When news first broke that The remaining Beatles could be working on new material, the internet was awash with rumours but there was one potential track that kept rising to the top – A scratchy John Lennon demo, Now and Then.

I blogged on this back in June, excited as the next fan for new material, and being born after the euphoria having only experienced new Beatles material once before with the release of the Anthology in the nineties.

Looking back at my thoughts the excitement has not faded but what has now followed is a realisation that this event would be a moment to savour, it would be the final word from a band that I, and the world, had come to love and there was something quite final about that.

I sat to listen to the track for the first time today in the Canaries, the sun beating down and spreading with it a bit of positivity amongst the poignance that was to come, an emotional first listen to an emotive final track.

As we know the track name resonates as “Think about me every now and then, old friend.” were John Lennon’s last words to his former bandmate, Paul, before his untimely passing in 1980. That John might have left this track to Paul as a love letter of sorts, adds to the significance of this release, for Paul no doubt it is the track he wants the world to hear and that he needs to hear, proof that the brotherly love they shared never really went away.

So here we are 2pm Canary Islands and it’s time, from that first, beat the hairs are standing up on my neck, it’s not a breeze, it’s a steady 29 degrees here but that familiar Beatle sound is evident immediately after the count in from George.

Johns voice is clear and it sounds like it belongs to the session that brought us Across the Universe. The pace of the song is thoughtful, wistful even, no doubt reflecting the mood and key message of the song, a call to a lost love, a reflection of  something great.

Giles Martin summed up the sentiment of the song when he said, “It sounds like John’s written it for Paul now, in a very emotional way. It’s a bittersweet song, which is very John. It’s like ‘In My Life’ in that respect.” I can’t agree more with that, it’s John looking back and making sense of it all, paying tribute perhaps to Paul and his role in making this all happen, an acknowledgement that they lived the dream together.

As a parting gift to us as fans and to themselves it’s beautiful. Significant too as Paul was self aware enough to stand back and give John his moment, I was expecting a duet but what we got instead was an old pal loyaly helping another get his message across, and that in itself shows how much John meant to him.

Ringo is as reliable as ever, not overshadowing the track and knowing as he does, exactly how much is enough. George is evident in the song, his original guitar track is there and now converted to a slide guitar solo courtesy of Paul, and of course that count down and then there are the strings. A beautiful arrangement that feels rooted in classic Beatles but if anything is a little fleeting, and that the track is perhaps a little too short is only a compliment

The first listens today, as there will be more than one, will be significant for another reason for me, it will be the the first time I will sit and hear new material with the next generation of fans, my six-year old daughter, who is trained to recognise a Beatle track from a 100 paces and knows all the words to their early work.

The song is a fitting final farewell to the Fabs, although history tells us they will not go quietly, after 60 years the euphoria is still as strong as ever and today Beatle fans old and new shared something special, a release that bridges the generation gap between those who were there and those who can only wish they were.

Now that is something.