The Beatles – Now and Then (2023) (Official Video) (Lyrics) (Documentary)

(Written December 4, 2023)

When I started The Mixtapes project on Ramblings of a Misguided Blonde, I knew that I would eventually have to address my love of the Beatles.  Where to begin?  As a result, I let nearly a year go by.  Now, the decision has been made for me.  We will start at the end.

I never dreamed that I would get the opportunity to write about a “new” Beatles release.  Here I am, almost a month after the fact, doing just that.  As a girl born a few days after John Lennon’s untimely death, a fan who witnessed the release of the Anthology Project during her high school years, it feels a fitting conclusion to all that the Beatles have achieved over the decades.  Over the last month, I’ve watched as the reactions to “Now and Then” itself, the music video, and the mini-documentary came rolling in.  Unsurprisingly, there is no consensus.

Beatles fans appear to be solidly in two camps.  The first group is dismissive, stating that “Now and Then” will never rank among their greatest hits.  Of course it won’t!  How could it?  That is not the point.  Advances in technology aside, they state that it never should have been made.  I’ve also heard “fans” (I purposely use that term loosely) complain that video clips of John and George used in the official video are too “irreverent.”  I still have a hard time understanding that criticism from self-professed fans.

My response is simply this:  Did you understand the Beatles – the band and the then young men who created it – at all?  Their humor is a huge part of what made them so great.  Their humor still holds up today.  They simply would not have been the Beatles if you took humor out of the equation.  I love that I can laugh at images of two men who are long gone and dearly missed in a newly released music video.

Then there is my favorite:  “Now and Then” sounds too much like John Lennon’s solo work from the late 1970s.  Of course it does.  That is exactly what “Now and Then” represents, if only a demo.  John did record it in the 70s, and as the Beatles disbanded in 1970, he likely meant for it to be a solo effort.  However, that is only part of the story.  

“Now and Then” is also one of a handful of unfinished demos that Yoko Ono gave to Paul McCartney upon John’s death.  During the Anthology Project, Paul, George, and Ringo completed two of the other demos, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.”  At the time, both songs climbed the charts and introduced the Beatles to an entirely new generation of fans.  By the way, both songs, along with their music videos, still hold up – even if some fans are now calling for them to be “cleaned up” as well.

Even though I didn’t think about it at the time, it makes sense that there was supposed to be a third song released with the Anthology Project.  It was released in three parts after all.  That third song?  “Now and Then.”  It just took a few decades, Peter Jackson, and new technology lovingly called “MAL” for it to come to fruition.

Personally, I don’t think that the Beatles could have ended on a better note.  It is nostalgic, almost timeless, and with its humor, the video is even better.  It is a true love letter from Paul and Ringo to George and John – not to mention all of us, the fans.  So, to Sirs Paul and Ringo, thank you!  Once again, the Beatles will be rediscovered by an entirely new generation of music junkies.

On a sidenote, even the 5th Beatle, George Martin, was there in a sense.  In his absence, his son Giles Martin, who just happened to play a huge role in the orchestration of “Love,” helped put those finishing touches on “Now and Then.”