Memories of a simpler time
For any younger folks who might have stumbled by, and for those of my generation who, like me, seem to have trouble remembering certain things, Hey Jude was noted for a couple of other reasons also. At the time, it was the longest number one song ever, going on for seven minutes and eleven seconds (no longer the record). I seem to remember there was a short version too but can't swear to that. It is said that Paul wrote the song in an attempt to help John's son Julian get over the breakup of his parents. Whether it succeeded or not we don't know.
But the point of the post has nothing to do with any of that. Hey Jude came out in 1968, stayed at number one for nine weeks and was played all but incessantly by the local AM stations, and not just for that nine weeks. You also have to understand that times were different way back then. Radio DJs, virtually every Friday, made reference to "watching the submarine races" that night, otherwise known as "going parking" or most honestly, "making out". I dated one girl through most of high school and we never talked about having an "our song", as seen in so many movies. All we did was decide that whenever we were watching the races and Hey Jude came on the radio, we'd kiss all the way through it.
From what I see on the internet, middle school girls for the last decade have been emulating Monica Lewinsky as a matter of course and don't consider that sex. In New York, young women are swearing off sex with men they don't know after years of just that. Trust me when I tell you it was not that way back then. But to be fair, we couldn't protest for bigger and better free condoms, because they were nowhere near free (not that I ever bought any!) A simpler time indeed.