Here's my video on how "Now and Then" became The Beatles' final tune:
Also, view my live reaction to the track here on my 2nd channel:
The outro music to this video is my track "Mothers Day" which you can hear in full on Spotify:.
SOURCES:.
And, an extra unique thanks goes to Peter Keller, Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel.
ASSISTANCE ME ON PATREON:.
Comparing John’s demo to the final Beatles track
Click Here To Learn Piano or Keyboard
I think Ringo’s drumming is what makes it into a Beatles song. He still has this magical ability of playing a simple 4/4 beat with this unmistakable Beatles feel.
A human metronome 🙂
Best drumming I’ve heard from Ringo in years. Those fills!
Four humble musicians who worked for what was best for the song and not their egos
Indeed. I wonder, however, if they mixed the rhythm just a little too loud.
Ringo is also a good narrator.
John singing “ and I..” and Paul finishing it with “will love you” is just so touching.
Paul made it just “another silly love song”.
@@robbedontuesdaywhat’s wrong with that… I’d like to know!
@@michaelrichter5233 LOL… if you know, you know…
@@robbedontuesdaywrong
@@robbedontuesdayyes it just sounds like an average McCartney song he really missed the vibe of the original demo especially in the piano it sounds so boring
I spent the whole song waiting for the “I don’t want to lose you” section, which I think was far more beautiful and interesting than the chorus we got. If it was up to me, I’d have used “I don’t want to lose you” as the chorus, and ditched the “now and then I miss you” section. But I’m not in the Beatles, so it’s not up to me. It’s up to Paul McCartney. And I imagine the lyrics “now and then I miss you” might have been quite meaningful for him. And they work very well in the context of this song in 2023.
I would say the same. There is another version on YouTube from 3 months ago from another creator, which has a really nice sound and that part.
His idea of using it for the bridge was better. In fact, I thought that might have been what McCartney did. I wouldn’t want John’s falsetto, though. When did John EVER do that when with the Beatles?
And besides, that section would’ve probably been too high to sing for an elderly Paul
I think they ditched the “I don’t want to lose you” bit as this confirms the song was written for yoko
@@glue1820Link?
I think the 3/4 change at the end is very poetic. Throughout the song, you’re hearing all the Beatles, and then after Lennon stops singing, we lose a beat.
Omg i didn’t even think about that, great observation… we’ve lost two beat(les) overall but John was the first and that’s incredibly poignant
@@MysticHeather I was thinking that they could have gone further and dropped down to 2/2, but trying to cement the 2/2 feel without throwing the ending off might have been too much. I have the feeling that they wanted to keep this simple.
I think it’s brilliant. Wonderful Then and Now Beatles song 🩷
Good catch. Jackson’s Get Back and now this, it just gets me in the feels so badly even though I was only born after the Beatles had already broken up. It reminds me so powerfully of the mortality of us all and how even the greatest people and the greatest times fade away one day. Soon all the Beatles will be gone, soon you and I will be gone… Poignant ain’t the word.
oh my god you’re going to make me cry in bed all over again <3 <3
For me, it’s about as perfect as it can get, I adore it, it feels like the Beatles. It’s more poignant than anything I’ve heard maybe ever… I would appreciate having a scaled down version or part where I could just hear John and his piano bc there’s something about how isolated those two elements are in johns demo that just reaches down into my soul but all in all it’s one of the most precious pieces of music I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing/witnessing in my life and I’m incredibly grateful for it.
It makes me incredibly sad that this will be the last single produced by the band, I really wish Lennon didn’t get killed, there’s no other band right now making music that touches the heart as much as them..
In my opinion the song is perfect. I never listen to The Beatles but this is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. John’s demo is just that, a demo, a collection of ideas that probably would work but don’t have to if you find something better. I would not change this song one bit, not even a single note
like i said before hearing johns vocals from then and pauls vocals from now just adds an extra artistic meaning to what is now and then, it was beautifully done
i get the same feeling from free as a bird!
John and Paul, writing together, while still apart. A perfect ending tribute the the band I’ve loved since I was ten!
I never liked them even as a child I’m now in my 60’s still can’t stand them. Awful songs and this one is probably the worst.
@@garethde-witt6433 when?
