# "Now and Then" - the last Beatles song being debuted {2023-11-02} **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [November 2, 2023, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460 "2023-11-02T05:27:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/41 "2023-11-03T00:21:12Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I would agree. It goes like this: > > 1. George > 2. Paul > 3. Ringo > 4. John Yeah, I can go with that. Sometimes I’d put Paul ahead of George, but George’s work with the Wilburys and his late career album ‘Cloud 9’ puts him over the top. Plus, although it’s not a musical accomplishment, Handmade Films is responsible for some great comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/42 "2023-11-03T00:22:23Z")
If only that group had a drummer… ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/43 "2023-11-03T00:41:06Z")
It must be frustrating for a perfectionist like McCartney to be locked into a incomplete Lennon song. Based on the movie, John and Paul would have argued and eventually made changes to improve _Now and Then_. That conflict and conflicting egos was the magic behind Lennon-McCartney song writing. I guess Paul is happy that he controlled the studio production of this song. It is nostalgic to get one last song from the 4 Liverpool Lads. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/44 "2023-11-03T00:43:59Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It must be frustrating for a perfectionist like McCartney to be locked into a incomplete Lennon song. I think if it had been frustrating for him, he wouldn’t have done it. I guess he had fun. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/45 "2023-11-03T00:54:51Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I guess he had fun. Well, the accounting department at Apple will. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/46 "2023-11-03T01:29:55Z")
I really don’t think Paul did it for the money. He’s got enough of it, for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/47 "2023-11-03T01:46:41Z")
It’s not a bad song, I guess. And it is astonishing to hear the difference between the demo and the finished product. I was hoping McCartney would’ve added some harmonies, though. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/48 "2023-11-03T01:54:23Z")
I’m sure it was a powerful moment for Paul to digitally reunite with John and George. It would be fun for Paul. I was only pointing out that we saw in _The Beatles: Get Back_ that conflict was usually a constructive process in the magic behind Beatles music. That wasn’t possible this time. Paul and Ringo still made the best song they could under the circumstances. I agree adding harmonies would have helped the song. The Beatles had great harmonies in many songs. I know in my own projects it helps to have someone I respect call me out and ask “why are you doing it that way”? I’d love to see what Paul would do with Imagine. Recut it with his added harmony. But diehard fans might be offended by tampering with it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/49 "2023-11-03T02:02:16Z")
It would fit right in with the rest of the songs on _Archaeology_. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/50 "2023-11-03T02:20:07Z")
Hmm… quite as described before, it’s _ok_, not something that anyone was clamoring for. An interesting curiosity more than anything, as of now. Will see if/how it grows on me I suppose Paul and Giles were left with the notion of that one “unfinishable” track gnawing at them for 28 years and were ready to jump at it once the technology allowed them to revisit the exercise, just because they were not going to leave it in the can whatever it took. One thing we have to think of is that whatever “Beatles quality” material they had lying around, that they did not get around to releasing as such, they had years in which to work on and release it as solo material. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/51 "2023-11-03T02:40:19Z")
The Rutles are a legend that will last a lunchtime. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/52 "2023-11-03T06:09:45Z")
They will live on long after other living legends have died. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/53 "2023-11-03T08:52:37Z")
Having listened to it today, and probably won’t often listen to it again, it’s better than _Free As A Bird_, which just sounded like a Jeff Lynne song. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/54 "2023-11-03T11:40:48Z")
I like it much more than “Free as a Bird” or “Real Love.” It’s still incomplete — both as an initial idea (harmonic, melodic, and lyric), and as a finished product (as slicedalone mentioned, Paul could have done more with the guitar solo)…but that initial idea I actually LIKE (unlike “Free…” and “Real…”). I find it genuinely moving (yes, it’s partly the context), and worth hearing more than once. Can it be a coincidence that the Stones are releasing their (surely) final album the very same week? Ironically, Keith once said that the Stones and the Beatles would sometimes confer with each other to make sure their releases WOULDN’T be simultaneous! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/55 "2023-11-03T12:04:41Z")
I heard it last night on BBC Radio 6 without even knowing what I was listening to. It was only clicking on the video in this thread that I realized it was the “new” “Beatles” song. I liked it well enough. A solid 6/10. But it lacks the quirkiness and spark (as someone mentioned upthread) of a proper Beatles track. The arrangement is fairly straightforward and boring for their work, especially of this era. The comparison to post-_Imagine_ John Lennon sounds about right to me. But I did like it enough, and I’d listen to it again. ---
**Author:** ![TeroSunbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terosunbear/32/14748_2.png) [@TeroSunbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeroSunbear)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/56 "2023-11-03T12:08:29Z")
The piano seems to be Paul. That is, they extracted John’s voice from the cassette, but Paul plays the piano part, just copying John. George’s guitar is rather minimal. The slide is in his style. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/57 "2023-11-03T12:40:24Z")
Recalling that George called the demo “rubbish,” I’ve been wondering how Paul even cajoled him into playing guitar for this song. Or maybe that’s their old _Let It Be_-era interpersonal dynamic repeating itself? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/58 "2023-11-03T13:09:45Z")
Ringo and Paul should just make an album on their own at this point. I know they have collaborated a little bit, but maybe go and make a few songs together. They don’t need the money and no one would confuse it as a new Beatles album. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/59 "2023-11-03T13:35:43Z")
They did a great job with the video; [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Opxhh9Oh3rg/maxresdefault.jpg "The Beatles - Now And Then (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opxhh9Oh3rg) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2023, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460/60 "2023-11-03T13:36:28Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Ringo and Paul should just make an album on their own at this point. Paul is in charge of any project he undertakes and Ringo stopped taking orders from other people decades ago. Ringo might work with Paul to serve the fans or keep his accountant happy, but I doubt it’s his idea of fun. ETA: Man! That video above is creepy as Hell. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-and-then-the-last-beatles-song-being-debuted-2023-11-02/992460.md?page=4)