Speaking on the podcast McCartney: A Life in Lyrics, he recalled, “It was one of those vivid dreams where John was there. We were just sitting across from each other, and I remember saying, ‘John, it’s so good to see you again.’” As he spoke, his voice quivered with emotion.
This memory surfaced during the release of Now and Then, the final Beatles song unveiled in 2023. Built around a late-1970s vocal demo from John, the track was resurrected using cutting-edge AI technology developed by Peter Jackson for the Get Back documentary. The process isolated and restored John’s scratchy home recording, allowing Paul and Ringo to add bass, drums, and harmonies—creating a moment that felt like a true Beatles reunion.
For Paul, recording around John’s voice was emotionally overwhelming. “It was incredibly touching,” he told the BBC. “Hearing his voice, clear as day through the studio speakers—I had to stop for a moment. It wasn’t just music. It felt like a message.”
On The Tonight Show, Paul reflected on the early days of writing with John. Even in their youth, the bond ran deeper than simple collaboration. “We’d sit across from each other with our guitars and just look into each other’s eyes while we figured out the lyrics,” he said. “There was this beautiful, unspoken trust.”
One of the most poignant revelations came when Paul described a habit he developed in the aftermath of John’s death. During the 1980s, he often wrote letters to his late friend—notes he never sent, just tucked away in drawers. In his 2021 memoir The Lyrics, Paul shared a line from one such letter: “Would you believe me if I said I still hear your voice in the harmonies?” He admitted he sometimes sings along to Beatles songs at home, imagining John beside him.
While working on Now and Then, Paul often asked himself what John might think. “I kept wondering, ‘Would John approve of this part? Would he like the string arrangement?’” he shared during a SiriusXM Town Hall session.
“That’s how real his presence felt. Like he was in the control room with us—nodding, or maybe raising an eyebrow.”
One especially moving moment came during the final recording session with Ringo. After laying down the last tracks, the two sat in silence. Paul turned to him and asked, “Do you feel him here too?” Ringo replied, “I do. It’s mad, isn’t it?” Paul later called it one of the most emotional moments of his recent life.
In a quiet, personal revelation to Rolling Stone, Paul mentioned a cassette player he keeps in his study. Inside is one of the final audio messages John sent him in 1979. “He was being silly, doing voices, cracking jokes,” Paul said. “I’ve never had the heart to rewind it past that message. It’s frozen in time—just like him.”
Despite the ups and downs in their relationship, Paul reflected with honesty and warmth. “We had our fallouts, sure. But I never stopped loving him. And I don’t think he ever stopped loving me.” Then, after a pause, he added something that left the room silent: “I still write with him. Not every day, but when I’m stuck on a song, I ask him what he thinks. And sometimes, I hear the answer.”
Though Now and Then topped charts around the world, for Paul, its success wasn’t measured in numbers. “It gave us one last chance to sing with John,” he said during an intimate gathering at Abbey Road Studios.
Even after all these years, Paul’s voice trembles when he speaks about John. At the end of one appearance, he summed up their bond in the simplest, most powerful way: “We started off as kids with guitars. And somewhere in the music—I still find him.”
Thanks to page follower David Barlow for bringing this to our attention.
