Eloise Smith, 23, posted a reaction video on TikTok immediately after listening to “Now and Then,” the Beatles song released Thursday.
“I can’t believe it’s 2023 and I have the joy of hearing a new Beatles song for the first time,” he wrote in the video’s caption.
In an interview, Ms. Smith, a civil servant who lives in Manchester, England, said she was a third-generation fan: Her grandmother introduced her father to the Beatles and her father introduced them to her.
“I was one year old when George Harrison died,” he said.
Ms. Smith, who has a tattoo on her forearm of the cover of the band’s “Abbey Road” album, said she was “excited” weeks ago when she heard about “Now and Then.” The ability to react immediately and connect with other fans of the band through social media has made the experience of listening to a new Beatles song richer, she added.
“Instead of just being in your friends kind of bubble, you can talk to people all over the world about it,” he said.
The Beatles arrived late to digital media. The group did not sell downloads of its songs in Apple’s iTunes store until 2010, seven years after opening its doors. When streaming became the primary medium for music fans, the Beatles held out once again, waiting until 2015 before the band’s work was available on Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms.
The decision to go digital allowed new generations of listeners to more easily discover a group that had earned the adoration of crowds of screaming fans in the 1960s. Now, Generation Z listeners regularly post Beatles-related videos on social networks. social media platforms.
“This song is my Roman Empire,” wrote one listener in a Tik Tok post, referring to a meme that claims men think about the Roman Empire at least once a day. In the comments, several people responded that the video made them cry. “Sobbing,” they wrote. Others said they were excited to hear the song with their grandparents.
Skylar Moody, 24, said she spent most of Thursday trying to avoid spoilers for “Occasionally.” A superfan whose social media presence is almost exclusively dedicated to all things Beatles, she wanted to record her reaction to her first listen, which meant waiting until she was done with the job. She kept her phone on silent all day, so as not to accidentally hear a snippet of “Occasionally” while she was browsing online.
Mrs. Moody, who lives in New Jersey and, appropriately, visits @lucyinthesky.lar on TikTok, said she became a Beatles fan after watching “A Hard Day’s Night,” the group’s 1964 film, during a high school music history class. She described the online Beatles fandom as “very diverse and also unified.”
“No matter what age or demographic you’re in,” he said, “we can all come together in agreement that we love the Beatles.”
He continued: “This is where we find our people now. It is very easy to access social media and find a community of fans with people to talk to and who understand you.”
Late Thursday afternoon, she made a reaction video of herself listening to “Now and Then” in her car. “I’m listening to the Beatles! In 2023!” she exclaimed, clutching her face during a two-minute clip in which she describes what she’s hearing.
The Beatles’ company, Apple Corps, has announced “Now and Then” as the group’s “last song.” It is the third since John Lennon’s death in 1980, following “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love” from the mid-1990s. All three were based on home demo recordings made by Mr. Lennon.
“My heart feels very heavy right now, but in a good way,” Moody said in another TikTok video, adding, “We are experiencing their last song together and this will go down in history. “I am very happy to be able to share it all together and to be able to share our thoughts in this way online with people who understand.”
Ms. Smith, the England official, said she would try not to burn out “from time to time” in the coming days. “I’ve been listening to it from time to time to savor it,” she said, “because it’s such an important thing.”
