Beatles Now & Then… 12 months on
It’s been a year since the Beatles released “Now and Then”, and we’re checking in on how people feel about it! Was it a masterpiece or just hype? We dive into the song’s backstory, including George Harrison’s initial rejection of the track in the ’90s, and debate whether Paul McCartney’s revival was a good idea.
Did the nostalgia make it special, or was it just another attempt to grab a number-one spot? We talk Spotify stats, fan reactions, and our own experiences with the song. Are you still listening to “Now and Then”, or has it faded from memory? Join the conversation in the comments—are you Team Now or was it a waste of time? Let us know what you think!
#TheBeatles #NowAndThen #JohnLennon #PaulMcCartney #GeorgeHarrison #ringostarr
#Beatles #Then.. #months
Originally posted by UCZcwa6bJLJFGVVqBGzqjjjg at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELyGzAp47Ns
The video was a bit cheesy, I agree, the whole green screen killed the vibe. The song was great, but it was mixed too modernly.
I think of it as a Lennon song that the other three were guests on, rather than as an actual Beatles track. Similar in a way to the 1973 Ringo album.
Nitwits!
it's on a few of my playlists, and when it comes round I enjoy it still every time. also picked up the vinyl single and do not regret that
This is one of those songs that should have remained where it was 12 months ago. It's not a very good song. The video is the best part of the songs.
Dead wrong, they are already seated and nobody not even an unknown like such as yourself who sings to pin yourself as a person whose ability to critique a song is unmatched.
There's always somebody who is sour grapes. Because the interest was umatched.
Nobody really has asked you I'm sure what your favorite music is so we can take a look at it to find out where you're coming from and to see if any music that you have produced can pass it.
When a guy who we've never heard about,, can come in and tell us this is what the song needs this is what it doesn't need it likes this it has that dude, come off it
No matter with credibility, or not, its safe to say your ability to hear those aspects within this piece that grabs our hearts immediately
You see here in the United States there are so many other styles and genres of sounds and music that sometimes these younger children or the younger generations need to be reminded of their supremacy in the industry
From the American and even international reactions I saw kids that have never had to heard the Beatles music,, who were crying watching this video because they had heard of this Band yet never heard a song,,,and to hear them for the first time , the American/International reactions especially the kids expressions and words, seeming the track that's the most beautiful song ever heard.
Furthermore we Noodles are very very very very very protective of our heritage not to mention the buffet of different cultures of which Britain does not share in its lineage,, i mean c'mon Muslim immigration has Britain in a tizzy, while we dont sweat the small things .
my apologies, as I no not mean to sound like this , as if we and only we are qualified to listen with an open ear to music and offer a fair, rational, and logical critique,, though I know we lead the in that category.
I will add,, Only an American can give you a fair critique ,, as the song immediately elicits those feelings and thoughts of music fans toward the Beatles music and sound in all its excellence ,,,,,,,, mmmmm not Britain????.
We will inform you if we think it's up to par not the other way around and that's the way it's been going since we created almost the entirety of modern music.
This video was a waste of my time. It is obvious that the fellow on the right had an agenda and wanted to get his point across because he has a platform to do so. Jolly good for him. If he doesn't like the song or the video, that's his right but you're trying too hard dude. It must have been a slow music day for you and you had to come up with SOMETHING, right? It's a beautiful song with a magnificent video by Peter Jackson and it's great. Just leave it at that and shutty. The 2 reasons that George Harrison didn't want to complete the song was that it was too sentimental for his taste, but mainly because the sound quality wasn't good and in the mid 1990s, the technology didn't exist to clean it up better. It exists now. Is it as memorable as Strawberry Fields, Hey Jude, I Want to Hold Your Hand or Something? No, but it doesn't matter.
The Beatles recorded and released around 210 songs in the 1960s. Seriously, Now And Then would rank somewhere between 180 and 210. It's a decent enough song but nothing like a classic.Forgetting the big hits for a minute (Hey Jude, She Loves You, etc) even lesser known songs (to non Beatles fans at least) like Every Little Thing, It's All Too Much, Baby, you're A Rich Man , I'll Be Back, Sun King, I Want To Tell You, Everybody…Monkey, Things We Said Today and so on are much much better than NAT.
Indie you all are totally wrong , Now and Then is a Lennon Masterpiece, the meaning , the emotion , this song as all their songs will last forever, ( your comments are a waste of time). I listen to it many times and I feel the meaning of it, I will for ever for John , Beatles Forever, Steve, the video is fantastic I watch it always, Paul and Ringo I know it means so much to them !
Forgotten? Totally crazy, it’s my favorite song and I listen to it all the time. This is just a click bait video
Here we have another idiot condemning what the Beatles did with this songs and without full context. We all knew the song was incomplete with lyrics but that was never the point. George's own wife has gone on record what he meant by the song being rubbish and it was because of all the technical stuff, the audio was worse than Free as a Bird and Real love, Johns voice was over powered by the piano and it had a loud hum to the tape. Now that John's voice can be extracted it became workable and George's wife said George would have went back to work on. Indie Miners just totally misses the point of putting the song out and just wants to disrespectfully shit on. Its the last thing that the 4 of them can appear on and its a love letter to the four of them and TRUE fans Obviously Indie Miners is not one of them, but I guess there's always someone who feels a need to shit all over something that others love. The last song was not a waste of time accept for people who never appreciated the Beatles body of work, people like that can just crawl back under their rocks and stay there.
now and then fucking rocks, it's a great song
"Now and Then" was a great song, but yes, "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love" were definitely stronger. The other problem is that that Rock/Classic Rock stations in America don't like to play new music. Pop stations play new music all the time. But Rock stations don't. They'll play the classics over and over again, but not once did I hear "Now and Then" played on the radio. And they wonder why Rock is dying.
