Liam Gallagher has shared his verdict on the long-awaited “final” song by The Beatles – revealing that he finds it “heartwarming”.
The track in question is the song that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have been working on over recent months, which stemmed from a demo tape recorded by late bandmate John Lennon.
Titled ‘Now And Then’, the project was completed with the help of AI – which helped to lift Lennon’s vocals off the demo recording – and is being described by the band as being the “final” ever song to feature all members of the Fab Four.
Both McCartney and Starr have been teasing the upcoming project for months and also shared a short film last night (November 1), which documented the history behind the track and how it came together. It is set for a worldwide release today at 2pm GMT / 10am EDT / 7am – marketed as a double A-side with their 1962 debut UK single, ‘Love Me Do’ – combining their first single with their last.
Now, ahead of its official release, former Oasis frontman and Britpop icon Liam Gallagher has taken to X/Twitter to share his thoughts on the song, and told his followers that he found it to be an emotional listen.
“Now n Then [is] absolutely incredible biblical celestial heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time,” he wrote in an initial post this morning. “Long live The Beatles.”
Now n Then absolutely incredible biblical celestial heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time long live The Beatles LG x
— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) November 2, 2023
He continued in response to a fan, who recalled how emotional the process must have been for the surviving members. “Very sad but beautiful at the same time,” Gallagher responded. “This is life I guess it’s confusingly delightful all at the same time.”
In a final post about the song, the frontman declared his love for the band as a whole, writing: “The Beatles could shit in my hand bag I’d still hide my polo mints in there”.
Very sad but beautiful at the same time this is life I guess it’s confusingly delightful all at the same time
— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) November 2, 2023
The Beatles could shit in my hand bag I’d still hide my polo mints in there
— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) November 2, 2023
The Beatles teased that the project was set to arrive imminently last week when they posted images of a cassette tape across social media and internet as well as projections across the Fab Four’s native Liverpool.
The aforementioned poignant 12-minute film, which you can view below, was also broadcast as part of a series of programmes on the BBC to celebrate the legacy of The Beatles.
In the video, McCartney explains how Lennon first wrote and recorded a demo of ‘Now And Then’ with just his piano and vocals in the late ’70s at his New York home. Following his death, wife Yoko Ono would later give the recording to McCartney, George Harrison and Starr in 1994, along with the demos for ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’ – which were both completed and released as ‘new’ Beatles in the mid-’90s as part of The Beatles ‘Anthology’ project.
The surviving members, along with producer Jeff Lynne, recorded new parts and completed a rough mix for ‘Now And Then’ but “technological limitations” meant that Lennon’s vocals and piano were not able to be separated for a clear enough mix.
“It took almost a quarter of a century for us to wait until the right moment to tackle ‘Now And Then’ again,” McCartney added, later recalling that working with Peter Jackson on the acclaimed 2021 Get Back docu-series, made him realise they may be able to salvage the demo.
The audio-only version of the song is set to arrive today at 2pm GMT, and a following music video – which will be the first-ever music video directed by Peter Jackson – will be released tomorrow (November 3).
Next week will see The Beatles’ release new expanded editions of ‘1962-1966 (The Red Album)’ and ‘1967-1970 (The Blue Album)’, mixed in stereo and Dolby, on November 10.
As for other Liam Gallagher news, the singer-songwriter is set to head on tour next year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of ‘Definitely Maybe’, and has also been teasing a joint album with John Squire, which he describes as “the best record since The Beatles’ ‘Revolver’”.
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