A closer listen to the last Beatles song ‘Now and Then’
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
- The final song by the Beatles 'Now and Then' has officially been released.
A project lead by Paul McCartney to create a song out of a John Lennon demo tape from 1977.
George Harrison and Ringo Starr also appear as well as a string section from Giles Martin.
Is it good? Bad? Or is there more to this song than first appears? I break it all down in this analysis video.
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Honestly Elliot, despite the Beatles song marking the official ending of the band, it’s people like you in the community to breathe life and keep the bands legacy alive. Since I watched your first biopic video, the quality has been outstanding and I’m awfully thankful for the effort you put into this stuff.
Thank you Elliot, keep it coming x 🙌
let it be
I'm 55, and I'm counting on Elliot to bring it forward.
Beatles forever
-from Finland
I will say it one more time the best band ever!
The more you listen to 'Now and Then', the more it grows on you. Its power is on a very deep level. It can take time for this connection to take place in you.
That happened to me, too
I agree with that. The song has really grown on me as well.
Do do
Do do
Do dooo
Do do de do
It hits everyone different, doesn't it? John said, he and Paul were connected on levels most people can't even understand. Just look at what they did. Their connection exploded into this music that still makes the world fall in love.
You killed me with that phrase: "They’re letting us know that someday down the long and winding road across the universe, they will return to each other.”
As someone who wasn’t born yet when Free As a Bird and Real Love came out, having an official new Beatles song be released in my lifetime was truly amazing, and it will probably never happen again
It will happen over and over again in your lifetime, with the Beatles and many others, thanks to an AI-based restoration technology that is able to separate the voices from the instruments in old or unreleased recordings!
Still have ‘carnival of light’ to go …
:~)
hopefully not
YES !!
Carnival of Light !
I know...understand...it'll probably be a thing far more...experimental, along the lines of (but probably not exactly like) Revolution #9...or McCartneys Liverpool Sound Collage and some of the Fireman stuff...but I'm game !
Good call !
Thanks for the tribute to Ringo’s contribution. Always there for the band and each band mate individually. He never lets us down. Never.
I feel like Ringo had a special affinity for how to creatively augment John's songs. Maybe because they left room for him to punctuate more freely.
Crazy that Ringo managed to use his accursed powers to summon his old pals from the aether long enough for one last little ditty.
What do you mean? Don’t you know that all the Beatles are just Ringo going so fast that he looks like 4 people?
LADS, THE TIME HAS COME!
Ringo has acquired his own set of Tomar Emeralds. Dear god.
@@StationSquare. Jeremy Hillary Boob, PhD
Being the conductor of Shining Time Station has its perks!
The first time I heard Now & Then I sobbed uncontrollably and couldn't breathe. After about 100 plays I can finally get through without breaking down. Maybe it's my age (69) but this song is heartbreaking.... a song of loss. Loss of the Beatles as a group ,loss of John and George, loss of my youth, loss of people who made up my life my world and the not getting any of that back...ever. That's what flooded my mind upon hearing this epic masterpiece. A simple song that means so much. Thank you for a great video
I'm also 69. You said it all. It hit me the same way.
You need to get a grip.
@@lucasoheyze4597ahahahaha shut the fuck up let people experience art however they want
said the Tin Man and the Scarecrow , You my friend are both Peace and Love@@lucasoheyze4597
@@lucasoheyze4597 you need to get empathy
This was the review I was waiting to see. It did take a few listens (and a few days) for the emotional weight of the song to be fully felt. Someday, sooner than any of us want, the music will be all that’s left of the Beatles. To have this poignant tribute made to lifelong friendships is truly a gift.
EXACTLY
Yes, YES. It feels like the Beatles paying tribute to the Beatles in this really really lovely way. John from the ‘70s mixed with the Threetles in the ‘90s, completed by the two remaining Beatles in the ‘20s with sprinkles of those young men from the ‘60s tying it together. Lovely.
Hit me like a truck on first listen
For me, another part of the lyrics is most touching: "and if I make it through, it's all because of you" - that's literally exactly what happened! Without Paul, John singing this WOULDN'T made it through to us! Really prophetic....
Oh man.
That’s exactly what I thought too. As though that lyric was hauntingly prophetic. Everyone knows Paul would do all he could to get this done. Such a weird listening experience, how this song has touched my heart ❤️, put a smile 😊 on my face, brought tears 😭 to my eyes & sent shivers down my spine.
What a great point you’ve made. Thank you!
Wow. Mind = blown. 😮
Well said.
“His greatest gift as Lennon’s writing partner was to take a sad song and make it better” wow. goosebumps.
Whoa
Remember John's demo of Yellow Submarine? John wrote a sad song about a lonely boy. Paul made it into a happy song about a boy surrounded by his best friends forever.
@@loosiluOh my god you’re right 😭♥️
@@thesilvershining John's greatest fear was to be abandoned again. Now and Then is 81 year old Paul telling younger John, oh hell no. I'm gonna surround you by your friends again, forever.
@@thesilvershining John's absent father was a sailor. A man who sailed to sea.
Love what you do man. I dont know if you remember me, but I commented on your "Love and Mercy" video about two years ago and how profoundly you helped me through a truly bleak time. Still watching. God I love The Beatles.