I liked it. I also think with the new ai vocal extraction and clean up tech they could remix Free as a Bird and Real Love to a much higher standard. It would be great if they could remix the God awful snare sound on Free as a Bird too!
I'm one of those "stumbled on to this video" guys, but this topic has been on my mind for awhile. I can honestly say that I've always loved the melody for this song from John's demo, and was sad the first attempt was abandoned, mainly by George. Fast forward to one year ago: I absolutely loved The Beatles recording and video from the first time I heard it. It has remained in regular rotation for me and can still tug at the heartstrings one year on. I think it was a suitable ending. My only quibble was placing it on 1967-1970. That kind of things really kicks my OCD into gear.
I thought the record was fine, although the underlying song wasn't particularly strong. The video was great, mostly as a nostalgia trip. I really liked seeing the happy version of John, goofing around with Paul, before he became angry and bitter. I feel about the same about it all as I did a year ago. It was very much worthwhile to make this record, but I think it should have been released as a Paul McCartney record rather than a Beatles record. But then, I've objected to the other post-breakup Beatles releases as well. These just aren't Beatles records. It's the other three trying to dress up a few songs that John had already rejected for Double Fantasy. But none of these would have made it onto a Beatles album. I get it that Paul deeply misses John, his closest friend since whenever. But no technology can bring him back to life.
I don't really get what you are saying. If you like the song, put it in your play list and if you don't you like it I don't see the need for you to be making a video talking about a song you don't like.
I like the cover…
I admit, taking that quick cassette copy of a make up song to Yoko (after a good roe with John in 1977)did not make for even a top 20 Beatle's song. However, I'm still glad they released Ob la di, Maxwell's silver hammer, and even #9. Every single song cannot be a Here comes the sun, or Strawberry fields, and for a what's left of the octogenarian group members, this is pretty good for some 80 year olds. I found it amazing that in 2023, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones were on the top of the charts in the same month last year. Brilliant.
Radio no longer plays music like it used to. Radio used to make new songs hits and keep older ones alive.
Sorry but you're totally wrong. The song was the perfect ending. Literally just listened again the other day and it still brings tears to my eyes.
As a 45 year Beatle fan, this song is just 'meh' for a Beatles release. They've had a few stinkers and this is one of them unfortunately.
Worth releasing… Good song, not spectacular but harmonically nice…
and "now and then" Paul sings it on his shows here in Brazil…
A Lennon masterpiece. I only wish he could have done it himself!!
Interesting… You both make valid points.
Then: The hype around the release (the marketing execution was excellent, IMO) was centered on how clearly, we can hear John thanks to Peter Jackson Let it Be technology breakthroughs. John's voice (clearly inaudible on the demo tape) was the main reason George didn't like the song in 1994. So, for that reason alone I was glad they released it to make the voice heard. However, I remember feeling 60/40 when I first heard it, but it grew on me after repeated plays. Dittos on the 3rd verse repeating it bothered me as well. I heard it again on The Beatles Channel last week, and I was wondering why Paul and Ringo did not give it the Free as a Bird treatment like Paul and George did in adding verses to give it depth.
Now: Sadly, it is a bit of a throwaway to be found on a mix tape with Dr. Robert, Real Love and Leave my Kitten Alone, etc. The video — is well produced and entertaining — but watching it again just now, I think John would have hated it for making him look like a fool in 90% of his archive clips. It is a serious song, and we have John dancing, posing and grinning as if he was singing Baby, I'm a Rich Man… One year later, I'd give it a C+ for Paul and Ringos efforts, marketing and tech breakthroughs. Probably won't be the last Beatles release – they'll market the holy grail of bootlegs: Carnival of Light for 2030 ????
Just… forgettable.
It was a very bad move. One of John's songs when he'd become a mental slave of Yoko, which was disturbing to hear and a terrible song to boot. George was right. Why was it released? Yoko needs more money?
I guess it depended on what you wanted from it. I wanted to feel something. I didn't feel it. I didn't get it, either. I remember thinking the demo was amazing (due to Lennon's melodic bridge). However, McCartney left it out. It just sounded like modern McCartney- and, a lot of what he's doing now- just isn't as melodic as it once was. The music falls flat. I thought Now and Then fell flat. The video didn't conjure up anything as well- as far as feelings. I thought it looked gimmicky and silly. None of it landed for me. I had the opposite reaction to Billy Joel's new song. That song had weight. It was melodic. It was good.
I thought it was weak, and boring…It was Paul who wanted it done…even George thought it was a loada codswallop when they tried it years ago! .. It gets a big fat 'Zero' from me!…'NEXT'!