Never in my life did I think I'd get to hear a Beatles song that came out within my lifetime, let alone nineteen years into it. But, the day is here. The world has gotten one final song, "Now And Then", and what a track it is. I haven't been put through this much emotional turmoil from a new song for a while. I've never been a Beatles super fan, but the way this track is delivered alongside the music video is something that brought me to tears. It's made me think about what the world of music will be once Paul and Ringo have passed. There's a part of that time I still feel connected to because those two are still living in the same 2023 that I am.
A little background: From what I understand, John Lennon had created it as a demo sometime in the 70s, and after his death, Yoko Ono passed it down to George, Paul, and Ringo in the 90s. The song didnt come into fruition back then because they were unable to separate Lennon's vocals from the piano in the demo, so it sat in the vault. Paul and Ringo, the only two Beatles still alive, came back to it in the last couple years and were able to complete it. Technology is much better than it was back then, so they were able to separate the vocals and piano. Ringo of course was back on drums, Paul on vocals and guitar, and I believe they used some of the guitar George had recorded for it before he passed as well.
It's the music video that really got me though. At moments, it's a little cheesy, but it has so much heart that it doesn't matter at all. There's footage of modern day Paul and Ringo recording their parts with videos of John and George edited in next to them. There's old videos of them all together from back in the day, there's videos of when Paul and Ringo had worked on it from back in what I'm assuming would be the early 2000s. This song and video are the most beautiful homage to The Beatles that there could've been. This is the send off, this is the goodbye, this is the end of the movie. This is closure, for the fans and I'm sure what's left of The Beatles as well.
John's last words to Paul were reportedly "Think about me every now and then, old friend."
"Now and then, I miss you / Oh, now and then, I want you to be there for me / Always to return to me / I know it's true / It's all because of you."
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