Now and Then: Thoughts...

 Nutshell/quick version:  I love it.  It speaks to me at this point in my life.  "Now and then I miss you.  Oh, now and then I want you to be there for me."  Sums up what I've been feeling for the last year or so.  It captures feelings of loss, regret and love. It is the song I needed for now.

The longer version:  I'm a Beatles fan.  I'm NOT an expert. (Despite what you may hear there are not that many TRUE experts around.  Of course what constitutes an "expert" is a matter of debate.)  As a longtime fan , I'm knowledgeable, but I'm not an expert.  There was a time when I was more knowledgeable and more devoted to the group and members, but life has leeched some of that out of my brain. To be quite frank, while I LOVE the Beatles and their music (and I always will), I'm less interested in all the obsessive facts that I once was.  (I cannot name all the tracks on McCartney III; I might be able to do so for McCartney and McCartney II.)  

I saw all this because while I might be more "in the know" than the average person on the street, I'm no Beatles academic and my thoughts are just my thoughts.  They are not more valid than anyone else.  And I would never berate anyone for NOT liking this or any other song.  (Well, I might have a hard time if someone didn't like "Here Comes the Sun."  How can you NOT like that song?)  You don't have to love or even like the Beatles if you are my friend (or to be my friend), but it certainly doesn't hurt.

I DO have a few bones to pick with some comments/criticisms that I've run across when it comes to the song.  For  example:  It doesn't sound like the Beatles.  I'm not even sure what that means.  The Beatles didn't (don't) have just one "sound."  The Beatles of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" sound nothing like the Beatles of "Strawberry Fields Forever."  Google the song and American Bandstand, and you can see and hear teens back in the day not knowing what to make of their cherished group's new song.  One of the things I love about the group is that their sounds was not static; in the short time that the group was together, they had many different sounds and experimented with all sorts of styles.  (Some of which I liked; and some of which I didn't.)  "Now and Then" are what the Beatles sound like today...and yes that is pieced together.  They are not the first group/person to do that and they certainly won't be the last.

Example #2:  It's a crappy John Lennon song.  There are several other Lennon songs that I could throw into the "crappy" category (and again this is all a matter of personal opinion).  It's an incomplete John Lennon song.  Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, with the blessings of the Lennon and Harrison families/estates have chosen to "finish" it.  To put their touches of an unfinished solo work.  It's not for me to say if they should or should not have done it.  It was their choice/decision and that's the way it should be.  (Again in my opinion...are you tired of hearing me say that yet?)

Example #3:  John/George wouldn't have like this.  No one...and I do mean no one can know that.  Both are dead and what they might have liked/felt at one point in time doesn't mean that's what they would feel now.  To say that either would have loved or hated what is happening is a moot point.  Neither one is floating down to earth with angel wings and sharing their thoughts and opinions on anything.  (Nor is anyone channeling their spirit.)  We don't know; we CAN'T know what either one of them would have thought.  We can only have our own opinions on the finished product.

And my opinion, as I stated at the beginning of this post is that I really love this song.  It is a collaborative piece that seems to be lovingly put together by two old men (and I can say that because I'M OLD...and I'm younger than both Paul and Ringo) to honor the men they called friend (and more.)  It IS the final track to a long and distinguished career.  (Even if the group was actually only together as a group for less than a decade.)  It is the Omega to the Alpha of "Love Me Do"  (Do I think that should have been remixed?  That would be another blog post.) It is what the two current survivors of what I consider to be the greatest band of all time, wanted.  And it's what they deserve.

Those are MY thoughts...take a listen (and/or a look of the video put together by Peter Jackson) and come up with your own.