Now And Then | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: Am | G6 :||
One, two.
Verse 1
| Am (Asus4) | G6 |
I know it’s true.
| Am (Asus4) | G6 |
It’s all because of you.
| Am (Asus4) | Fmaj7 |
And if I make it through.
| E | E | Am | Am |
It’s all because of you.
Verse 2
| Am (Asus4) | G6 |
And now and then.
| Am (Asus4) | G6 |
If we must start again.
| Am (Asus4) | Fmaj7 |
Well, we will know for sure.
| E | E | Am | Am |
That I will love you.
Chorus 1
| G | G |
Now and then.
| Bm | Bm |
I miss you.
| Em | Em |
Oh, now and then.
| Am | D |
I want you to be there for me.
| Am | D |
Always to return to me.
Verse 3
| Am (Asus4) | G6 |
I know it’s true.
| Am (Asus4) | G6 |
It’s all because of you.
| Am (Asus4) | Fmaj7 |
And if you go away.
| E | E | Am | Am |
I know you never could stay away.
Chorus 2
| G | G |
Now and then.
| Bm | Bm |
I miss you.
| Em | Em |
Oh, now and then.
| Am | D |
I want you to be there for me.
Solo
||: Dm | Dm | C | C :||
| Em | Em | Am | Am |
| D | D | Dm | G |
Verse 4
| Am (Asus4) | G6 |
I know it’s true.
| Am (Asus4) | G6 |
It’s all because of you.
| Am (Asus4) | Fmaj7 |
And if I make it through.
| E | E | Am | Am |
It’s all because of you.
Outro
| G | E | Am | G | E |
| Am |6/4 G F E |
| Am |
Now And Then’s chords and progressions
The last Beatles song, Now And Then, is mainly in the key of Am although it’s not that simple.
The verse moves VI – V on repeat, then VI – IV – IIIx – VI. That IIIx chord (E) is more common than Em when the key is Am, rather than C. Posh folk call it the mediant major.
| Am (Asus4) | G6 | Am (Asus4) | G6 |
| Am (Asus4) | Fmaj7 | E | E | Am | Am |
The Asus4 in brackets is a chord that appears in the middle of the bar and then goes back to the Am chord again. You’ll need TAB to get this right.
The chorus is in the neighboring key of G, only one sharp is in this key, rather than none. The chords now move I – III – VI – II – V, like this:
| G | G | Bm | Bm |
| Em | Em | Am | D | Am | D |
For chorus 2, we scrap the last two bars and go to a slide solo.
The solo bridges the two keys previously used, C and G. We start in C as we play II – I on repeat in C.
However, the feeling here is that of a Vm at first as we’re coming from the key of G (compare this to Angels solo which has a similar feeling).
||: Dm | Dm | C | C :||
| Em | Em | Am | Am |
| D | D | Dm | G |
After the repeat, we go to Em – Am which could be III – VI in the key of C, or VI – II in the key of G.
As the next chord is a D, we get the feeling it must previously have been in G. And just as that feeling settles they hit us with a II – V in the key of C, again making that initial Dm feel like a Vm in the key of G.
It’s the way The Beatles blend the two key signatures Am/C and G that we get the tension felt throughout Now And Then’s chords.
I’ve built an acoustic guitar arrangement that you can use if you want to play this song on your own and sing, it is mainly inspired by what the piano plays.
Here’s a link to the complete lesson (members only): Now And Then chord analysis and TAB.
Become a member today and get unlimited access to all step-by-step guitar courses, TAB for the songbook, the Self-Eliminating Practice Routine, and the eBook Spytunes Method.
Now And Then – The Last Beatles Song!
Recordings of Now And Then started during the same time as The Beatles got together in 1994 to finish off Free As A Bird and Real Love using old recordings of John Lennon.
Now And Then was found as a demo tape that Yoko provided. At the time, they couldn’t use it, the technology to restore and separate the vocal from the piano wasn’t developed yet.
As Peter Jackson was making Get Back, a documentary about The Beatles, he got very deep into restoring old recordings.
What Peter had learned during this time was used to recover John’s voice. Using this technology (AI), they managed to get to a point where Paul and Ringo could add to it and finish the song.
You can see the full story of this process in the 2nd video of the playlist at the top of this page.
My favorite quote here is when they discuss the computers that started to appear in 1994.
George says: “This computer stuff… it opens up another Kettle of fish”.
Ringo replies: “But will it open up another year of work?”
Turns out it took much longer than that – It took The Beatles a quarter of a century to finish their last tune!
Now And Then chords | Related pages
Beginner Acoustic
This collection of beginner acoustic tunes will teach you how to arrange for one acoustic guitar, as well as how to create a supporting part.
Playing songs will help you with switching between open-position chords and give you the context you need to understand how music works theoretically.
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The Beatles
The Beatles are the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed band in the history of popular music.
As the leaders of the so-called British Invasion, their catchy Rock & Roll infused pop songs took America by storm, creating hysteria everywhere they went.