For many fans of The Beatles, the thought of experiencing the release of a new song in their lifetime was completely out of the question, until 2023, when it was announced that the final Beatles song, “Now and Then,” would be released on Nov. 2.. This left an air of confusion, given that two members of the famous band have been gone for some time now. There was some skepticism, but Artificial Intelligence pulled through, giving listeners a final goodbye to the most famous rock band in the world. Carlos Orellana, a sophomore at Syracuse University, says, “I thought it was really exciting to be alive during a Beatles release, and the song far exceeded my expectations. I was worried the use of AI would sound unnatural or ruin it, but it was not noticeable.”
Disney+, which also released the Get Back docuseries in 2021, produced a short film to accompany the new song. It details the process of making the song and shows a combination of recent footage of Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, along with older footage from the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘90s. It’s revealed in the short film that John Lennon began writing “Now and Then” while he was residing in New York City with his wife, Yoko Ono, and son, Sean. He never got the chance to finish it. In the ‘90s, the three remaining Beatles were looking for a way to honor their lost friend, and Ono presented them with tapes she had of Lennon singing and playing piano. In 1995, Harrison, Starr, and McCartney met up at a studio to finish Lennon’s swan song. Unfortunately, technological issues got in the way of the final recording, and it was put back on the shelf. It wasn’t until 2022 that Starr and McCartney were able to revisit the song. In Get Back, director Peter Jackson used Artificial Intelligence technology to refine the audio and video quality. While the details of the technology are entirely unclear, McCartney explains that Jackson used the same AI from Get Back to separate Lennon’s vocals from the piano track in “Now and Then.” The final production of “Now and Then” featured John’s original vocals, along with rhythm guitar parts that Harrison had recorded prior to his passing in 2001, with new recordings by McCartney, Starr, and an orchestra. Likewise, the accompanying music video was heavily edited to have all of The Beatles in the same place for one last time.
Like many, I grew up listening to The Beatles, despite not having been alive during their time as a band. I love their music, and I will always be a Beatlemania girl at heart, but I didn’t expect the release of this final unexpected song to be quite so emotional. It’s a beautiful song, but it was the short film that really made it all feel real. Watching old footage of Lennon and Ono walking in spots of Central Park, where I’ve walked decades later, made me miss someone I’ve never met, and seeing a young Harrison standing next to today’s McCartney and Starr in the music video had me misty-eyed.
At its core, “Now and Then” is Starr and McCartney’s heartwarming tribute to their late friends. We as the public simply got lucky that they decided to share it with us. In addition to the release of this new song, Apple Corps. Ltd has re-released the Red and Blue albums on vinyl, with tracks that were not previously on the record, including “Now and Then.” In a time where there’s so much anxiety about technology taking away from creative fields, this song proved that AI has the potential to help rather than harm when it is in the right hands.