When I get older losing my hair,
Many years from now,
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings bottle of wine?
If I'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door,
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four?
oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oooo
You'll be older too, (ah ah ah ah ah)
And if you say the word,
I could stay with you.
I could be handy mending a fuse
When your lights have gone.
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride.
Doing the garden, digging the weeds,
Who could ask for more?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four?
Every summer we can rent a cottage
In the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear
We shall scrimp and save
Grandchildren on your knee
Vera, Chuck, and Dave
Send me a postcard, drop me a line,
Stating point of view.
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, Wasting Away.
Give me your answer, fill in a form
Mine for evermore
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four?
Whoo!
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The Beatles - When I'm 64
Composition
The song is sung by a young man to his lover, and is about his plans of growing old together with her. Although the theme is ageing, it was one of the first songs McCartney wrote, when he was 16. The Beatles used it in the early days as a song they could play when the amplifiers broke down or the electricity went off. Both George Martin and Mark Lewisohn speculated that McCartney may have thought of the song when recording began for Sgt. Pepper in December 1966 because his father turned 64 earlier that year.Lennon said of the song, "Paul wrote it in the Cavern days. We just stuck a few more words on it like 'grandchildren on your knee' and 'Vera, Chuck and Dave' ... this was just one that was quite a hit with us."In his 1980 interview for Playboy he said, "I would never even dream of writing a song like that."
Instrumentation
A clarinet trio (two B-flat soprano clarinets and a bass clarinet) is featured prominently in the song, unusual in most music genres, but particularly in the context of rock and roll. Scored by Martin, he said they were added at McCartney's request to "get around the lurking schmaltz factor" by using the clarinets "in a classical way." In the song's final verse, the clarinet is played in harmony with McCartney's vocal: an unusual method of harmonisation, especially in 1967. Supporting instruments include the piano, bass, drum set, tubular bells, and electric guitar.Recording
The song was recorded on 6 December 1966, during one of the first sessions for the as-yet-unnamed album that became Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. There were multiple overdub sessions, including the lead vocal by McCartney on 8 December and backing vocals by McCartney, Lennon, and George Harrison on 20 December. The clarinets were recorded on 21 December.The song is in the key of D-flat major. The Beatles recorded the song in C major but the master take was sped up in order to raise the key by one semitone at the insistence of McCartney. Martin remembers that McCartney suggested this change in order to make his voice sound younger. McCartney says, "I wanted to appear younger, but that was just to make it more rooty-tooty; just lift the key because it was starting to sound turgid."
Release
The song was nearly released on a single as the B-side of either "Strawberry Fields Forever" or "Penny Lane", but instead it was decided upon to put out a double-A-sided-disc of those two and include "When I'm Sixty-Four" on the Sgt Pepper album.Personnel
- Paul McCartney - lead and backing vocals, bass guitar, piano
- John Lennon - backing vocals, lead guitar
- George Harrison - backing vocals, guitar doubling the bass
- Ringo Starr - drums, chimes
- Robert Burns, Henry MacKenzie, Frank Reidy - two clarinets, bass clarinet
- Personnel per MacDonald except where noted
Cover versions
- In 1967 Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen single: When I'm Sixty Four/Goodnight Irene (reached number 43 in the UK charts).
- In 1969, John Denver recorded a version for his album Rhymes & Reasons.
- In 1976, Keith Moon recorded a version for the evanescent musical documentary All This and World War II.
- In the 1978 film, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Frankie Howard and Sandy Farina sing the song.
- It was featured in an Allstate Insurance commercial with Julian Lennon singing.
- It was used as the theme song for the movie version of John Irving's novel The World According to Garp
- During the 1980s, an instrumental version opened each episode of the BBC feedback programme Points of View.
- Cellist Julian Lloyd Webber recorded an instrumental version on the 1986 album Travels With My Cello, Volume 2.
- A version of the song appears in the 1989 movie Troop Beverly Hills.
- Children's entertainers, Sharon, Lois & Bram recorded the song on their 1995 album Let's Dance!.
- Cherie Blair sang a vocal rendition of it in the far-east whilst being broadcast on TV, as husband and Prime Minister Tony Blair smiled awkwardly and sang along.
- In 2005, the song was covered by Arjen Anthony Lucassen on the Ayreon single "Come Back To Me". On his 2012 solo album Lost in the New Real he has a song called "when I'm hundred sixty-four". A reference to the Beattles' song.
- In 2005, Jonathan Coulton made "When I'm 25 or 64," a mashup of "When I'm Sixty-Four" with "25 or 6 to 4" by Chicago.
- For the 40th anniversary version for BBC Radio 2, Russell Brand did a version with Oscar-winning composer, David Arnold.
- Les Fradkin has an instrumental version on his 2007 release Pepper Front to Back.
- The Del McCoury Band recorded a cover version in their bluegrass style for the compilation record Moneyland in 2008
- The song is included on the Cheap Trick album Sgt. Pepper Live, released in 2009.
- The Rutles' song "Back In '64" is a pastiche of this song.
- The song was covered by Alvin and the Chipmunks in "The Picture of Health," an episode of their '80s TV series.
Cultural references
- McCartney's children recorded a special version of "When I'm Sixty-Four" at Abbey Road Studios as a surprise present for McCartney's 64th birthday, and played it for him at his birthday party. They changed the lyrics to fit the occasion with the help of Giles Martin. At the time, by unfortunate coincidence, McCartney was recently separated from his second wife, Heather Mills; they later divorced.
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