“When we lost John, we knew that it was really over,” Paul McCartney says about The Beatles in a new promo. Except it wasn’t entirely over, because in the ’90s, the living members of the band (McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr) acquired a few demos from John Lennon’s collection and turned them into Beatles songs. Harrison died in 2001, but that wasn’t the end, either, because now—more than 50 years since the group disbanded, almost 30 years since the release of Anthology, and with just two remaining members—The Beatles are releasing their last-ever song, “Now And Then,” on November 2.
“Now And Then” was a ’70s Lennon demo considered for Anthology that McCartney, Starr, and Harrison tinkered with before Harrison reportedly vetoed the track over its poor quality. Thanks to artificial intelligence technology pioneered by Peter Jackson for his docuseries Get Back, the quality was improved for the release. (McCartney clarified earlier this year that on the A.I. assisted track he’d been teasing, “nothing has been artificially or synthetically created.”) In a press release, Harrison’s widow said that although he didn’t feel like the first attempt at “Now And Then” could be finished at a high enough standard, “If he were here today, Dhani [their son] and I know he would have whole-heartedly joined Paul and Ringo in completing the recording of ‘Now And Then.’”
In his own statement, McCartney said, “There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear. It’s quite emotional. And we all play on it, it’s a genuine Beatles recording. In 2023 to still be working on Beatles music, and about to release a new song the public haven’t heard, I think it’s an exciting thing.” Starr added, “It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room, so it was very emotional for all of us. It was like John was there, you know. It’s far out.”
Isolating Lennon’s vocals and instrumentation for the new “Now And Then” is not the only Frankenstein-ing that happened on the track. McCartney worked with Giles Martin (son of The Beatles’ legendary producer, George Martin) to lift backing vocals from “Here, There And Everywhere,” “Eleanor Rigby” and “Because” (this technique is described in the press release as a “wonderfully subtle touch”). They also created a new string arrangement, in addition to previously recorded electric and acoustic guitar from Harrison, drums from Starr, bass, guitar and piano from McCartney (“which matches John’s original playing” and also features “a slide guitar solo inspired by George”), plus new backing vocals from McCartney and Starr.
As The Beatles’ final single, “Now And Then” is being released as a double A-side with a remastered “Love Me Do,” their first-ever single. Remixed and expanded versions of “The Red Album” and “The Blue Album” are also being released on November 10. Plus, a 12-minute documentary Now And Then—The Last Beatles Song will debut on The Beatles’ YouTube channel on November 1, “with exclusive footage and commentary from Paul, Ringo, George, Sean Ono Lennon and Peter Jackson,” according to the press release.
After this, The Beatles really will be over—except for the music, which will live forever. “It was incredibly touching to hear them working together after all the years that Dad had been gone,” Ono Lennon said. “It’s the last song my dad, Paul, George and Ringo got to make together. It’s like a time capsule and all feels very meant to be.”