes Feiger said it took to write the unforgettable song about her. He and The Knack’s lead guitarist Berton Averre constructed the song together around Averre’s catchy riff and Feiger’s lyrics. The muse behind the music, Sharona herself would go on to become a major Los Angeles area real estate agent listing available properties on -- wait for it -- mysharona.com! As for The Knack, their debut album Get the Knack was one of the most successful debut albums in recorded music history, propelled by its equally auspicious lead single. For a time, it looked like the future belonged to Doug Feiger and The Knack. But it was not to be. Never able to come close to their original success, today they are the virtual poster boys for the one-hit-wonder.