Questão 3171782

The Last Beatles Song

1. Almost 50 years since Lennon recorded the earliest version of “Now and Then”, fans will
2. soon be able to hear the last ever Beatles song. One final, stirring encore from the four Scousers
3. who changed music forever. Working alongside “Get Back” director Peter Jackson’s team, the final
4. version is due for worldwide release on Thursday 2 November. But as many Beatles fans will know,
5. today’s gift is yesterday’s curse. The story of its release is a complicated saga in which only Paul
6. McCartney and Ringo Starr will ever get to enjoy these last, bittersweet fruits of their labor, once
7. John Lennon and George Harrison have passed.
8. Despite Lennon having announced his intentions to quit the band in 1969, the Fab Four
9. didn’t officially split until five years later. Lennon composed “Now and Then” in 1978, two years
10. before he was shot and fatally wounded. Recording it using a boombox, he added it to a cassette
11. tape labeled “For Paul”, which his widow Yoko Ono gave to McCartney when she found it among
12. his possessions in 1994. The remaining Beatles released two of the songs on the cassette – “Free
13. as a Bird” and “Real Love” – shortly after, aided by producer Jeff Lynne. But despite their attempts
14. in 1995 to work on a version of “Now and Then”, they were forced to shelve the project due to the
15. poor quality of the recording.
16. Around two decades later, Jackson (best known for his epic fantasy trilogies “The Lord of
17. the Rings” and “The Hobbit”) and dialogue editor Emile de la Rey were working on “The Beatles:
18. Get Back docuseries”, using cutting-edge technology developed by his studio, WingNut Films, to
19. de-mix the film’s mono soundtrack. This way, it became possible to separate the individual voices
20. and unearth conversations that had previously never been heard before. McCartney wondered,
21. could the same be achieved with the shelved recording he had long considered unfinished
22. business?
23. Jackson, de la Rey, and a dedicated sound team got to work, applying the same technique
24. to separate Lennon’s vocal performance from the piano, while maintaining the integrity and clarity
25. of the original recording. “There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear,” McCartney says, of the moment
26. he heard Lennon’s clean vocals for the first time. “It’s quite emotional. And we all play on it, it’s a
27. genuine Beatles recording. In 2023, to still be working on Beatles music, and about to release a
28. new song the public haven’t heard, I think it’s an exciting thing.” He and Starr completed the song
29. last year. “It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room so it was very
30. emotional for all of us,” Starr says. “It was like John was there, you know. It’s far out.”
31. This final chapter of The Beatles’ recorded history will also be marked by two collections —
32. The Beatles’ 1962-1966 (The Red Album) and The Beatles 1967-1970 (The Blue Album). The
33. release of “Now and Then” will be preceded by a 12-minute documentary, scheduled for a global
34. premiere __ The Beatles’ YouTube channel __ 1 November __ 7.30 pm. The short film tells the
35. full story behind the making of the song, and features exclusive footage __ McCartney, Starr,
36. Harrison, Jackson, and Sean Lennon, who’s John’s son. The official music video will then be
37. debuted __ Friday 3 November. “It was incredibly touching to hear them working together after
38. all the years that dad had been gone. It’s the last song my dad, Paul, George and Ringo got to
39. make together,” Sean Lennon says. “It’s like a time capsule and all feels very meant to be.”

(Available in: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/last-beatles-song-now-and-then-john-lennon-b2436396.html – text especially adapted for this test)

Why does the author use the saying “today’s gift is yesterday’s curse” to refer to this song?