Hope you’re doing well now, Taylor! ✌🏼and ❤!!
For me the last Beatles song was always to be sad but I feel Paul made it true to Johns style more than his own. And with the slide guitar tribute to George, it's Paul giving the deepest honor to his friends ❤
I also think the music video is so true to Beatles music videos = completely unhinged
I so agree with you!!
This song is really growing on me. I wasn’t blown away at first, but after seeing the video clip and listening to it a few more times I now find it very moving and beautiful.
I was be curious to hear John’s parts in Real Love and Free as a Bird cleaned up with today’s techniques
same here. It's because it has many layers and we catch a new one every time we listen to it
Yes, watching the music video really takes it to another level.
For some odd reason, I prefer all of john’s demos to the Beatle’s versions. While they are fine and delightful,the beauty of John and his piano are timeless….I have also listened to them 100 x each..especially free as a bird, Solitude/I’m Losing You, and now and then. I would love to hear them record Solitude.
@@rikkousa I enjoy John's demos too but, hey, we can also listen to them fully produced! So we have the best of both worlds, don't we?
I gotta say man, you’ve become an essential part of my modern Beatles experience. Like seeing your reactions and thoughts to new Beatles projects is part of my consuming those projects. And I for one am GLAD you took a few days to get this out, because it let me absorb the song through my own personal lens, before seeing it through yours! Thanks for what you do!
I agree you do a great job !
Why do you care about this twerp's opinion of this song?
Oh dude. “They’re letting us know that someday down the long and winding road across the universe, they will return to each other.” That is utter poetry, sublime and beautiful.
Oh my....
This was the moment I stopped holding back and just cried like a baby
A little bit forum-signature in the phrasing but the sentiment is very nice.
Should've said "get back to each other".
Moved me to tears.
This is incredible. You nailed this. The thing about all the criticisms of Now and Then is that they miss how big a tribute this really is from Paul (and Ringo) to John and George. Across the universe of time and space. In Here Today from 1982 Paul sang "And if I said I really knew you well and was glad you came along / then you were here today, for you were in my song." Which is EXACTLY what Now and Then is supposed to do, I think. The song brings the presence of John and George back, to the place where they really truly live (at least for us fans) - in the music. And it's really, really good music. Thanks, Elliott.
I feel like it's extremely poetic that the ending part of Now and Then also sounds like Wait because the last lines saying "I've been alone" also portrays how John and Paul are separated from each other... alone.
Elliot, a message from a fellow Australian. This is the best 'Now and Then' reaction video I have seen, and I have seen many. There are many reasons why I have said this but above all I have said this because you have a very beautiful heart. Your vision is as your heart is. Also, you have touched on the spiritual aspect, so beautifully. This is a marvellous video.
Completely agree. I was so waiting for Elliot to release a video about now and then because in every other video that I’ve seen no one seemed to express what I was feeling. And Elliot didn’t let me down. He put everything so beautifully. I just can’t hold back the tears when I watch it.
@@natalyamartirosyan It is wonderful when you find someone on your wavelength. Elliot is so special, isn't he ? I only discovered him recently, I am so glad I did. He is such a giving person, he is cultured, refined, kind, sensitive, someone you really feel at home with. A lovely man.
@@tjcint check out his GetBack video. It's amazing. i watch it regularly because it gives me such good vibes. Always uplifts me.
@@natalyamartirosyan Thank you so very much for the tip. When time permits, I will.
This was well worth waiting for! Thank you for expressing so well your gratitude for all that we have loved about the Beatles over the years, as well as what the "Now and Then" team - led by Paul McCartney - have achieved here. I love your phrase that Paul is "communicating spiritually through music and through time with his old songwriting partner." Nailed it, Elliot. What a great week it has been for gathering around the campfire and basking in the Beatleverse with all those who resonate on the same frequency 💝🎶🎸☮💖🎼🕉
fu macca
This was the best video on the song I've seen. It made me think of how much more weight this song will have when none of them are around anymore. What I like about the song is that it's what the Beatles would have sounded like now. For those who did not like it I've been openly wondering what they were expecting. Like what era of the Beatles did they think it should have sounded like? Revolver? Pepper? White Album? Abbey Road? Every record the Beatles put out was a modern sounding record at the time. In 2023 the Beatles wouldn't be trying to sound like they did in 1967. Bottom line is that the world is much better with one more Beatles song in it and you can feel the care that McCartney put into this, not for himself, but truly to honour his friends and send the band off in a very appropriate way. I think it honours their legacy and is a perfect send off.
Brilliant message ❤
Well said!
Falou tudo que eu tinha pensado!!!
Simplesmente fantástico!!!!
Thanks Elliott, that is the best video I have seen yet. Well worth the wait.
The last words John said to Paul as he walked out of the Dakota were, “Think of me every now and then, old friend.”
Not long after John died, Paul invited Carl Perkins to stay as they worked on some recordings. Carl wrote a song to thank him that used those words without knowing what they meant. Paul broke down and Linda had to explain why. He knew it was a message from John.
This was many years before Yoko found the tape.
When Paul rang George's wife to tell her they were starting to work again on Now and Then, she said, I'm looking at George's clock right now, the clock that has Now and Then on it. She said, It's a sign from George . That clock or a facsimile is on the back cover of the single.
