So, it’s finally here: ‘Now and Then’, the ‘new’ single from the Beatles. At the time of writing, it’s number one in the charts, too. What an astonishing achievement.

What to make of it all? Well, the tremendous commercial performance more than vindicates Paul McCartney’s decision to push for this song’s release. Decades after it was ostensibly discarded, the resurrection of ‘Now and Then’ is the ultimate modern day Beatles’ success story. It’s wonderful news.

In this age of streaming and the likes of Taylor Swift dominating the charts, it’s a phenomenal accomplishment to even have the Beatles in the conversation for relevance, let alone topping the charts for the first time in 54 years. Kudos to all involved.

The song itself is very good, if not exceptional. John’s demo, as many of you know, is decent but needed colossal work, hence George Harrison’s well publicised objections. Clearly, a huge amount of effort went in to clean it up with the crucial help of Peter Jackson’s boffins.

The end result is as good as we could expect. It’s superbly produced and packaged-Giles Martin always does a terrific job in that respect. In my view, ‘Now and Then’ is an inferior song to both its predecessors, ‘Free as a Bird’ and ‘Real Love’, but the production masks any deficiencies. Make of that what you will.

Furthermore, the video’s reception has been mixed, but I like it. There’s something incredibly poignant in seeing those images of forever young superstars juxtaposed with the older, frailer figures McCartney and Starr cut these days. Time waits for no-one, after all, not even Beatles!

It’s argued they shouldn’t be doing this at all, but who are we to grumble? There isn’t much left in the tank, not in the surviving two’s lifetimes anyway. Where this goes after that, considering the rapidly increasing advances in technology, is anyone’s guess. Posthumous protection of the catalogue will be so important in the years ahead without its fiercest gatekeepers around.

That’s for another day. For now, we simply marvel and celebrate yet another landmark for the most important group of all-time. In this troubled world, it’s lovely to have something put a timely smile on our faces. As fans, we’re not deluded. We know it’s not really a new Beatles’ song, but it’s as close as we’ll get. And that’s good enough.

@rorymcgimpsey