In late 2023, Paul McCartney opened up in a rare and heartfelt interview about a dream that deeply moved him. He described seeing John Lennon—alive, smiling, speaking as if no time had passed between them. The vision was so vivid that it brought him to tears upon waking. On the podcast *McCartney: A Life in Lyrics*, Paul recalled telling John in the dream, “It’s so good to see you again.” His voice faltered as he shared this moment, a blend of memory and yearning. It was part of a broader reflection on grief, friendship, and the enduring bond that still linked the two Beatles across decades and even death.
Paul’s reflections came at a meaningful time. In 2023, he and Ringo Starr released “Now and Then,” promoted as the final Beatles song. The track was built around a rough home demo Lennon had recorded in the 1970s. Using AI technology developed by Peter Jackson’s team for the *Get Back* documentary, John’s voice was carefully isolated and restored. Paul and Ringo added bass, drums, and harmonies, creating a moment that felt like a reunion transcending time. “It wasn’t just music,” Paul said. “It felt like a message.” The emotion in his voice revealed that this was about more than completing a song—it was about closing a chapter left open for decades.
During the sessions, Paul often thought of John, imagining him in the control room, silently judging or approving their work. This spectral presence was not new to Paul. After Lennon’s murder in 1980, he sometimes wrote letters to John that he never sent—small confessions and conversations no one else would see. In his 2021 book *The Lyrics*, Paul even included one such letter: “Would you believe me if I said I still hear your voice in the harmonies?” The grief had never fully left him; it had transformed into an ongoing creative dialogue with a lost friend.
That sense of closeness lingered even in the studio with Ringo. After recording the final tracks for “Now and Then,” Paul asked Ringo, “Do you feel him here too?” Ringo, known for his humor, replied solemnly, “I do. It’s mad, isn’t it?” Paul also revealed that he keeps a cassette in his study—one of the last voice recordings John sent in 1979. “He was being silly, doing voices, making jokes… I’ve never had the heart to rewind it past that message.” The tape remains frozen in time, untouched.
Reflecting on their shared past, Paul didn’t avoid mentioning their disagreements. “We had our fallouts, sure. But I never stopped loving him. I don’t think he ever stopped loving me either.” Then he said something that silenced the room: “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” reached the top of global charts, for Paul its true triumph was deeply personal—one last chance to sing with John. “We started off as kids with guitars,” he said softly, “and somewhere in the music, I still find him.”