Words by Riley Fitzgerald
Graphic by Press

Paul McCartney‘s handwritten lyrics to the Beatles 1968 single ‘Hey Jude‘ have auctioned for $910,000 – a staggering sum almost six times greater than the $180,000 for which the lyrics had initially been expected to sell.

The sale accompanied the auction of another 250 items of Beatles memorabilia which passed under the hammer on the 50th anniversary of the Fab Four’s 1970 breakup.

A ‘Bagism‘ drawing from John Lennon and Yoko Ono‘s 1969 Bed-In For Peace fetched $93,750.

The head of the bass drum used by Ringo Starr during the band’s first North American tour was acquired for $200,000, four times what it was initially expected to fetch.

Even a loose page of script from the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour ‘Hello Goodbye‘ scene –  replete with drawings from John Lennon and Geroge Harrison – landed its owner $83,200.

The news follows an earlier statement by Darren Julien, founder of Julien’s Auctions, that Beatles memorabilia was hitting a record high in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Talking with Reuters earlier this year, the auctioneer explained that in times of crisis Beatles and other pop memorabilia often presented a surer option for investment than stocks in oil and other commodities.

“We noticed when the stock market crashed in 2008,” he shared, “we had a record years in 2008 and 2009, and that was because people with wealth were looking for ways to diversify.”

Despite the item’s considerable value, Paul McCartney’s ‘Hey Jude’ lyrics still fall short of laying claim to the title of the most expensive Beatles item to ever pass under auction.

That honor which remains with John Lennon’s Gibson J-160E guitar, which sold for $2.4 million in 2015.

‘Hey Jude’ was originally written by Paul McCartney’s for John Lennon’s son Julian Lennon following the divorce of his parents in 1968.

“I thought, as a friend of the family,” Paul McCartney shared of ‘Hey Jude’ in the Beatles’ Anthology book, “I would motor out to Weybridge and tell them that everything was all right: to try and cheer them up, basically, and see how they were. I had about an hour’s drive. I would always turn the radio off and try and make up songs, just in case… I started singing: ‘Hey Jules – don’t make it bad, take a sad song, and make it better…’ It was optimistic, a hopeful message for Julian: ‘Come on, man, your parents got divorced. I know you’re not happy, but you’ll be OK.’”