It's so beautiful. I haven't listened to it yet without crying. We could all use a good cry right now. The world is such a mess. God bless The Beatles.
This song hit me like a ton of bricks. I was in a very sad state, waiting for my wife to come out of surgery. While I was waiting I listened to the song. My goodness!!! It suited my mood perfectly, both musically and lyrically. I will never forget how it affected me. Oh, by the way my, wife made a full recovery and she is great now but at the time you can imagine how I felt. Love this song forever! 🥲
You made me cry with: "his greatest gift was take a sad song and make it better"
Really briliant video, thank you.
I can't fathom they came out with a song this year. Feel like a teen is 60s lol
The song is very addictive - The more you listen to it, the better it gets
You’re exactly right. It gets into your soul. I crave hearing it now.
Agreed. I love it so much
You’re my favorite RUclips channel. I first discovered you with the Beatles Biopic vids. I loved all the stuff you pumped out and I eventually subscribed. When I’m rolling in my wallet again I’ll definitely support you on Patreon.. Much love from Dallas ✌️
I think that the song is a technical masterpiece...The melody is typically Lennon-esque in it's simplicity....but the element many miss, is that whether you like or dislike the song....the Beatles have brought people together again....in a positive way surrounded by the message of love and that's is it's greatest achievement ...I love this song😍🥰
Well I'd say the melody -- the chord structure, specifically -- is far from simplistic. Crazy use of minors!
I think the song is absolutely wonderful, while it isn’t very complex that’s what made The Beatles so great. They were able to communicate simple, universal ideas (both lyrically and musically) all while pushing the boundaries of state of the art recording technology. What a privilege it is for young Beatles fans like us to witness history being made as a new song of theirs tops the charts almost 60 years after they first made it big. Long live The Fab Four, forever may they reign as the greatest band the world has ever known, and likely the greatest band the world will ever know. ✌🏼💚✌🏼🩵✌🏼🧡✌🏼🩷
The Beatles are far more complex than what you’re giving them credit for.
This song is very complex. But that's the genius of the Beatles. They make everything sound simple.
That was a beautiful, sensitive and intelligent analysis of the song. And you nailed it: Now And Then is a perfect parting gift from the Beatles, a band that has book-ended my life.
I agree with your every word.
Now and Then is honestly up there with one of my favorite non-album Beatles singles; it's a song that truly feels like an emotional farewell, almost like the series finale to a TV show.
In particular, that slide guitar solo is something else; I've always had a fascination with George since he passed just a few weeks after I was born and after listening to The Beatles' discography, I gained a much stronger appreciation for his music and hearing that tribute with that slide guitar solo damn near broke me. It will probably still get me 50 years from now.
That is one touching and mind blowing tribute and analysis of the song. I thoroughly enjoyed it and cried like a baby along with you. Thank you for doing it for us Beatles fans.
I honestly thought it was a "okay" song when I first heard it but over the past few days I've listened to it I've truly seen the beauty of it. The chorus is absolute AMAZING.
How can anyone have any complaints about Now and Then? It’s like saying the White Album was too long, sheesh! I’m so grateful for all the efforts of the people involved in this release, they all seem to love the Beatles as much as I do. The song honors everyone and heals me in a profound way. Thank you for your detailed and loving review
My only minor complaint is that John sounds a little robotic whenever his lines start and the quality between his vocals and instrumentals is to be expected
No complaints here. Heck, the Beatles' B-sides, fillers and throwaways are all still fantastic. Such was their genius. "Hey Bulldog," anyone?
Why are people calling this a “Beatle” song.. Beatles broke up in 1970 & never reformed or agreed to. This is an ok song of John which he didn’t think it was worth putting on Double Fantasy which had some howlers.. I think it’s better than Kiss Kiss Kiss. C’mon call it for what it is.. a finished off Lennon solo song.. thank you Paul & Ringo.. but please don’t cheapen the Beatles legacy.
A lot of people I know think the song is great but the mix doesn't do it favors. You kinda have to strain (or relisten a lot) to pick out a lot of the elements. The loudness war is a drag. Even the vinyl single doesn't seem to improve things much, only the Atmos mix gives us some dynamics.
It has Jeff Lynne's standard fingerprints all over it and would have fit better on an ELO, Wilburys, or late Harrison album than a Beatles one.
George had the right opinion about it in 1995.
And the album sleeve is an active tribute to everything wrong with the ideas behind modern graphic design.
Otherwise, it's an endearing curiosity and I'm glad Paul and Ringo got an emotional charge out of making it.
I was never alive in the time of the Beatles, far from it, but listening to this song still got me feeling things. I was also really looking forward to hearing after this song came out, so this is perfect
Excellent review. You are the first person say that this is also a love song for Paul and John. I recall reading that John’s last words to Paul were “Think about me now and then old friend”. It must have been very hard for Paul to do this song. Hopefully cathartic, and an opportunity to tell John and George he loves them. Some think the song was a love song to Yoko Ono. For sure, and also to Paul.
Great video Elliot! What a fantastic farewell track, so extremely bittersweet. A beautiful song that truly gets better with each and every listen, and Paul's 'now' voice and John's 'then' voice reduced me to tears too. Thank you for all the memories lads, you really are the greatest. Long live The Beatles.
I love the global, communal experience we are having around this song. I'm sure right now there are at least a million people, like me, who are still humming this song to themselves after first hearing it last week, and who have already listened to it dozens of times. So many others like me who wept while listening to it, feeling the enormity of "I am listening to a brand-new Beatles record" and "Oh my god, John's voice is so clear" and "This is the last-ever Beatles record" at the same time. Deep gratitude for all that John, Paul, George, and Ringo have given us over these decades. Thank you, Elliot, for sharing your thoughts on it!
I've never been a Beatles fan, but over the decades my respect for them has grown immensely. This last song.... I'll be honest, the video version made me cry at the end. It's SO unbelievable what they've given us here. Some say it's a farewell because it's the last new Beatles song ever. But I think it's just the start. The Beatles have always been way ahead of their time. Four guys, able to play their instruments (a rarity today it seems) and blessed with two songwriters. Not 25 songwriters, like modern hits rely on. Way back in the 60s, they showed us just what is possible. And Now And Then, again, reminds us of that. I trust their legacy will eventually inspire a new breed of musicians who will deliver us from the hollow corporate bubblegum music of our current day and age. John, Paul, Ringo and George: Thank you for everything! ♥♥♥
The Beatles were much more than just capable of playing many instruments,they always played them very good and great.
And by the time they recorded their first album Please Please Me amazingly in only 1 day in February 1963, they had 1000's of hours of live playing experience from playing 8 hours a night in the sleazy strip clubs in Hamburg Germany from 1960-1962, and then they played live in the Liverpool Cavern Club for several years too.
Their producer George Martin said in his biography that there is no doubt that Lennon and McCartney were good musicians and that they had good musical brains and he said that's where music originates it has nothing to do with your fingers.
He then said as it turned out they could all play their instruments very well and that since that time they have all improved especially Paul and he said he's an excellent music all rounder, probably the best bass player ever,a brilliant guitarist,a first rate drummer and a competent piano player.
Although given that Paul's father James McCartney ( who Paul's named after and Paul is really his middle name) was a self taught jazz pianist and the leader of his own band Jim Mac's band who were popular in Liverpool clubs in the 1920's and 1930's, and he even wrote a very good 1930's jazz instrumental called Walking In The Park With Elloise which Paul recorded with other musicians in 1974, most people would say Paul has always been a better piano player than a drummer but he's always been a great multi instrumentalist and can play just about any instrument great.
George Martin also said in his biography that in the early Beatles days he tried to learn to play the guitar so he could have better musical communication with them but he couldn't learn to play it so he gave up but he said John and Paul learned to play the piano far more quickly than he was able to master their instrument.
And George Martin always said that John and Paul were incredibly talented people and they both were extraordinarily talented song writers and great singers and he said he never worked with any other music artists that were as brilliant as The Beatles and he produced quite a few other music artists after them but he never had the same success as he did producing them.
By the way Elliott Paul McCartney also played the great lead guitar as well as great bass not only on George Harrison's great rock song Taxman in early 1966, but he also played both great on John's great early 1965 song Ticket To Ride and he suggested Ringo Starr's drumming parts too and Paul played great lead guitar and bass on his own really good early 1965 song Another Girl both on Their Help album.
What? No mention at all of George Harrison? George learned to play 26 instruments and ranked #11 on Rolling Stone's 2012 top 100 guitarists. @@gcrichman53
As some one who grew up with the Beatles from the earliest age and soon after they exploded upon the world, they have been an instrumental part of my life for over 60 years. Four best mates who truly changed the world in so many ways, and who's lyrics and music mark multiple points and events in ones life - especially if you lived through the Beatle's 10 years. I even became a drummer because of the Beatles although that is now long ago. When I first listened to Now and Then on Nov 03 (my 66 birthday), the clarity of John's voice, the heartfelt lyrics, the harmonies of Paul and Ringo, and seeing them together when young or old, suddenly overcame me and to my own surprise, I cried tearfully. The video collage of four best friends who had been as brothers from their teens was so symbolic and the old and new footage weaved together so masterfully by Peter Jackson, kept me crying. Over the course of two days I watched it another three times and on each viewing sobbed away. I now know that millions around the world did the same and anyone who "knows" the Beatles or were touched by them through music or through knowing their story or both, will have experienced this effect. As in every human story there is happiness and sadness. This song is beautifully haunting and reflects the passing of time and the progressive loss of a significant other or several others across our lives, for any number of reasons including their passing. Together with the video it takes us older folk back to yester-year and our youth as we participated in a changing and exciting world, so often lead by the Beatles themselves. Now to to your review: You would have to be the most "authentic and honest" reviewers anywhere and your technical knowledge and expertise of music shows in all the reviews you do. But this one was simply exceptional and fitting of a Beatle song - the last Beatle song. Even choosing to wait and let it all filter before doing your Reaction Video was simply genius and reflective of the occasion. You provide natural humor while then reverting to the serious side of your observations and opinions, always providing great information and detail the general public would not likely know or notice. It says it all that the times you too cried (on video and off video at the sink) was when you suddenly recognised something very significant in the song / music and its connection to friendship. Paul choosing to let John remain the higher pitch for example. Paul electing to use the slide guitar in a similar style George would. The Now and Then video has exhausted my tears for now at least, but when I saw you tear up just now, well I did again too. You might be notably younger than us baby boomers but as a musician and some one who really gets the Beatle story, your observations and commentary are exceptional. It took me years to get there but 1 month ago I walked the Abbey Road Crosswalk and visited the Abbey Road Studios. Elliot, from one Aussie to another, thanks mate, your review and reaction was gold and did the Beatles proud.
When I watched the music video and saw the empty Beatles stage, I nearly bawled my eyes out. Definitely not the best Beatles song, but there will be a lasting memory of this song for many years to come.
I love Macca's emotional hand-over-mouth emotional side-glances from the 90's sessions. You see the same in Get Back. Lovely to see how much it all means to him.
Man- your analysis of this song is so incredibly thorough, insightful and amazing - very fitting to the marvel of this track. Thank you!!
Thanks for making me cry again. 😢 The more I’ve listened to the song, the more I love it. I like the modern sound. I think Paul did such a great job producing. And you know it was for love. It’s not like he or Ringo need the money.
It was done for love.
i like that all of us are just crying throughout different times of this week 😭💗 first time i really cried was when I played this out loud. I first listened to it on my head phones but I decided the next morning to play it on speakers and hearing the song echo through the walls of my home just hit me right in the heart. Their voices are here with us giving us a gift 😭im crying again
I discovered you last night via the George’s Worst to Best Albums video and 1) I’m so glad someone out there totally ‘gets’ the simplicity and beauty of George; and 2) you absolutely made me break down when you got teary in this video explaining that George has a way of making his guitar speak for him. I have felt like no one I’ve ever met really feels or understands George’s music, but lo and behold here you are and you get it. Thank you!
We are basically best friends now 🤣
Thank you for this video, it’s by far the best of the reaction/opinion videos on this song. You’re a gift to us all!!
Imagining Elliot crying doing the dishes while Now And Then is blasting in the background is something that I ain't gonna forget for the rest of the day lol
I was a little conflicted for the first day I heard the song, it felt slightly off at first because in my head it just sounded like a solo John song with a solo Paul arrangement, but after a while I found myself still humming and singing it under my breath. It definitely grew on me and now Ive really accepted it as a Beatles song.
Also THANK YOU FOR THE WAIT CONNECTION, it was so familiar to me as well but I just couldn’t put my finger on it at all, even with Rubber Soul being my favorite album lol
"A solo John song with a solo Paul arrangement"
This is EXACTLY what I thought when I heard it. And nothing will change my mind about it
Paul says that the last thing John said to him was " think of me now and then." To me this is a masterpiece made of love. Yes I cried when I first heard it, its beauty made me cry. So very beautiful.
It seems to me that this song just had to be made, was absolutely meant to be made.
@@Turtledove2009 And Paul recorded it with his now voice harmonizing with John's Then voice. It's poetic.
As expected Elliot you nailed it. No one does the Beatles like you. Had in tears all over again, and I’m at work, so that’s embarrassing…….😂
This song is a perfect example of the high recording standards the Beatles pursued when they stopped touring. I think if John and George were still alive, the Beatles would have continued recording new music and innovating the way they did. It's great to see technology working for us and not against us. Bringing Johns voice through to join Paul, Ringo and George is a blessing. Please find more recordings and keep the new songs coming Paul.
Many of us went directly to your channel when the song was released thinking we may have missed the upload, and i think that's a nice testament to what your channel has become for Beatles fans, Elliot. That said, art does take proper time to soak in and it was worth the short wait to hear (and see) your thought on the song and moment. Kudos.
This was a very nice review of a very good song. Like you, I was bit lukewarm on first listen. I found it muddy and too restrained. But I kept listening and suddenly something happened. The song got into my soul in a way that Free As A Bird and Real Love never did. In the end, I can't get enough of it, and I'm willing to call it a masterpiece. I'm not even talking about the poignancy of the four of them reaching across time.
First I think it's a beautiful melody, and in a way much more like a Paul song than a John song, at least within the Beatles catalogue. John rarely went this heartfelt during his time with the Beatles while Paul often did (and does). I suppose it is in keeping with John's late 70s work, but it is those subtle touches that Paul, Ringo and Giles bring which truly make it feel like a Beatles song and not a John solo effort with "The Beatles" tacked on, which is how I felt about the two songs from the 90s. This song adds up to more than the sum of its parts. It is a work of art, and it deserves a place in the Beatles canon. I'm so glad Paul and Ringo were alive to see this through. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to listen to it yet again.
I played it for myself and my mom, and as I listened it hit me that I (someone born almost thirty years exactly after the Beatles arrived in America) was actually hearing a brand new song from my favorite band as it came out, and I started tearing up. I feel so privileged to get to hear this song, and hear them make music together (even if it’s partially by proxy) one last time.
Elliot, I've watched quite a few reaction videos to Now and Then, but yours is the best I've seen so far. You seem to have tapped into the deep connection between Paul and John spanning several decades of time in the making of this song You highlighted the disparate parts of each Beatle, and how their individual talents came together to produce this final tribute. To top it off, you weren't shy in expressing the poignant emotions this song evoked within you. I can appreciate that kind of vulnerability.
I agree with you entirely.
It grew on me too. When I watched the video for it, it hit me like a ton of bricks.
It's sad, beautiful, melancholy...moving...so many things. A great bookend to their recording career.....❤
I appreciate you struggled emotionally with this video. Thanks for sharing your thoughts...✌️❤️
Was waiting to hear your thoughts like you’re my real life friend lol and am totally with you, the emotion and rich history between John and Paul is what elevates this song, and the goofy hysteria of the music video is the cherry on top
Dude! You are killing me. I was a little emotional but your reaction especially at the end with John “writing the song about Paul” bit. I was dying.
I don't for one second doubt John wrote this about Paul. Paul believes it's for him, and he would know. They had their own language.
I feel like this song DOES FEEL LIKE A PROPER FINALE. And I think that alone managed to fuck me up emotionally 😭 It genuinely feels like that the book of the Beatles had finally closed. I love it so much :')
This song makes me want to cry forever. Every time I hear it. Geeze. But I can't stop coming back to it. It's absolutely genius. I mean think about it. Everything we are is because someone loved us into being. So "you" could be absolutely anyone.
The song just catches on for me and I love how you have put it at the end, have me into tears. The Beatles were and always are the soundtrack of our lives. My wedding march in song was “And I love her”, my son is named after “Hey Jude” and he is now the 3rd-gen Beatles fan in my family. I hope the legacy of Beatles will carry on for centuries, as it’s already happening now. ❤
The very very very very best response review video thing I have seen by anyone. Thank you fFor perfectly saying what I have been trying to. This sounds dumb, but you gave me permission to cry at the power of this song.
Hmm. What do you call it when John writes a song and Paul helps him finish it and the Beatles play it and it's brilliant? We all had a preconception that this would be like a little piece, minor if poignant, "not their best, of course," and so forth. And despite the hype and countdown, it was in a small way "here, we finished it." But Paul did so much more than tie it off. He made a tremendous gift for John and gave it to us all. To paraphrase the man himself, it's the fucking Beatles.
For me, it says that the Lennon/McCartney miracle is real. It's much bigger than the sum of its parts.
Thanks so much for this well thought out and beautiful tribute to the Beatles "Now and Then." I'm a member of the original Beatles generation (77 years old) and am thrilled to know that the music is well understood and appreciated by people as insightful as you are. I have been seeing negative responses from online "experts" and I must say that I have been somewhat upset by them. Then I see commentary like yours and feel better about the future of Beatles music and its enduring legacy. Today I heard Giles Martin say that Paul had this old tape at home and he just wanted to work one more time with his closest mate. Along with your comments, it's a summary we can all embrace.
My initial reaction was disappointment…thought it was bland. To be honest, now I love it. Really grew on me
Yes, I teared up the deeper that you delved into this song, as I had not done on my first two or three listens. And the times when you showed just how moved you were? I was right there with you, welling up as well. Thank you for this video! And what an incalculable gift Paul and his collaborators have given us! I'll admit that I wasn't really thrilled with 'Pedantic Paul' as I watched "Get Back" because it was quite apparent to me that John was trying so hard to please him (sometimes sincerely and sometimes not), that it I found myself feeling irritated with Paul (on John's behalf). Plus, John has/had *always* been my favorite Beatle! Still, Mr. Jackson's doc was enjoyably entertaining and enlightening, along with being heartbreakingly poignant. And Paul has 'redeemed' himself (in so many ways!) in my eyes since then. Anyway, I'm with those who view this 'new' song as one that John wrote to/about Paul; and because of that belief, for me it makes "Now and Then" such a stunningly bittersweet and gratefully welcomed song, coming as it does from my all-time favorite band and shepherded by John's musical partner.. The Beatles were a band that I fell in love with back in 1963/1964 when I was seven or eight, and I can honestly say that I love the Beatles as much *now* as I did *then*! In fact, my devoted adoration to the Beatles has endured for such a long ass time that it can *only* be called "Real Love"!
Goddess, what a gift this song is! 💝
maybe it’s just recency bias, but this has quickly become one of my favorite beatles tracks. i’ve always loved the original demo in it’s bootleg form, but this is just magical. john’s haunting voice, the somber guitar, the driving bass and drums, it’s all incredible. the music video as well, is just fantastic. the shot of ringo drumming along side his past self is amazing. maybe it’s not a masterpiece, or the best beatles song, but it’s one that’s going to stay with me, with us, for a very long time
Those last few lines you said there about the song were pretty emotional too Elliot. I think that's really it - this song is for us fans. People who can't articulate why they love this group as much as they do. It's beyond words somehow. I think your video is a fantastic review and I'm going to share it with my colleagues on The Beatles' childhood homes team. I love how detailed your knowledge of their music really is! You will have to visit someday and stand in John's 'echochamber' at Mendips and hear the echo on your voice that John heard on his. You will know all about his addiction to echo/reverb. Thanks again for a really thoughful and considered video - I consider it the best review I've watched since last week.
Reduced to tears after this one ❤ so great hearing Johns vocals so clear
Your video was the one I was waiting for. It’s the best, both for information and for what so many of us are feeling about the song. The part about the guitar solo really got to me - you pointed out the history of Paul and George and guitar solos - the significance of that makes the song mean even more to me. Thank you, Elliot for taking the time, care, and love to put this video together!
You can hear the "I don't wanna loose you" part on the strings around the 2:38 mark, it's really cool. Also, there's a weird cowbell sound towards the end that I haven't seen anyone commenting on.
What you did there with Hey Jude has been my same thought over the weekend... Paul taking a sad song and making it better. Like it's sad how The Beatles ended and the horrendous tragic way in which we lost John, but let's remember all the love we always had for each other even if we struggled saying it plainly.
I did cry on my first listen because of John and Paul singing to each other I miss you, because they did miss each other so much!!
Remember JOhn's demo of Yellow Submarine? Same thing. John wrote a sad song about a lonely boy, and Paul turned it into a happy song about a boy surrounded by his best friends forever.
The reason we don't know how to feel is that this is our first Beatles song, you and I don't recall the anthology singles, we were too young. So this is it, this is our Beatles song, we only get one, and it isn't a throwaway, it isn't random, it is a sad song about missing something and being thankful for the time you had with it, but it was a time that you and I weren't alive for. It is a perfectly befitting song, a final word in a conversation that we weren't privy to until now. With this song, we stand in witness to something that we can only dream of, we can only imagine, we get to see the end of something far greater than the beginning would have promised, we didn't get to see it grow, we got to see it die. And here in the ether of the internet, we can hear the echoes of what would have felt like heaven, and we don't know how to feel.
I suspect how you feel will change as you move through future phases of your life.
This entire video was so lovely, it gave so much insight and put so many of my thoughts into words that I couldn’t have come up with myself. And then you dropped the word McLennon and blasted my soul straight out of my body. 10/10 Elliot you never miss
Thank you Elliot. I’ve been frantically searching RUclips videos for deconstructive details about “Now and Then” and this “closer listen” video of yours is outstanding, especially about George’s involvement in the song. Regarding the comments of a “Masterpiece”? I feel “Now and Then” will be remembered as such. Sadly, when the world loses Paul and Ringo too, this Beatles video will top any historian’s summation of the band. “Now and Then” is the perfect eulogy to the band. At the end, when the Beatles took their final bow and faded away, I cried very hard. They have meant so much to me in my life. 😢😊 Thanks.
You can always be counted on to see the best qualities in art. I was surrounded by kinda negative views on the song when it dropped, but being able to process it, really think about it, and look at it from different angles, is a quality that I feel like few people possess in this day and age. Thanks for all that you do, Elliot. :)
How do you not have 1 million subscribers??? Excellent work as always
I listened to Now and Then 2 or 3 times then sat down with my husband to watch the music video and inexplicably burst into tears mid way through it. It’s such a fitting ending.
The guitar solo in the middle hit me like a truck.
This is so beautiful and so on point!!! I couldn’t agree more and I have to admit those last seconds of the video had me sobbing my eyes out 😭😭😭😭 I agree with everything you just said, it didn’t take me too many listens to know this song had captured the essence of the Beatles like no other, whilst Free as a Bird and Real Love have a soft spot in my heart and will always do, I’m so incredibly glad this is the closure to their legacy because it does feel like everything comes full circle: it sounds so incredibly like them, I think it only made sense that Macca would be the chief producer because he understands what their sound was like, and just like you said, after 40+ yrs he still knows how to complement perfectly John’s beautiful work. I can’t help thinking about how Paul wrote in free as a bird: when did we lose the touch that seemed to mean so much? And to realize somehow, even through death, even in different universes, they haven’t? Still breaks my heart and makes me wonder how that is even possible. The beautiful thing is: Paul wrote in Free as a Bird: can we really live without each other? And well, now and then they bring each other back in their songs. I’m so incredibly emotional and I feel so lucky I got to experience a Beatles release in this lifetime, and for it to be this beautiful rendition to their legacy, to John’s, to what they were, well, it’s all there in those four minutes. Such a beautiful review! Ty for this video 💕
I was breathlessly waiting to hear what you thought Elliot. Thank you for the quick work!
Elliot, I love your analysis. It is spot on. And like so many Beatles fans this song makes you cry as well as gives you joy. There was never a group like this. Poignant. Moving. the soundtrack track to everyone's life.
THE BEATLES -- They were pioneers ,the first to use feedback ,flanging,I think double tracking (not sure?).There will never be another group that accomplished so much in such a sort time!Their music is TIMELESS!!! This last song is so bittersweet !Time is matching on ,for a moment I was a kid again.
I cannot tell you what I really think about Now and then. This song is speaking to me in many different ways... and makes me cry over and over again.
I love the Beatles. ❤
The first time i listened to this song, i sat with my dad. I was completely fine until that final slide guitar solo. Its hard not too tear up listening to that
Elliot, you used the word melancholy and that was exactly my reaction. It makes me sad that we've lost two of them. As far as the song, for me it was no different than when John had an idea and Paul would add the middle 8 or vice versa. For me it could have been 1963 or 2023 and it made no difference. Just two geniuses who were fantastic alone and even better together. In recent years, Paul has made a major effort to rehabilitate his image and make amends for how he treated others in his 20's. Time cures all and he's done a great job and I have forgiven him. PS: it's OK to cry. It means you care.
