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| “When I'm Sixty-Four” | |||||
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| Song by The Beatles | |||||
| Album | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | ||||
| Released | 1 June 1967 | ||||
| Recorded | 6 December - 21 December 1966: Abbey Road Studios |
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| Genre | Pop Vaudeville |
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| Length | 2:37 | ||||
| Label | Parlophone, Capitol, EMI | ||||
| Writer | Lennon-McCartney | ||||
| Producer | George Martin | ||||
| Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band track listing | |||||
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Side one
Side two
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| Music sample | |||||
| Yellow Submarine Songtrack track listing | |||||
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"When I'm Sixty-Four" is a love song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney[1][2] (but co-credited to John Lennon) and released in 1967 on their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It is sung by a young man to his lover, and is about his plans of growing old together with her. Although the theme is about aging, it was one of the first songs McCartney wrote, when he was sixteen.[1] The Beatles used it in the early days as a song they could play when the amplifiers broke down or the electricity went off.[3][4] 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.[3][4]
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."[5] In his 1980 interview for Playboy he said, "I would never even dream of writing a song like that."[2]
The song was nearly released on a single as the B-side with either "Strawberry Fields Forever" or "Penny Lane" as the A-side. Instead, Martin decided on a double-A-sided-disc. The single did not make #1 in the UK, breaking a string of #1 singles going back to 1963.[6] If "When I'm Sixty-Four" had been issued as a B-side, it would not have appeared on Sgt. Pepper.
According to Ian MacDonald, the song was "aimed chiefly at parents, and as a result got a cool reception from the [Beatles'] own generation."[7]
Contents |
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."[4] In the song's final verse, the clarinet is played in harmony with McCartney's vocal: an unusual method of harmonization, especially in 1967. Supporting instruments include the honky-tonk piano, bass, 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 next 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.[8]
The song is in the key of D♭ 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.[9] 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."[1]
Credits
- John Lennon – lead guitar, background vocal
- Paul McCartney – lead vocal, bass guitar, piano
- George Harrison – background vocal
- Ringo Starr – drums and tubular bells.
- Robert Burns, Henry MacKenzie, and Frank Reidy – two clarinets, bass clarinet[10]
Cover versions
- John Denver recorded a version on his 1969 album Rhymes and 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.
- For the 40th anniversary version for BBC Radio 2, Russell Brand did a version with Oscar-winning composer, David Arnold.
- 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 2004 classical guitarist and composer Branimir Krstic [1] covered the song on the first full classical rendition of Sgt. Pepper.
- In 2005, the song was covered by Arjen Anthony Lucassen on the Ayreon single Come Back To Me.
- 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.
- A version of the song appears in the movie Troop Beverly Hills
- Les Fradkin has an instrumental version on his 2007 release- "Pepper Front To Back".
Cultural references
- The song accompanies the "Sea of Time" sequence in the film Yellow Submarine.
- The song is played during the opening credits of the film "The World According to Garp".
- The song was parodied by The Rutles as "Back in '64" on the album Archaeology.
- When I'm 64 (using the numerals instead of spelling out the numbers) is also the name of a BBC television series starring Paul Freeman and Alun Armstrong as two older men who surprise themselves by falling in love with each other.
- A special website tribute involving indie French pop bands was launched as McCartney turned 64 on June 18, 2006. Called When I'm 64, it features many different renditions of this famous song.
- 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.[11][12]
- The song was often humorously referenced in 2006, when McCartney divorced Heather Mills, ironically, at the age of 64.
- The song is referenced in the 2007 comedy Walk Hard where in a humorous scene involving a fight between The Beatles, John Lennon (played by actor Paul Rudd) says to Paul McCartney (played by actor Jack Black), "I wonder if ya songs will still be shit when I'm 64."
- In the film "Across The Universe" The shipyard employee that gives Jude his paycheck says he thought he'd be doing something different when he was sixty-four, a reference to the song "When I'm Sixty-Four."
- The song is referenced in the 2003 film "Shanghai Knights", when Owen Wilson's character talks about his future. He mentions descendants named Vera, Chuck, and Dave.
Notes
- ^ a b c Barry Miles (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 319. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6.
- ^ a b David Sheff (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press, 183. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.
- ^ a b Mark Lewisohn (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books, 89. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
- ^ a b c George Martin with William Pearson (1994). With a Little Help from My Friends: The Making of Sgt. Pepper. Boston: Little, Brown, 34. ISBN 0-316-54783-2.
- ^ The Beatles (2000). The Beatles Anthology. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 247. ISBN 0-8118-2684-8.
- ^ George Martin (1994). With a Little Help from My Friends, 26.
- ^ Ian MacDonald (1994). Revolution in the Head: the Beatles' Records and the Sixties. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 176. ISBN 0-8050-2780-7.
- ^ Mark Lewisohn (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions, 89-91.
- ^ George Martin (1994). With a Little Help from My Friends, 35.
- ^ Mark Lewisohn (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions, 90.
- ^ Lampert, Nicole (2006-06-19). "Sir Paul's children rework his classic to serenade him at 64". Daily Mail. Retrieved on 2007-03-09.
- ^ Todd, Ben (2006-06-18). "EXCLUSIVE: ABBEY BIRTHDAY MACCA". Sunday Mirror. Retrieved on 2007-03-09.
