The day has finally come. The final Beatles song, “Now and Then,” has been released, and is their last song. The song features all four members, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon –– who originally recorded the song. Even though Harrison and Lennon had passed years before its release, McCartney and Starr were able to use new technology to include their late bandmates in their final song.
Recording
After Lennon’s passing in 1980, Yoko Ono, Lennon’s wife, gave the remaining Beatles bandmates a few of her late husband’s song recordings. While McCartney, Starr and Harrison were able to release “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love” with the recordings of Lennon singing, “Now and Then” was much more difficult to produce, according to the short documentary “Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song.” Because of the way the song was recorded, it was hard to hear Lennon’s voice through the sound of the piano. In the 1990s when they were trying to produce “Now and Then,” they didn’t have the technology to pull Lennon’s voice out of the background, ultimately leading the remaining Beatles to wait.
However, in 2001, Harrison died of lung cancer, leaving McCartney and Starr with another hurdle in the release of this song. However, they continued to wait until 2022, when new technology was available for them to attempt to make Lennon’s voice clearer, and it worked. The voice on the now-released song is clearly Lennon, with background vocals from McCartney and Starr. They even added in some of Harrison’s previous guitar recordings as well as a guitar solo by McCartney that was specific to his former bandmate’s style. McCartney and Starr along with their team were able to create a coherent sound reminiscent of classic Beatles songs.
To enhance the song, McCartney and Starr enlisted the help of a strings section, adding an extra layer of “Beatle” ness to the song. However, as seen in “Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song,” the performers were only given sheet music for the song and were unaware that their music would be used for a Beatles song –– even videos of them performing were used in the music video.
The music video
McCartney and Starr took the new technology to the next level in the music video. The video starts with a man in Lennon’s classic circular glasses looking into a sunset and seeing an image of The Beatles in it. As the video progresses, there are shots from previous recording sessions with Harrison as well as current recording sessions with just McCartney and Starr. However, in these videos, Lennon and Harrison are standing next to the surviving Beatles, obviously cutouts of them taken from old clips.
The usage of this technology to put all of The Beatles together once again reflects the creation of this track and the layering that went into it. While all four members were unable to produce their final song together, the inclusion of previous tracks and blending videos makes “Now and Then” feel like a cohesive Beatles track in memory of Lennon and Harrison.
The message
While this song was written much earlier by Lennon, the message of it feels a little ironic. Throughout the song, one lyric most memorably repeats: “Now and then/ I miss you.” Even though this song was not written by McCartney or Starr, it fits their tone as they finish off the last ever Beatles song and the feeling of missing their former bandmates.
This song leaves listeners feeling nostalgic, whether or not they are longtime Beatles fans or just familiar with their sound. Moreover, it ties up the legacy of The Beatles and gives fans one last taste of their historic music.
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