The Beatles have officially released what is being described as their final song. Titled “Now and Then,” the latest track was produced from a demo of John Lennon’s songs, which he had originally recorded in 1977.
When it came to recording “Now and Then,” the trio struggled to complete the song from the demo due to poor audio quality. “When we started ‘Now and Then,’ it was very difficult because John was sort of hidden in a way,” Starr said in a short film released Wednesday alongside the song.
“On John’s demo tape, the piano was a little hard to hear," added McCartney. "And in those days, of course, we didn’t have the technology to do the separation . . . We kind of ran out of steam a bit, and time. ‘Now and Then’ just languished in a cupboard.”
McCartney and Starr decided to revisit “Now and Then” after director Peter Jackson and his team introduced McCartney to AI, which allowed the pair to isolate and enhance Lennon’s vocals. McCartney and Starr recorded new parts for the song and added the late George Harrison’s guitar parts from their original 1995 session.
“My dad would’ve loved that, because he was never shy to experiment with recording technology,” Sean Ono Lennon said in the short film. “He would’ve loved that.”
A music video for “Now and Then” is slated to be released Friday, Nov. 3, at 10 a.m. ET.
Listen to the full song below, via YouTube:
