Like I imagine millions of people have, I discovered it Now and thenthe Beatles’ famous final song, which came into the universe on Thursday morning as my throat tightened and I felt tears near my eyelids.
My emotional reaction surprised me. I’m 48 years old and although I know the Fab Four repertoire well, I neither experienced the Beatlemania of the 1960s nor discovered the important albums of John, Paul with his Wings and George in succession in the decade that followed.
However, Now and Then, a piano ballad composed in the late 1970s and unfinished by John, is nothing out of the ordinary, apart from being an original piece that benefits from the contributions of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
It’s a beautiful composition, very Beatlesque, but one that will never take the place of Let It Be, A Day In the Life or Hey Jude in the countless charts of the 10 best Beatles songs that can be found on the Internet.
If it had existed when the group was still active, Now and Then could have aspired to be a B-side to a 45 RPM single.
John and Paul together
However, you’d have to have a heart of stone not to be moved when you hear Paul, in the group’s purest tradition, start the song with a “One, Two” and then hear John Lennon’s voice ring out as if he were still there among us.
Then it moves on to the chorus, where John and Paul are vocally united in a harmony whose secret only they knew and which helped make the Beatles the greatest rock group in history.
I emphatically repeat the words of Rolling Stone: “Hearing John and Paul sing the first chorus together, synchronizing on the phrase “I miss you,” is extremely powerful. »
“I want you to be there for me”
Let’s talk about the lyrics of the song. Seemingly simple compared to what the group produced from the Rubber Soul album, they are no less meaningful when we consider the entire context of the song and the relationship between Paul and John.
“If we have to start over, we know for sure that I will love you.”
“I want you to be there for me and always come back to me,” we continue to hear as a reminder of a friendship that was tested but survived despite all odds.
Every now and then, for a 48-year-old music lover like me, it is also a poignant and final reminder that the Beatles are the foundation, the starting point and/or the genesis of all the pop and rock music that has thrilled me since my childhood.
Maybe that’s the reason for the tears. My life wouldn’t have been the same without these guys.