Hold on to your mop tops, ladies and gents: The Beatles are making a comeback – sort of. The Fab Four are coming together for one final song, completed with the assistance of artificial intelligence. A concept that could send chills down the spines of fans everywhere: a beloved band who disbanded 53 years ago, now with only two living members, resurrected by the power of technology. Say hello to Chat, Paul, Bard, and Ringo, the rebooted Four and a half.
But before we all start imagining a dystopian world of Beatle Bots and Lucy In The SkyNet with Rhinestones, let’s take a deep breath and delve into what’s actually happening.
The song in question is “Now and Then”, originally recorded on cassette as a rough piano demo by John Lennon in 1978, two years before his tragic death. The recording quality is, to put it mildly, low-fi, with background hiss, Lennon plodding away on a somber piano, and singing a sweetly melancholy melody in a soft falsetto. The lyrics are unfinished, so vague mumbles fill in the gaps. The tone is one of loving apology, with immortal couplets like “If you have to go / Nda-da-doo doo doo”and “I wanna de ne dunna dee / I du duh return to me.”
Enter Paul McCartney, who was later given the cassette by Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, along with John’s handwritten note that simply stated “For Paul”. This adds a poignant layer to a song that could be interpreted as addressing the relationship between Lennon and McCartney.
So, what we have here is not some Frankenstein-like creation of AI-generated Beatles music, but rather a technological assist in bringing a long-lost song to life. It’s a love letter from Lennon to McCartney, and now, with the help of AI, the world will get to hear the final collaboration of these legendary musicians.
And isn’t that what we all want, really? A chance to reconnect with those we’ve lost, even if it’s through the magic of technology? The Beatles may never truly be back, but at least we’ll always have the music – and this one last gift from the AI gods.
So, let’s not fret about the impending robot takeover, and instead focus on the silver lining: The Beatles, together again for one final song. And who knows, maybe we’ll find ourselves singing “nda-da-doo doo doo”along with them.
[…]
