You are probably more aware of the latest album releases than I am. In which case, you may know that Julian Lennon has a new album out – called ‘Jude’. I saw the interview attached to this post in my YouTube feed, and was vaguely intrigued enough to watch it. Julian is my real first name, and Hey Jude was number 1 when I was born, so there was enough hook to keep my attention.
Krishnan Guru-Murthy coaxes Lennon to talk about his life in what seems to be a necessarily gentle way. Lennon comes across as quite at ease with who he is, which is encouraging, because he always seemed to be rather damaged goods, forever in the shadow of his dad (John Lennon of The Beatles). He has produced a rather good, if earnest documentary about soil restoration and climate change (Kiss The Ground. He recorded a version of Imagine to raise money for Ukraine. He has got into photography. All good, solid projects.
Calling his album ‘Jude’ seemed a cool idea – confronting his legacy so he can move on. Jude has unfortunate connotations – the patron saint of lost causes, Jude the Obscure with its own desperately sad narrative. What would he do with this bold move?
Looking at the cover, it’s quite brave for someone who never seemed to shine in the public eye to use a photo of himself from when he was with his dad in the 70s – his eyes focusing on the words ‘Jude’ (handwritten for the album by McCartney) with an ambiguous expression – sadness? disdain? confusion? As with Lennon’s whole life, the listener must imposes his/her own interpretation on someone who is public property by default. I was intrigued to listen.
I think the cover image gives a good preparation for the songs within. In the Guru-Murthy interview, Lennon makes the point that the album is about what he worked through to get to his current state of ease, and there’s a mood of uncertainty and diffidence that he never really escapes from. The first song ‘Save Me’ finds him in very vulnerable voice and after that, the songs seem to me to be him singing to himself, encouraging himself to keep going, to be confident – giving himself a reassuring hug. But in spite of that urging, his voice and most of the songs seem restrained. It only really catches fire with Lucky Ones which shows a bit of passion even if the accompanying music sticks with the general album fog of gentle instrumentation from 21 musicians and 2 orchestras. Maybe a better title would have been ‘sub Jude’?
I hope the album was an exercise that helped him to get to a good place, and wish him well. But given what power there is in the title, it feels like an opportunity missed to own that legacy and make a big statement.
The slightly upbeat ‘Lucky Ones’
He was on one of Hepworth and Ellen’s Word in your Attic chats and seemed deeply insecure, which is understandable when for his whole life he has known that people really want to know about the father walked out on him and his mother and who died more than 40 years ago. It must be like some kind of punishment from Greek myth.
Julian’s mother Cynthia died in 2015.
I think Gatz was referring to John dying more than 40 years ago – hence the ‘and’.
I was, but the sentence structure could have clearer.
I couldn’t watch it, it was too difficult
Events perhaps put him in a near impossible position, a spare not an heir. He’s evidently worked hard to turn things around for himself. From a small sampling it’s hard to say that that’s produced any great art but wish him happiness nonetheless.
I have a handful of his CDs as he’s worked with members of The Blue Nile and Aqualung (Matt Hales is a friend of a friend). All of them are fine but forgettable. I hope he’s happy now.
It’s a long story, but as some of the North West Massive may recall, I spent quite a lot of time with Julian around the time he was recording and releasing his first album. I actually played guitar for him on a demo for a track which ended up on his second, for which he cooked me a fry up.
I won’t trouble you with the details. After all, who here would possibly be interested in a lengthy early eighties music related tale?
I would!
Amen. Spill the beans…. on the toast, if possible.
Nah, it’s much too late for the frys.
That’s yer valotte?
Don’t rub saltwater into the wound.
Great stuff, guys! 😀
Time to end the disastrous Pop Music experiment.
(sorry, I was assuming this was a Private Eye Message Boards tribute…)
My sister new him in the mid 80s in north Wales – the boyfriend of a friend of hers was in a band Julian was interested in producing. I never met him, though he did visit our house. As I recall she quite liked him. My dad was the manager of a catering supply depot and knew Cynthia vaguely through her restaurant, and didn’t care for her in the slightest.
Stop teasing and give us the details! Fried eggs or poached? Did you have black pudding with it? Beans? Or (shudder) it wasn’t a vegan fry-up, was it?