None of us were born the last time the Beatles released a new song. 

To find someone who was alive, we would need to ask our parents or grandparents to recall memories from fifty-six years ago, to the final album, “Let it Be,” in 1969. 

However, that changed on November 2nd. 

“Now and Then” is the latest single by The Beatles, and it hits a somber note. It’s all about saying goodbye to someone beloved – very fitting for this final outing. 

This Beatles song is more in line with other famous works like “Yesterday” and “Blackbird”; it’s slow and sad, yet full of hope for the future.

While certainly not a magnum opus of Beatles work, it fits right in with any other Beatles tracks from the sixties. 

Most surprisingly, the track feels as if all four Beatles were recording in the room once again. 

Infamously, vocalist John Lennon was assassinated in 1980 and was followed by guitarist George Harrison’s death from cancer in 2001. This left only the bassist and the drummer left of the original four; Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, respectively. 

This begs the question; how are all the Beatles back?

Shortly before his death, Lennon created various tape recordings of songs he had been working on, which would fall into the hands of his wife, Yoko Ono, after he died. 

In the mid-1990s, Ono turned over these recordings to the remaining three Beatles. They turned them into the songs Free as A Bird and Real Love, all using Lennon’s archived lyrics. They would be colloquially dubbed “Threetles Songs.”

Today, it’s a similar story but with much owed to Lord of the Rings Trilogy director Peter Jackson.

Back in the Threetles release, the recordings for “Now and Then” were not good enough to make a full release. This did not stop the Beatles from trying, with Harrison even recording background vocals, but ultimately “Now and Then” was left by the wayside.

However, during the production of his 2021 Beatles documentary, “The Beatles: Get Back,” Jackson poured over countless hours of footage and audio recordings. When doing so, Jackson was able to restore these recordings from the 1960s into 4k video and high-definition audio using modern computers. 

This included Lennon and Harrison’s “Now and Then” sessions. 

Once the remaining “Twotles” were given remastered work, they were able to add their missing pieces to the song, and “Now and Then” was born.

With over fifty years of effort poured into this song, it rightfully earned its place as the Beatles grand finale. Its stark contrast to the often faster-paced and technologically-aided modern music is a warm welcome. It’s simpler, slower, and relaxed. It has an air of genuineness that arguably has been lost in today’s high-profit music business. 

While it certainly will be overshadowed by some of the Beatles’ most famous works, “Now and Then” is a fitting bookend to their first release “Love Me Do” in 1962, and it is a must-listen for any Beatles fan, musician, or even casual radio listener. It truly is the satisfying end of a musical era.