There were only two mentions of John Lennon’s ‘Grow Old With Me’ in articles that crossed my desk this summer. As before, I will briefly discuss each.
ARTICLE 1: The “incredible” 2006 song George Martin wanted to be his last: “41 years later”. Far Out Magazine. August 21, 2026.
This article makes brief mention of ‘Grow Old With Me,’ stating:
[George Martin’s] work on Paul McCartney’s Tug of War is spectacular, and John Lennon would have certainly been proud of the arrangement that he made for his posthumous song ‘Grow Old With Me’.
ARTICLE 2: John Lennon’s deep cuts: 20 best tracks beyond the radio hits. Classic Rock 96.1. September 13, 2026.
As stated in the title, this article looks at 20 John Lennon “deep cuts.” ‘Grow Old With Me’ comes in at number 14. The article states:
Also written during Lennon's vacation in Bermuda, "Grow Old With Me" was based on a poem by Robert Browning. Ono had challenged Lennon to write the song after she used a sonnet by the poet's wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning as inspiration for "Let Me Count the Ways." Lennon created a rough demo but they were up against a holiday deadline for the release of Double Fantasy, so he left it aside. "Grow Old With Me" would go through a radical shift by the time it was finally released. Instead of looking ahead to a sweetly romantic future, this felt like a devastatingly sad message of lost devotion.
A couple of minor quibbles. Personally, I would not say that the song went through a “radical shift” by the time it was released. It did not. Rather, the circumstances around the song shifted, making one hear it differently. However, I understand what the writer is trying to express.
I also understand the sentiment of the last sentence seeing it as a “devastatingly sad message of lost devotion.” Certainly how ‘Grow Old With Me’ is heard has been influenced by Lennon’s assassination. I’m sure that continues to make the song a difficult listen for many people.
However, to me, the message of ‘Grow Old With Me’ is that love endures “whatever fate decrees.” The hopefulness of the song’s message should not be diminished by the manner in which Lennon died. To me, that would only amplify what Lennon’s assassin stole from the world.
Personally, I refuse to let that happen. In fact, that’s part of the reason I started this very site.