For the first time in 30 years, The Beatles released a brand new song. Titled “Now and Then,” Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr released the never-before-heard Beatles song late last week, along with a YouTube short film and a new remix of “Love Me Do.”
“Now and Then” was originally a demo belonging to John Lennon, which featured the influential songwriter performing on piano. The song was supposed to be created in 1994. The Beatles got together to finish up some songs after John Lennon’s death for their anthology album. The original demo made it impossible for music engineers to separate John Lennon’s voice from the piano. The plan to do the song was scrapped, and after George Harrison’s death in 2001, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr decided to leave “Now and Then” in the past.
In 2022, while Peter Jackson was working on the 2021 documentary “Get Back,” he and music engineers figured out how to split songs into separate components. This technology made it possible for John Lennon’s voice to be separated from the piano in the original “Now and Then” demo.
Each one of the Beatles’ musicianship can be heard in the song. Using John Lennon’s voice and his piano, Paul McCartney was able to update his bass line. Ringo Starr was able to provide the drum track. George Harrison’s original guitar tracking parts and vocals for the bridge were used. Paul McCartney provided a Harrison-esque slide guitar solo in order to serve as a tribute to Harrison himself. Giles Martin wrote the orchestra arrangements for the new song.
His dad, George Martin, was the Beatles’ orchestra composer and wrote for all of the band’s albums. The orchestral filler gives the ballad a more somber feel.
Lyrically, “Now and Then” is an emotional song about everlasting love. There is a part in the song that states “I know it’s true. It’s all because of you. And if I make it through. It’s all because of you.” This is a recognition of the success and important life events that happened because of the love that the subject of the song had given John Lennon. Even though the original reasoning is unknown, it could be interpreted that the song is directed towards the rest of The Beatles, especially since it was made after the breakup. Even though there was a lot of turmoil among the band members after the breakup, the deep love and appreciation remained, which was evident in the documentary footage from the mid-1990s up to now.
The short film combined old archival footage from before The Beatles broke up, footage taken of the remaining Beatles making songs in 1994 and footage from 2022 and 2023. Sean Ono Lennon added extra commentary for the documentary. The documentary can be found on YouTube, along with the music video for the new song.
The song’s music video was directed by Peter Jackson. As the two surviving members are performing the song, splices from archival footage were used to incorporate John Lennon and George Harrison into the music video. Most of the additions are goofy and lighten up the mood of the music video. Both the music video and the song serve as a final farewell to The Beatles and as a tribute to George Harrison and John Lennon.
