Recent articles about John Lennon’s ‘Grow Old With Me’ – Fall 2025

There were three mentions of John Lennon’s ‘Grow Old With Me’ in articles that crossed my desk this fall. 

I will discuss each article here. Note that, in some cases, as before, I am doing so to correct the record, as some of the articles have significant inaccuracies.

ARTICLE 1: I Bet Even The Biggest John Lennon Fans Have Never Heard These 4 Deep Cuts. American Songwriter. October 25, 2025.

First, yes, the title is clickbait – and a really long line at that! That’s 15 words. ‘Four deep cuts Lennon’s biggest fans have never heard’ would be considerably more economical (9 words). ‘Four Lennon deep cuts’ (four words) really should be the title, but then, of course, you lose the clickbait.

Moving on, the article states:

Released several years after his passing, ‘Grow Old With Me’ was actually recorded by John Lennon just weeks before his death in 1980. To many, it’s the last real ballad fans got from the legendary songwriter. And what a beautiful ballad it is. It’s a very emotional tune with a little bit of a Beatles energy to it. If anything, ‘Grow Old With Me’ is a masterclass in songwriting alone; Lennon sings a very simple melody, with lyrics that could bring anyone to tears.

Fun fact: The Beatles worked on this song during the Anthology sessions before ultimately deciding to cut it.

First, I would clarify that the song was demoed at home by Lennon weeks before his death. It was not “recorded” in the traditional sense. It was Lennon and a cassette recorder.

Lennon’s earliest demos of ‘Grow Old With Me’ were made in July, 1980, which is when his lyric sheet is dated (July 5, 1980). He recorded additional home demos shortly before his death, as the article indicates. Lennon’s final home demo was released on Milk and Honey in 1984.  

In terms of the ‘Fun Fact’ that McCartney, Harrison, and Starr worked on ‘Grow Old With Me’ during the Anthology sessions, this is false. As I have written extensively elsewhere, ‘Grow Old With Me’ was not worked on during the Anthology sessions in the ‘90s. There is no evidence that it was, and there is a lot of evidence that it was not.

ARTICLE 2: The one member of The Beatles Ringo Starr said made every track better: “He’s so melodic.” Far Out. December 12, 2025.  

First, yes, you read Far Out at your own peril! It is rife with clickbait and misinformation. Here, we’ve clicked so that you don’t have to! The article says of ‘Grow Old With Me’:

But in 2019, when the heights of his own career were in the rear view mirror, Starr embarked on a musical project that might just bring the four original members back together, for one last time. His track ‘Grow Old With Me,’ from his 2019 album What’s My Name, was built off the back of a demo Lennon first wrote in Bermuda, as part of the Double Fantasy album.

Buoyed by the idea of completing a song once started by his old mate, Starr got to work on the track but realised that it was missing a clear sense of melody. Instantly, he knew that in his little black book of contacts was a man who could help in that department and could bridge the gap between Lennon’s darkness and McCartney’s light.

Starr explained, “Paul was coming into town, and I said, ‘I’d love for you to play on this track.’ I thought he’d be just perfect because he’s so melodic, and he can only enhance the track. That’s all he does when he plays, every time.”

It also turns out that during McCartney’s involvement in the session, he collaborated with producer Jack Douglas to introduce a string session, which actually remodelled George Harrison’s melody from ‘Here Comes The Sun’, inadvertently making Starr’s song a de facto reunion number.

Oh boy. Where to start?

First, let me say that you don’t write a demo. You record one. You write a song. But this section has far bigger issues than that.

Lennon did, in fact, write ‘Grow Old With Me’ while in Bermuda in 1980 as part of a series of songs that were eventually considered for Double Fantasy. However, at that point, in early July 1980, there was no Double Fantasy album.

More importantly, there is no indication (yes, that’s bold, underlined, and italicized) that Starr included McCartney on his version of ‘Grow Old With Me’ because the song was “missing a clear sense of melody.” That’s just nonsense.

One, the song has a very clear “sense of melody.” Two, that has nothing to do with why Starr actually asked McCartney to play on the song, according to Starr himself!

Starr was specifically asked by GQ how McCartney became involved. This was his response (my emphasis).

“I did the vocals first and then I wanted real friends to come and play with me,” Starr said. “I thought the only guy who could really play bass on this for me was Paul. And Paul happened to be coming into town. I said, ‘I’ve done this song I just found and I’d love for you to play bass.’ He said, ‘Sure, okay.’ And that’s how I got Paul: I asked him and he said yes. He is the most melodic player, I love playing with him. He played beautiful and then he sang with me, that was nice too. (But) he’s been on five or six on my albums, so it’s not like the only time he’s ever played with me.”[1]

Additionally, I have never heard Starr or Douglas state that McCartney collaborated with Douglas on the string session. This is despite listening to and reading many interviews.  

Douglas did, unbeknownst to Starr at the time, include a line from ‘Here Comes the Sun’ in the strings. Here is the line about the strings in the Q107 interview with Starr, which is where the quote in this article comes from.[2]

“But Jack, who did the strings, went at the string session, and he does a George line,” Starr said. “He plays a title of one of George's song in the, with the strings.”[2]

Again, Starr makes no mention here – or elsewhere that I’ve seen – of McCartney being involved with the strings on his version of ‘Grow Old With Me.’

Finally, the article says the use of the line from ‘Here Comes the Sun’: “inadvertently making Starr’s song a de facto reunion number.”

This was done very deliberately by Douglas! It was not done “inadvertently”!

Unfortunately, these types of inaccuracies, misinformation, and poor writing are painfully common with Far Out.

ARTICLE 3: 45 Years Ago, John Lennon Returned to Music — and The Beatles Made Sure Lennon's Greatest Songs Left a Lasting Impact. Collider. December 8, 2025.

This article makes very brief mention of ‘Grow Old With Me.’ It states:

In 1984, under Ono's oversight, a posthumous album was released, titled Milk and Honey, which included tracks recorded during the Double Fantasy sessions, such as ‘Nobody Told Me,’ ‘I'm Stepping Out,’ and ‘Grow Old With Me.

I’m splitting hairs here, but I do believe it’s an important hair. Ono did far more than “oversee” the Milk and Honey album. It is a John Lennon Yoko Ono album.

Ono was a full collaborator on Milk and Honey, as with Double Fantasy. She has her own songs, which alternate with Lennon’s on the album. This continues the “heart play” that the couple began on Double Fantasy and intended to continue on Milk and Honey. Ono is also listed as producer.

Additionally, ‘Grow Old With Me’ was not recorded during the Double Fantasy sessions. It was never worked on in the studio. The final recording, the one that appears on Milk and Honey, was a home demo recorded after the Double Fantasy sessions were complete.

That’s it for the fall season! On to winter!

[1] Ringo Starr is still burning bright. GQ. October 16, 2019.

[2] Ringo Starr on ‘What’s my name?’ interview with Alan Cross. Q107 Toronto. September 26, 2019.