Okay, so the brand-new ‘last’ Beatles song just dropped early this morning:

Did I sleep terrible last night in anticipation of this release at 7am PT this morning? Yes, yes I did.

I’ve only heard it twice as of this post — both times on KEXP’s morning show with John Richards, of course — so I’m still trying to process it all. I’d been familiar with the grainy bootleg version for a few years now, and I had a feeling this was the song the Threetles had been working on and abandoned back in 1995.

It was one thing to be blown away by two all-new songs back then, especially with the dreamlike “Free As a Bird”, but it’s still pretty wild to be able to witness a third new song from the band that inspired and influenced me for decades, a band that had broken up a year before I was born.

So, thoughts so far:
— I am now dearly hoping they play around with “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love” to make John’s voice clearer on those as well, especially the latter. I love both tracks, but the vocals on that one are extremely warbly and muddy.
— Dare I say, the ending of this track sounds a bit…Radiohead-ish? I mean, it’s a very Beatle-ish ending with a melody that’s a variation of the theme but still very different. Still, those darker chords give the song, and the band, an unexpected freshness. It’s like ‘hey, we might be a 60s band, but we still mean something in the 20s.’
— Did I immediately buy the single off Amazon? Of course I did! I’ll have to give it a few further listens, as well as its b-side — a brand new stereo mix of their first official single, “Love Me Do”.
–Did I also pre-order the new 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 CDs that are dropping next week? Of course I did! And yes, I will definitely do a post on those releases here when I have a moment.

…and on that note, I’m back to the writing mines. See you sometime soon!