"Now and Then" is a song by the famous English rock band, the Beatles. It was released on November 2, 2023. This song was a "double A-side" single, meaning it was released alongside another song, "Love Me Do" (from 1962). Many people call it "the last Beatles song." It is also part of a special re-release of their 1973 album, 1967–1970.

"Now and Then" is a psychedelic rock ballad. A ballad is a slow, emotional song. John Lennon wrote and recorded a rough version (called a demo) of it around 1977. He never finished it. After Lennon's death in 1980, the song was thought of as a possible new Beatles song for their 1995–1996 project, The Beatles Anthology. This project included other songs based on Lennon's unfinished demos, like "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love". But "Now and Then" was put aside for almost 30 years.

Later, the remaining band members, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, finished the song. They added new parts (called overdubs) and used guitar tracks that George Harrison had recorded in 1995. The final song includes new lyrics by McCartney. Lennon's voice was taken from his old demo using special AI (artificial intelligence) technology. This technology was first used by Peter Jackson for his 2021 documentary, The Beatles: Get Back. Jackson also directed the music video for "Now and Then." Most critics liked the song, saying it was a great way for the Beatles to end their musical journey.

How the Song Was Made
The Beatles' Version
Who Played on the Song
- Production Team
- Orchestra Musicians
See also

How the Song Was Made

John Lennon wrote "Now and Then" in the late 1970s. He recorded a demo of it in 1977 at his home in the Dakota building in New York City. The words in the song are like other love songs Lennon wrote later in his career, where he often apologized. Most of the song's verses were nearly complete, but a few lines were not fully written on the demo tape.

A music writer named Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Lennon's song "a wispy, melancholy ballad." Another writer, Kyle Denis, said the original demo was "a lovelorn guitar-centric rock ballad." Craig Jenkins from Vulture explained that "Now and Then" was hard to use because Lennon's voice and piano were hidden by a lot of scratchy noise.

The Beatles' Version

In January 1994, Yoko Ono, John Lennon's wife, gave Paul McCartney two cassette tapes. These tapes had home recordings of songs Lennon had never finished. One tape had "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love," which the Beatles later completed. The other tape had "Grow Old with Me" and "Now and Then."

"Grow Old with Me" had already been released in 1984. So, the Beatles focused on "Now and Then." In March 1995, the three living Beatles (Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr) started working on "Now and Then." They recorded a basic music track to add other parts to later. But after just two days, they stopped working on the song. Plans for a third new Beatles song were put aside.

Production of the Beatles' version originally started with Jeff Lynne as co-producer.

Producer Jeff Lynne said they only worked on "Now and Then" for "one afternoon." He said the song had a chorus but almost no verses. They made a rough backing track but didn't finish it. Another problem was a technical issue with the original recording. Like "Real Love," a buzzing sound could be heard throughout Lennon's demo. This buzz was much louder on "Now and Then," making it very hard to remove.

The project was mostly stopped because George Harrison didn't like the song. He felt the recording quality was too low. McCartney told Q magazine in 1997 that "George didn't like it. The Beatles being a democracy, we didn't do it."

From 2005 to 2006, news reports suggested that McCartney and Starr might release the song later. In 2007, there were rumors that McCartney wanted to finish the song. He planned to write new verses, have Ringo Starr record new drums, and use old guitar recordings from Harrison, who had passed away in 2001.

In a 2012 documentary about Jeff Lynne, McCartney said about the song: "There was another one that we started working on, but George went off it... that one's still lingering around, so I'm going to nick in with Jeff and do it. Finish it, one of these days."

In October 2021, McCartney said he still hoped to finish the song. On June 13, 2023, he told BBC Radio 4 that he had "just finished" taking Lennon's voice from an old demo using artificial intelligence. He called it "the final Beatles record." He didn't name the song, but BBC News reported it was likely "Now and Then." McCartney explained that "nothing has been artificially or synthetically created. It's all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings."

Before the 2023 release, the only official recording of the song was Lennon's original demo. In 2009, a different version of Lennon's recording was released illegally. This version did not have the "buzz" that caused problems for the Beatles in 1995.

Announcing the Song

Giles Martin co-produced the final song.

On October 25, 2023, an image of an orange-and-white cassette tape appeared on the Beatles' official website and social media. The next day, the song was officially announced. It was released on November 2, 2023, as a double A-side single with a new version of "Love Me Do". Paul McCartney and Giles Martin are listed as producers. Jeff Lynne is credited for "additional production."

Peter Jackson's company, WingNut Films, used its special audio technology to separate instruments, voices, and even conversations. This technology uses a neural network (a type of AI) called MAL. It was named after the Beatles' road manager Mal Evans and also as a joke about HAL 9000 from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. MAL was first used for The Beatles: Get Back documentary in 2021.

WingNut used the same method on Lennon's home recording of "Now and Then." This helped keep his voice clear while separating it from the piano. WingNut worked with a digital copy of the original tape given by Sean Lennon, John's son. This copy was much better quality than the one the Beatles used in 1995.

After cleaning up the sound, a string section (like violins and cellos) was added. This music was written by Martin, McCartney, and Ben Foster. It was recorded at Capitol Studios. Finally, McCartney and Martin added parts of old vocal recordings from other Beatles songs like "Here, There and Everywhere", "Eleanor Rigby" and "Because". This was similar to how they made the 2006 remix album Love. The finished song was produced by McCartney and Martin and mixed by Spike Stent.

Promoting the Song

A 12-minute documentary film, Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song, was released on November 1, 2023, on the Beatles' YouTube channel. The film tells the story of the song. It includes comments from McCartney, Starr, Harrison, Sean Lennon, and Peter Jackson. The film also plays a short part of the new song.

To celebrate the release, animated pictures of the cassette tape from the Beatles' website were shown on buildings in Liverpool. These included places important to the Beatles, like Strawberry Field, the sign for Penny Lane, outside Lennon's childhood home, and The Cavern Club.

The BBC also had special programs about the song. These included an extended edition of The One Show and a BBC Radio 2 podcast series.

Music Video

The music video for "Now and Then" was released on November 3, 2023. It was directed by Peter Jackson. The video shows never-before-seen film of the Beatles. This includes footage from Pete Best, scenes from the 1995 recording sessions, and old home videos of Harrison. It also has new footage of McCartney and Starr performing. Special visual effects were created by Wētā FX.

Who Played on the Song

The Beatles

John Lennon – lead and backing vocals (main and background singing)
Paul McCartney – lead and backing vocals, bass guitar, lap steel guitar, piano, electric harpsichord, shaker
George Harrison – backing vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Ringo Starr – backing vocals, drums, tambourine, shaker

Production Team

Paul McCartney, Giles Martin, Ben Foster – wrote the string music
Produced by Paul McCartney and Giles Martin, with extra help from Jeff Lynne
Giles Martin, Sam Okell – mixed the sound for stereo and Atmos
Miles Showell – prepared the song for vinyl records
Oli Morgan – prepared the song for Atmos
Bruce Sugar, Steve Genewick, Greg McAllister, Geoff Emerick, Keith Smith, Mark "Spike" Stent, Steve Orchard, Jon Jacobs – sound engineers

Orchestra Musicians

Violin: Neel Hammond, Adrianne Pope, Charlie Bisharat, Andrew Bulbrook, Songa Lee, Serena McKinney
Viola: Ayvren Harrison, Caroline Buckman, Drew Forde, Linnea Powell
Cello: Mia Barcia-Colombo, Giovanna Clayton, Niall Ferguson
Double bass: Mike Valerio

Now and Then (Beatles song) facts for kids

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