The Last Shall Be First

Welcome to Wanna Know a Secret

Hello everyone!!  My name is Danny and I am a HUGE fan of the Beatles.  My obsession, and yeah that's what it was and is, started when I was about 12.  I wore out my Mom's cassette (young people, it's an ancient listening device, ask your grandparents) of the Beatles 1962-1966 ... aka The Red One.  I knew most of the songs on the 1st side because of my Mom, but it was the 2nd side that fascinated me.  Specifically Nowhere Man.  The whole thing.  The lyrics.  The lead vocal.  Those harmonies.  I had never heard guitars that sounded like that. And that wonderful chime at the end of the solo .... I didn't know what a harmonic was at that time .... I kept rewinding it (ask your grandparents again what "rewind" is).

I also consumed books and articles about them.  Philip Norman's "Shout!" was the 1st book I read.  I now know it is a flawed book, deeply biased against everyone but John, but I'll give Norman credit for teaching me a bunch more.  Then there are the books by Mark Lewison, especially "The Complete Recording Sessions."  Wow!!!  Everything I ever wanted to know about their recordings.  Many other books and articles were consumed.  I can remember being in college and spending lots of time in the library looking up articles to read or books about them.  I was obsessed.  

A few years ago, one of my uncles said that that's all I talked about during that time.  He's right.  I almost considered you not worthy if you didn't know anything about them or didn't like them. For 2 or 3 years I consumed almost nothing else.  The occasional Van Halen or Michael Jackson or Prince.  Maybe some Madonna thrown in.  This was the MTV era, when they played music .... yes, the "M" used to stand for music, and I saw that, but probably 75% was Beatles.  In the early 80s, the Beatles weren't cool.  Then, two things happened.  Ferris Bueller made it to where people were coming up to me in school and asking me to make copies of songs on cassettes for them, after all, I was well-known as the "Beatles guy."  Then the Beatles Anthology in 1995.  Suddenly the Beatles, 25 years after they broke up and 15 years after dreams of a reunion were forever muted, were the biggest band on the planet again.

Then the era of the internet came where you could find whatever you wanted for free at a moment's notice.  Sometimes I miss the old days when you had to get books, but I also love the convenience of the internet.  I also love the invention of the podcast.  Something About the Beatles and Things We Said Today (thank you Robert and Richard and Alan, Ken and Darren.  I love your content!!!) became regular parts of my life.  Bottom line ... I'm still obsessed.  I'm writing this in the hopes that others who are obsessed will enjoy reading this or others might become obsessed or just stick their toe in the water.  The Beatles have something for all of us.

The Last Shall Be First

I'm sure you can imagine I was fascinated for years by the one song The Threetles worked on in 1995 that didn't get released, "Now and Then."  Called "I Don't Want to Lose You" by some, but the demo was hanging around of John doing it in the 70s, but it was incomplete. We had no idea what The Beatles had done or how far they had gotten, only that George called it "rubbish" and didn't want to do it.

Then it came out that Paul and Ringo were going to complete it with the help of ..... gulp ..... AI!!!!  Well, the internet went apeshit!!!  Were they going to artificially recreate John's voice?  George's guitar solo?  HOW DARE THEY!!!  Destroying The Beatles' legacy!!!  John and George would NEVER approve!!  They just want more money, don't they have enough?!?!  The internet is wonderful, but it's also a place where people can rant and rage in a way they'd never do in person.  Keyboard anonymity gives courage.  

Anyway, they were NOT using AI to create anything that wasn't already there.  Peter Jackson's team, while making the Get Back documentary created this software that basically could "learn" what different sounds were and therefore could isolate them.  So, they taught it what John Lennon's voice sounded like and, could remove everything else.  So, unlike 1995, they could now remove the background noise that plagued the demo that John recorded.  So, once you have John's vocal and the piano part that John played, you can mix it with other stuff that is recorded.  So add some Paul and Ringo vocals.  Add in George's rhythm guitar from 1995.  The characteristic Ringo drumming.  Paul playing some slide guitar in George's honor and even some vocals flown in from the 60s Beatles (think Beatles Love), then you've got the last Beatles recording, even if it's only a reunion on tape.

The song goes straight to #1 in the UK giving The Beatles, their 21st #1, a record nobody has equaled.  You would think Beatles fans would be happy, not only to get more material but that the band was back in the news continuing their amazing legacy.  Nope.  "John and George would never approve of this" ..... "This isn't the Beatles" .... you know, Paul and Ringo, the remaining Beatles don't get to say what is "Beatles", the guy sitting behind his screen does.  "The song is the worst song in the Beatles catalog" ... never heard Mr Moonlight or Revolution 9, have you?  Yeah, I know those songs have fans too,  no offense intended.  Then there are those that, no matter how many interviews Paul and Ringo give assuring the fans that AI didn't create anything will never believe it.  Everything has to be a conspiracy in these people's minds.  The Beatles have always been about the integrity of their work.  The thought that Paul or Ringo would willfully deceive the fans in that way about one of their songs is just impossible in my mind.  The less I say about the conspiracy theorists the better.  I can live with the critics of the quality of the work, even though I don't agree.  I can't live with willful ignorance. 

So, do I think the song lives up to the Beatles' best work in the 60s?  Absolutely not!!!  Does it need to live up to Revolver to be a worthy project to do???  Absolutely not!!!  Nobody has done anything in the past 60 years that equals Revolver, does that mean it shouldn't be done?  IMO, Now and Then fits into the Beatles catalog.  It sounds like something they would have done.  An album cut on Abbey Road, maybe.  As good as Something or Come Together, no.  Better than Maxwell's Silver Hammer .... I think so.  Maybe a B side.  But I think that speaks to the quality of the Beatles' work in the 60s that a #1 single in 2023 would maybe only be a B side or album track in the 60s.

I love the track.  I love how it was done.  I love how you have Paul's 80-plus-year-old voice singing with John again (if Paul was gonna use AI, don't you think he'd fix this????).  It lends a certain poignancy to hear the old friends harmonizing once again.  

I love the message, how the song seems to be kind of an ending and a goodbye to those they have lost.  

I like how Paul counts off in the beginning (I Saw Her Standing There, the 1st, Now and Then, the last).  

I love that we can hear John's voice so clearly and if John's voice doesn't send chills down your spine, I don't know what to say to you.  

I love the fact that the end of the song goes from 4/4 signature to 3/4 ... very John.  

The inclusion of the 60s Beatles harmonies (Here, There and Everywhere and Because, for sure) is cool because the 60s Beatles get to participate in their last #1 song.  

Last, the slide solo is my FAVORITE part.  I've heard some say that it doesn't sound very much like George, and I agree, but the fact that Paul chooses to pay tribute, however imperfectly, to his friend, who he had his share of friction with over the years, but who was also that kid that used to ride the same school bus as him, has a poignancy that honestly brings me to tears when I hear it,  not boo-hoo tears, but choked up "man" tears.  I think for it to hit you, you had to have experienced some profound loss in your life.  Someone who you may not have always agreed with, but someone who you loved deeply despite the disagreements.  They are a part of you and when they die, a small part of you dies too.  

The Beatles, if nothing else, were brothers.  Despite their own disagreements, they always had each other's backs in front of others.  Yes, they could get salty with each other, but others weren't allowed to say bad things about the other Beatles.  This song touches me so deeply because it highlights what we love about them.  That they love each other.  As Paul and Ringo get further into their 80s we realize that there will be a time when there will be no Beatles living on this planet, and a little bit of us will die as well when that happens.  But we always have the music and that will never die.