Jojo Moyes isn't in 'Get Back,' but the title track inspired her name
Note: This was originally published in November 2021 and it has gone through rewrites, the latest posted on May 30, 2022. Venture to say this isn’t the final rewrite, sweetheart.
The "Get Back" film mania has Beatles fans feeling very happy, and we're happy to tell you how British author Jojo Moyes is connected to the 53-year-old title track.
Moyes is the writer of 16 novels and one short-story collection, and her professionally known first name comes from the song "Get Back." We don’t have any of her books, but people have bought more than 38 million copies worldwide, according to booksradar.com.
Her 2012 title, “Me Before You,” has a Beatles-like sound to it and became a film featuring Emilia Clarke, though we suspect no Beatle appears in Jojo Moyes’ books.
It’s a shame. She’s Jojo. She owes it to the Beatles.
We're not making this up about her name. It's a fact, as far as facts go when you look up such things on the web.
We have these sources:
bookseriesinorder.com: "Growing up in London, Jojo Moyes is a British author who was born in 1969 and was named after a song written by the Beatles singing group."
bookbrowse.com: "Jojo Moyes (named after the Beatles' song) was born in 1969 and grew up in London."
The Sydney Morning Herald: “Born very premature, Pauline Sara Jo Moyes nearly didn't make it. She was christened in haste, named for her mother's three closest friends. When it became apparent she was going to survive, her parents thought Pauline too big a name for ‘such a tiny little sparrow of a baby,’ so she became Jojo (referencing the character in the Beatles' song Get Back) and it stuck.”
You will also find the Jojo Moyes “Get Back’’ connection with a Google search that leads to the archive of the game show “Jeopardy.”
This is from a February 2021 episode:
“Reese picked The Giver of Stars by this woman who got the name Jojo from the Beatles' song Get Back.
“The category was Reese's Pieces Of Literature, books selected by Reese Witherspoon's book club, for $1,200.”
Nobody answered with the question “Who is Jojo Moyes?’’
The Beatles’ Jojo character, imagined by Paul McCartney, the writer of “Get Back” the song, though credited to Lennon-McCartney, is introduced in these lyrics:
Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner
But he knew it couldn't last
Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona
For some California grass
[Chorus]
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged
Get back, Jojo
You have to wonder what would have happened to Jojo Moyes’ writing career if her parents had chosen, instead of Jojo, the name Sweet Loretta Martin (“thought she was a woman, but she was another man”) for their baby girl.
Loretta is the second character in the song.
Get back, Loretta
Your mommy's waitin' for you
Wearin' her high-heel shoes
And a low-neck sweater
Get back home, Loretta
We've heard of Billy Preston being the Fifth Beatle because he plays electric piano and an extended solo on the song and is featured prominently in the film “Get Back.”
Jojo Moyes is the Second Jojo, the first being the “Get Back” Jojo.