My home was constantly filled with the music of The Beatles, and the first time I heard them was probably even before I spoke my first words. Every phase of my life has had the music of The Beatles playing as the background score.
So, as a lifelong Beatles fan, it was a bittersweet feeling when I got to hear the news that their latest and last song “Now and Then”, a demo recording of John Lennon, was going to be released. This song was initially supposed to be a part of the Beatles Anthology album released way back in 1995, but due to limitations in technology back then, it lay on the backburner all these years, until during the making of the documentary ‘Get Back’ by Peter Jackson, a software programme used in the making of the documentary enabled isolating John Lennon’s voice from the piano.
When I first heard the song, it had the familiar moody vibe and melody I have come to associate with The Beatles, and I took an instant liking to the song. I think it’s a better song than ‘Real Love’ and ‘Free as a Bird’, which were also created from John Lennon’s demos and his voice extracted from the tapes and incorporated into the new recordings. And thanks to modern technology, John’s extracted voice from the demo sits very well with Paul’s voice, unlike the other two songs mentioned above.
The George Harrison-esque slide solo, although more evocative of his post-Beatles solo albums, and Ringo’s signature drum grooves and fills hit the right spot.The finished product has some interesting key and time signature changes and also moves away from the original moody, reflective ballad of the demo to a more upbeat, driving sound.
The lyrics reflect a yearning and a hint of regret between John and his former bandmates, who were no longer together. The video made by Beatles fanboy and acclaimed director Peter Jackson is very well done, blending old footage with the current and never making it look tacky or jarring.
This is a fitting tribute to the greatest band of all time and begs the eternal question, What if they were still together?’Sure, ‘Now and Then’ isn’t a ‘Let It Be’, ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’, or ‘Something’, but this isn’t just a song. It is a tribute to the enduring legacy and impact of a band that broke up in the late 1960s and still excites the world five decades later.
The writer is lead guitarist and music producer of Fossils.