@@garethde-witt6433Damm, where it comes from that hate? childhood?
@@garethde-witt6433 I’m thoroughly surprised you’re watching this particular video! What brought you here? You must’ve had a rough time embarking on all the Beatles in your younger years 😀 No need to be a fan to appreciate their craft, but I sense you dislike popular music for being ‘cheap’? Just curious, everyones entitled to their opinion!
@@garethde-witt6433 wow, NEVER heard anyone in my 70 years with an opinion like that. You must be a redneck.
They are not releasing a new John Lennon song… so to me it’s like John bringing a song into the studio and the boys all working on it, and I love that.
exactly
Frankly, this song and ultimately the stunning production, has for me, brought alive the Beatles’ magic once again. I love it.
the song suck tho😅
Yes almost like a message from the other side, very unexpected and touching
They made the change so they can uplift his voice and piano. They don’t make changes for no reason. What ever they do it’s for a good reason. It’s amazing!
To hear them together one last time means the world to me.
I was a teenager when the Beatles came on the Ed Sullivan show and took over the US. Hearing these videos of their ‘final’ song brings back memories beyond memories. I’m so very glad Paul and Ringo, as well as who knows how many other talented people, made this happen for all of us. THANK YOU
I agree. All of the music The Beatles made was a gift to the world, and this is one more gift, perhaps the last. It is a treasure.
As a devoted Beatles fan who always hoped they would get back together, when John was murdered it was the realisation that that would never happen. Then with George passing too it was heartbreaking. When I heard this song and saw the video I cried – it had happened, the Beatles together again. It touched my heart. From when I was 13 years of age, the Beatles were my life and now here I am at 73 listening to a ‘new’ Beatles record. I can’t explain just how that makes me feel, I’m crying again now just typing this.
Thank you Paul and Ringo for finishing this record for us. The Beatles together again – thank you.
Me too almost exactly
There was another song done in a similar way in the late 90s
@@1fiorentina they first started to work on this song in 1999 or thereabouts, but technology wasn’t good enough to finish it.
They did get back together after the death of John for George Harrison’s all those years ago song in 1981.
@@bobbystereo936 yes but that wasn’t all the Beatles was it, John was missing so not the same at all.
The new part they added is in tribute to George, a guitar solo written by Paul but in the way George would do it. Fits perfectly
I totally agree.
I think the new version is brilliant with the more upbeat tempo just the right pace, the changes in key so rich and varied contributing to the mood with its intermittent reference to the pain of loss contrasting with the gratitude of something gained, the familiar strong Ringo beat on the drums keeping it moving, the varied texture of the different instruments giving it depth, but above all else, the clear sound of John’s beautiful voice brought back to life, reminding us of that wonderful Beatles sound. I was living in Liverpool the year that the Beatles split up and it’s incredible to hear that unique sound once again over half a century later. Well done, the Beatles!
For me it’s perfect, they did what they always did. One of them brought a song to the other 3, like i do in my band, and together they worked on it and it became a BEATLES SONG. The ‘i don’t want to lose you’ part was nice, but they took it down a different direction, as always Paul advised John advised Paul, as it should be. Paul, finishing off his friend and writing partners song, like they always did with each-other, whilst saying goodbye. Perfect
I was waiting for something maybe that Paul would write and add to John‘s lyric in the chorus may be using I don’t wanna lose you and then writing some thing after that line. I do think they buried the backing vocals too much even though I did not know that they used Because, Eleanor, Rigby, and here there and everywhere. Thank you for pointing that out. This is a very wonderful analysis of the chord changes which I couldn’t quite get when I listen to it and yes, as another poster has said, Ringo’s drumming adds to making it a Beatles song also. I do love that 3/4 ending of strings. It reminds me of I am the walrus type/Strawberry Fields ending, you know in that period. I would have liked to have heard Paul singing on this. There is the slide part that Paul added to, I don’t know if George is playing slide, I think George is playing acoustic guitar on it also. it sounds a little bit over produced. So I don’t love it but of course it’s the Beatles and it’s their finale so now when I hear it sort of makes me cry.
Paul is a Master and the final version is gold. If anyone knows how it should be finished it’s Paul who composed with John.
People have to remember that this song was an unfinished song and it was very much in the early stages