Paul McCartney reflects on The Beatles’ new song ‘Now and Then’: ‘John’s voice, crystal clear’

When surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr heard John Lennon singing anew on “Now and Then” — a brand new Beatles song that will be released on Thursday — it was like their former bandmate had miraculously come back to life four decades after he was murdered.

“And there it was — John’s voice, crystal clear,” says McCartney, 81, in the new short film “Now and — The Last Beatles Song,” which premiered on the Fab Four’s YouTube channel on Wednesday.

“It’s like John’s there,” adds Starr, 83.

“Now and Then” — the first new Beatles tune since “Real Love” in 1996 — was written and first recorded by Lennon in the ’70s when he was living in the Dakota building on New York’s Central Park West — where he was murdered 43 years ago on Dec. 8, 1980.

“I do remember living at the Dakota with Dad and Mom,” recalls Sean Ono Lennon, 48, in “Now and Then.”

“There’s this impression that my dad stopped doing music for a while to raise me, which I think is partially true in terms of him not touring and not fulfilling any major record-label obligations.

“But he was always playing music around the house. He was always making demos, and I do remember him recording into these tape-cassette recorders. Mom had this handful of songs that my dad hadn’t finished, and she gave them to the other Beatles.”

Harrison, who died from lung cancer in 2001, was excited at the prospect of all four of the Beatles being reunited in song after receiving this musical gift from Ono in 1994.

“If we were to do something, the three of us, as interesting as it may be, to have John in it is the obvious thing,” he says in the short film.

“To hear John’s voice — that’s the thing that we should cherish. And I’m sure he would have really enjoyed that opportunity to be with us again.”

So Harrison, McCartney and Starr set out to bring “Now and Then” to life in 1995, but technological limitations didn’t allow them to clearly separate Lennon’s voice in the demo.

That all changed after new technology allowed director Peter Jackson to isolate voices and instruments in 2021’s “The Beatles: Get Back” documentary. 

Then McCartney and Starr set out to complete “Now and Then” with their upgraded tool kit in 2022. In addition to Harrison’s guitar parts recorded in 1995, McCartney added bass and a slide guitar part as “a tribute to George,” while Starr laid down drums. 

“All of those memories come flooding back,” says McCartney in “Now and Then — The Last Beatles Song.”

“Like, how lucky was I to have those men in my life and to work with those men so intimately and to come up with such a body of music? To still be working on Beatles music in 2023 — wow.

“‘Now and Then’ — it’s probably the last Beatles song, and we’ve all played on it. So it is a genuine Beatle recording.”