Been waiting for you to drop this video! Also hoping you’re working on a review and rankings of Ringo’s albums like you did for the rest of the gang.
I love the song. The end of the video made me tear up. So did the quick jump to John & George singing at Shea Stadium after the lyric "I miss you" is sung. Brilliant way to end a glorious career, and it is GREAT that's it's #1 in the UK this week.
carnival of light i'll be here!!
Thank you thank you 🙏🏻 I listened and watched the song and clip 2 days ago and was mesmerised on the spot, tears running down my cheeks of sadness but also of sheer joy! The ultimate love song! Yes, I agree totally with your analysis, my very thoughts indeed!
Can I give you a hug?
Lovely review and deep listen.
As a 9 yr old when they came to the US for the first time, I share your zeal over anything Beatles related. You have no idea how incredible it was to live through the life of the Beatles. This song is beautiful and I love it. It makes me sad that he passed away 43 years ago, but he left us some jewels. ♥️
Wow Elliot, I had actually managed to not cry and not think too hard about this track and not let the overwhelming emotions of this being the final Beatles song until I saw your video.
I guess I just didn't want it to be this good. Maybe if it wasn't so carefully built it wouldn't be true. I don't know. I chose to ignore the guitar tribute to George, the melancholic lyrics of John, Ringo being back on his drums and EVERYTHING Paul and Giles did. I managed to pretend it was just a new song, a new thing by Paul, maybe.
You made it impossible to deny it's a Beatles song. There's no pretending this is a Paul song, a John song... It's a Beatles song.
What a marvelous finale.
Thank you for making me face it.
my first reaction to the song was emotional. my dad was a big beatles fan and i wished he was alive to hear the song in person and also get a physical copy of the song. he introduced me to the beatles as a kid. my mom was hearing it when i played it on youtube for the first time in the TV room as she couldn't believe it as she thought it was really good and she's not much of a beatles fan. i think it's best of the 3 songs they made with those demos from lennon and a true closing final chapter to the band.
I'm sorry that your father died I really hope you don't mind that I'm asking you how did he die and how old was he and what music is your mother a fan of?
I agree. The other two IMO aren't any good. Now and Then is actually a good song.
@@gcrichman53 my mom is more into soft rock and salsa. my dad died of stomach cancer complications at the end of june 2019. i know he would've loved this song.
@@funkmon i like "free as a bird" and "real love" but i think this is the best of the 3 songs as it feels way more like a beatles song.
I’m glad to know I’m not the only Beatles fan in the world! And not the only one who has gently wept when listening to it.. My eight year old son, raised on a healthy diet of Beatles, Leonard Cohen, Clash, Raffi, Beethoven,Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Ron Sexsmith and other nutritious music burst into tears when he listened and learned that this was the last Beatles song.
“Masterpiece” is appropriate.
This was excellent. And your love of the Beatles and their music shines through. 💜
Elliot... This is the first of your videos I've come across, but now I am a fan for life. You nailed every aspect of it in an informative but not pedantic way. Your reaction is just as poignant as the song. And in that regard, just as you say that perhaps the final production can be termed "a masterpiece," the same too can be said of your assessment. Well done.
My grandma passed last monday from a long cancer battle so this song hit extra hard for me this shit had me in tears first listen thus breakdown is amazing tho all your videos are so amazing man nobody does Beatles content like you do your shit def along with the Beatles music has gotten me through tough times and still does just thank you for all you do man also the focus on the Paul slide solo and the importance of that I'm glad you focused on that for a main point because i feel that gets mad overshadowed in the Now And Then breakdown talk amongst others because the lore of why that solo means more than just a solo is something i feel should be talked about more so thank you for focusing on that as well
"And now one final time, they’re letting us know that they love each other, they miss each other and one day down the long and winding road across the universe, they will return to each other.” You didn't have to go THAT HARD on that final line BUT YOU DID, amazing thank you it make me teary-eyed.
Thank you for doing this video, I liked it a lot. There's some real idiots on RUclips that are complaining about the song, complaining about the video, it just really pisses me off, but oh well. I think they're just doing it for clicks you know. I cried on the second listen of this song and no many other people that have also. It's quite something. I was around in the 60s and what a time it was with The Beatles. Take Care. Day tripper ( Kregg)
This song now feels like a song sung by Paul and Ringo to George and John. It has gone from being a silly little love song, to being very poignant.
I still get chills every single time I hear that one isolated John vocal
Yes it's my favorite piece...apart from the emotion of them all playing together and the importance of it. Love the hilarious goofing around on the video too.
Still? Even after a whole....5 days? Wooowww
I was introduced to the Beatles by my mom, and she passed before she could see Get Back or hear this track, but this song- which I waited a whole day to listen to, until I was alone in the dark, just in case.
And yeah, I got emotional. My mom and the Beatles are inextricably linked, and I miss her the same way Paul misses John and John missed Paul.
I'm so glad to have this and be able to listen to it, and see this glimpse of what it might have been like if John and George were alive, and the Beatles genuinely got back together in real life. A likely much better and kinder universe...I hope my mom is there listening to it.