With the help of artificial intelligence, The Beatles released their latest and final single “Now and Then” on Nov. 2. The song is based on a demo recorded by the late John Lennon in 1979, roughly a year before he was assassinated. Lennon’s former spouse, Yoko Ono, gave the tape to Paul McCartney in 1994 when The Beatles were working on their anthology album. The track was ultimately not released with the other two new singles on that album, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love”, because the producers didn’t have the technology to isolate Lennon’s vocals from the piano he was playing. McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr recorded new parts for the track. However, Harrison felt as though the quality of the song was not up to par with that of their other works, so the track was ultimately shelved. 

McCartney and Starr revisited the track in 2022, and artificial intelligence was used to separate Lennon’s vocals from the piano and remix the track. The same technology was used to improve the audio in the 2021 documentary, “The Beatles: Get Back.” Director Peter Jackson used AI to separate the audio of their instruments, vocals and conversation from the 1970 footage of the band writing “Let it Be,” and remixed it for clarity. 

The original demo was simple; Lennon singing along to his piano in his New York City home. When the tape labeled “For Paul” was given to the three surviving Beatles, they all made their mark on the track. Harrison recorded guitar, McCartney added bass, and Starr, of course, added drums. A string arrangement by McCartney, Ben Foster and Giles Martin as well as backing vocals from existing songs “Here, There, and Everywhere,” “Because” and “Eleanor Rigby” were also added to enhance the track. 

Those with a certain disdain for artificial intelligence will be relieved to hear that AI was only used to make Lennon’s vocals clearer, not to fabricate any vocals or instrumentals. “To be clear,” McCartney said about the track, “Nothing has been artificially or synthetically created. It’s all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings – a process which has gone on for years. We hope you love it as much as we do.” 

The song itself is somewhat of a gut-punch. Lennon’s wistful vocals and pensive lyrics carry most of the song and Harrison plainly strums an acoustic guitar which can be heard faintly in the background. McCartney contributes some harmonies and backing vocals as well as the aforementioned string arrangement which mimics Harrison’s guitar solo in the bridge of the song. 

The lyrics are indicative of a recent breakup in which Lennon empathizes with his former partner for leaving him. The refrain of the song being “Now and then / I miss you” implies that Lennon is starting to move on from the end of this relationship, and that his feelings of longing and regret are starting to wane. 

Despite the minor key and the lyrical content, the melancholy feelings the song evokes is primarily due to the fact that hearing it almost forces the listener to reflect on the Beatles’ legacy: a band that once dominated the global music scene is slowly fading into obscurity. Even more upsetting still is that half of the band has been dead for decades. This track is a good note for the Beatles to end on, so to speak, and a good way for all of us to say goodbye to one of the most iconic and influential bands of all time.