Now and Then

A long time ago, as the nights grew longer and the days grew colder, I welcomed a friend from the West.  Even at an early age at the time, I somehow knew that this visit was something to savor.  The cold and darkness that moved in, would only be a welcoming conduit for a wonderful tradition. The crisp airwaves that reached across the northern sky were not the same ones that brought me here, they were still fantastic in their modern sweetness. What could possibly go wrong?

The one with so little compassion, and so icy cool traveled a great distance to take away an entire universe, and unintentionally create an alternate one. American Pie had nothing on this twist of fate.  The world as it was known ended at 10:50 p.m. on December 8, 1980.  The great influence expands like an exploding universe, smothered like a colossal mudslide, putting out the fire and embers that are born in the future.

Then, in the silence, among the 43 years of tears shed, even in the past, we find that things can be sent forward to arrive at a time that they never could before.  29 years ago, the day after Free as a Bird came into the world, it was unbelievable that there could be new music playing, from something that was done 22 years in the past.  Then Real Love came along, and I suffered my biggest loss as that rose into view.

That was it.  Nothing more. I could only tell Liam, who was born 23 years after this immeasurable tragedy took place about how it felt to be here when a new composition happened.  I was five when the last Beatles song was played on the radio when they were a group still.  I was 30 when Anthology was released, with the 2 songs rescued from John's rough cassette recordings of them in 1977. Even this kind of experience, my son could never know. It is something that makes me sad.

Liam was struggling with a technical problem yesterday, but toughing through it as he does so well. I suddenly realized that just 2 hours earlier, Now and Then, the final Beatles song, miraculously rescued from John's 1977 Dakota boombox recording, using AI to separate his voice from the piano he was playing, was released to the world.  Other than the very poor-quality copy of the home tape, I had not yet heard of this new Beatles project.  Yes, it is a true Beatles song, as great love and care were taken to keep it that.

In 1994's Anthology sessions, Paul, George, and Ringo, with the help of Jeff Lynne, tried very hard to save Now and Then to be released as the 3rd song from the Anthology sessions. Unfortunately, 1990's technology could not succeed.  But, thanks to this effort, the studio tracks that George Harrison played guitar on for the song in 1994 were preserved for the future when Peter Jackson's AI called HAL was able to isolate John's voice, allowing all of the pieces to now be present to finish the song.

I went outside to Liam and told him how this all came to be. It was a series of perfect atoms, that were now able to be assembled lovingly, respectfully. I told him that hearing a Beatles song for the first time after it was released is a special thing now that normally could never happen,, yet today it could.  I told him that you will always remember where you were when you did.  I told him that we needed to go sit in my truck, stop everything else in our world, and experience it together, for the first time ever.  It was something that would never have been possible and can never happen again.  The final Beatles song there will ever be, he and I could experience our first listen together.  It would freeze those moments in time as long as we are here.  It would be something he could carry with him all his days. Something so indescribable in our relationship, and changed his and my day.  This beautiful thing happened because of all of these little pieces, coming together out of tragedy and love. 

The light that went out at 11:50 that night still shines bright inside of me, and now more so in my son.  We can never know how far, the things we do on a quiet afternoon in 1977 will reach in other people's lives and how far into the future. I am thankful for all of the love and effort that put this moment together for Liam and me.  I could have never imagined it.