How good is the Fab Four’s last song? Above all, it is more of a coda than the grand finale.
Regardless of its content, “Now And Then” is sure to win the award for song title of the year, as it cleverly refers to the last sentence that John Lennon is said to have said to Paul McCartney: “Think of me every now and then, old friend” and at the same time builds a bridge from the present to the past. To be more precise, because you can’t really classify it exactly: the years 1978/’79. At the time, Lennon recorded the song on his iconic white Imagine grand piano at home in New York’s Dakota Building. In 1994, McCartney was busy planning the Beatles’ “Anthology” project and asked Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono if she had any of her husband’s unreleased song material. She then gave him cassettes with demos for “Free As A Bird”, “Real Love”, “Grow Old With Me” and “Now And Then”.
The penultimate one was to find a place on Lennon’s posthumous solo album MILK AND HONEY (1984), the former formed the mixed-received “Anthology” releases – “Free As A Bird” came at the time as the world sensation of the first “new” Beatles single after the band split 25 years earlier, even in the group’s home country of Great Britain, Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song” couldn’t get past Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song” in the charts. “Now And Then” was intended to be the final single, but then George Harrison vetoed it; the song is “fucking rubbish”.
22 years after the death of the oh-so “quiet” Beatles, the piece was finally released; on November 2nd at 3 p.m. Central European Time. Touted as the last song by the Fab Four, it combines new vocal and instrumental passages from McCartney and Ringo Starr with archived recordings by Harrison from March 1995. On top of it lie Lennon’s songs, separated from the piano accompaniment and a hum of the demo with the help of an AI developed specifically for the Beatles crystal clear vocals.
“Now And Then” touches and warms
Of course, “Now And Then” represents more of a coda than the grand finale to the most powerful work of popular music. End credits music after the showdown. The autumnal piano accompaniment does not aim to blow us over like a seasonal gust of wind. But it touches us. The guitar licks, piercing through the leaves like creepers, entwine us and give us support. Rich strings like those from “Eleanor Ribgy” warm us like logs in the fireplace. And to make sure we’re really comfortable, Lennon wraps us in a cozy blanket of lines like “I know it’s true/It’s all because of you/And if I make it through/It’s all because of you.” The lyrics are autobiographical: Lennon was processing his 18-month-long “Lost Weekend” from 1973, during which he indulged in May Pang and alcohol and lived separately from Ono.
In a time characterized by horror, fear and unpredictability, in which the world is teetering on the brink, these phrases begging for forgiveness and seeking reconciliation, this “Give Peace A Chance” voice is simply good – especially in combination with those of Paul & George & Ringo in the background. “Now And Then” is also the best song to come out of Ono’s cassette because of how it was made. With “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love” still under Lennon’s LoRes vocal tracks, you get the impression that all four were actually in the studio together. Maybe AI isn’t our downfall after all – we just have to use it sensibly (as long as it can still be used with it).
“Now And Then” is definitely a nice recording thanks to the stylish lettering by US graphic legend Ed Ruscha. On the B-side of the single, which is officially listed as a double A-side, is “Love Me Do”, the Beatles’ first single. The circle closes and yet always remains open for countless future generations who will dance, love, learn, laugh and cry in its midst.
Speaking of circles: “Lord of the Rings” and “Get Back” director Peter Jackson shot the video for the song. That’ll happen tomorrow.
PS: Want to feel really old? The time gap between “Now And Then” and “Free As A Bird” is considerably longer than that between “Free As A Bird” and the end of the band.