The other day we had another family over for dinner and we talked about the Beatles' last song that had released a few months ago,which was the first time I heard of it.
John Lennon had written ,composed and sung this song accompanying himself on the piano, taping it on a cassette; presumably to work on it further,just a few days before he was killed.
Yoko had realised the importance of this tape and tried to get it produced but it wasn't possible to extract a voice track out of the primitive recording, so the project died.
Only that,it was apparently only playing possum.Peter Jackson (the Lord of the Rings Director) was making his documentary on the Beatles(basically the five years or so before they broke up)when he got access to this tape.
Jackson realised that he and his team,while making a previous documentary on WW I from old footage,tracks and other media;had developed the exact same skills needed to extract and master Lennons voice from behind the piano and other clutter on the precious cassette tape.
Meanwhile AI had matured enough to produce "deep fakes" of very convincing videos from archived footage.
So he had all the skills and tech ,to say nothing of his own expertise and experience as a director;to produce a memorable docu-video of the Beatles' swan song.
A very nice storyline and no doubt the video would be worth looking up some day.I'm not such a big Beatles fan ,though I was the right age in the 1970s.I found (find) their (deliberate ) tendency to sing off-key and blub over girls offputting.And I never went looking for Lucy or found such phenomena worthy goals in my phase of exploring beyond 'The Doors of Perception".
The very next day,what should be waiting there,first thing in the morning, was a link to that song, from my son who's away in college.
I smiled at the coincidence and remembered to put it on while I had dinner. I wasn't expecting anything memorable.
But from the first chords that's exactly what the song is.Its an achingly lovely piece of music,rich,moving,relatable and heart-warming with the signature Beatles zany wit.I listened to it again ,as images of the many moments the universe has held,warmed,loved and supported me effortlessly emerged ;and a sense of gratitude tied it all together.
I was in two minds whether to watch the video which could just spoil it all.But I did it anyway.The video was masterly(of course,see the pedigree)the AI used exactly and unobstrusively as a tool to evoke the emotions and the Beatles and their influence on us all.
https://youtu.be/Opxhh9Oh3rg?feature=shared
I reminded my wife how one (Beatles) song had become "our" song in the first year of our marriage and laughed over that.We hadn't remembered that in decades.
So,on the bus to work ,I closed this variety of religious experience thankful to the god of Master-craftsmen and the god of mischief, play&Deception.
