Sir Paul McCartney wrote the song to comfort Julian, then five, and his mum Cynthia over her split from John Lennon in 1968.
The break-up followed John’s affair with Yoko Ono.Julian, 60, said of the Beatles’ song: “It’s a beautiful sentiment, no question about that, and I’m very thankful.
But I’ve also been driven up the wall by it. I love the fact that he wrote a song about me and for Mum, but depending on what side of the bed one woke up on, and where you’re hearing it, it can be a good or a slightly frustrating thing.”
Musician Julian, who lives in Monaco, also told Esquire magazine he saw his dad “maybe a couple of times” before he was shot dead aged 40 in 1980.
He said: “The weird thing with the audience is they think it’s cute, quoting ‘Hey Jude’ to me. I don’t think they realise there’s a lot of pain.
“Every time you quote that, it reminds me of my mother being separated from my father, the love that was lost, the fact that I rarely saw my father again ever. A lot of people don’t get how intense, how emotional, and how personal that is.
“It’s not just a ‘pick yourself up and dust yourself off and be happy’. There’s deep emotional pain. I can celebrate it – but also it’s something that’ll always be dark to me.”
Julian’s career peaked in the UK with Too Late For Goodbyes reaching the top 10 in 1984. He has made a name for himself as a photographer, author of kids’ books and documentary maker. Cynthia married three more times before dying of cancer aged 75 in 2015.