The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” is a recurring musical motif in Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series. The song appears as a familiar tune across Roland Deschain’s strange, connected worlds, linking the fantasy setting to our own cultural history.
“Hey Jude” is especially memorable because it is sung or recognized in scenes involving Roland and the people of his world. Its repeated appearance makes it more than a casual pop-culture reference: the song becomes part of the series’ atmosphere and one of the clues that the Dark Tower’s realities overlap.
The song was released by the Beatles in 1968 and became famous for its extended “na-na-na” coda. Readers may confuse it with “Paint It, Black,” another song strongly associated with the series, but “Hey Jude” is the canonical recurring Beatles motif asked about here. The motif also reinforces King’s habit of using recognizable music to connect memory, worlds, and fate.