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| | # "[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (song)#Reprise|Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)]]" | | # "[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (song)#Reprise|Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)]]" |
| | # "[[A Day in the Life]]" | | # "[[A Day in the Life]]" |
| − | | Misc = {{Extra musicsample |filename=beatles_sixty-four.ogg |title=When I'm Sixty-Four |format=[[Ogg]] |Type=song}}
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| − | {{Extra tracklisting
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| − | | Album = [[Yellow Submarine Songtrack]]
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| − | | Type = studio
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| − | | prev_track = "[[All You Need Is Love]]"
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| − | | prev_no = 12
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| − | | this_track = "When I'm Sixty-Four"
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| − | | track_no = 13
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| − | | next_track = "[[Nowhere Man (song)|Nowhere Man]]"
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| − | | next_no = 14}}
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| | }} | | }} |
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| − | "'''When I'm Sixty-Four'''" is a [[love song]] by [[The Beatles]], written by [[Paul McCartney]]<ref name="miles319">{{cite book |author=[[Barry Miles]] |title=Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now |year=1997 |pages=319 |publisher=Henry Holt & Company |location=New York |isbn=0-8050-5249-6}}</ref><ref name="sheff183">{{cite book |author=David Sheff |title=All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono |pages=183 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |year=2000 |isbn=0-312-25464-4}}</ref> (but [[Lennon/McCartney|co-credited]] to [[John Lennon]]) and released in 1967 on their album ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]''.
| + | {{cquote|'When I'm Sixty Four' was something Paul wrote in the Cavern days. We just stuck in a few more words, like 'grandchildren on your knee,' and 'Vera Chuck and Dave.' It was just one of those ones that he'd had, that we've all got, really — half a song. And this was just one of those that was quite a hit with us. We used to do it when the amps broke down, just sing it on the piano.|quotewidth=500px|John Lennon|1967}} |
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| − | According to Ian MacDonald, the song was "aimed chiefly at parents, and as a result got a cool reception from the [Beatles'] own generation."<ref name="macdonald176">{{cite book |author=[[Ian MacDonald]] |title=Revolution in the Head: the Beatles' Records and the Sixties |year=1994 |pages=176 |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |location=New York |isbn=0-8050-2780-7}}</ref>
| + | {{cquote|I think I helped Paul with some of the words.|quotewidth=500px|John Lennon|1972}} |
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| − | ==Composition== | + | {{cquote|Paul's, completely. I would never dream of writing a song like that. There's some things I never think about, and that's one of them.|quotewidth=500px|John Lennon|1980}} |
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| − | 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 about aging, it was one of the first songs McCartney wrote, when he was sixteen.<ref name="miles319"/> The Beatles used it in the early days as a song they could play when the amplifiers broke down or the electricity went off.<ref name="lewisohn89">{{cite book |author=[[Mark Lewisohn]] |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=89 |publisher=Harmony Books |location=New York |isbn=0-517-57066-1 }}</ref><ref name="martin-help34">{{cite book |author=[[George Martin]] with William Pearson |title=With a Little Help from My Friends: The Making of Sgt. Pepper |year=1994 |pages=34 |publisher=Little, Brown |location=Boston |isbn=0-316-54783-2}}</ref> 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.<ref name="lewisohn89"/><ref name="martin-help34"/>
| + | {{cquote|I wrote the tune when I was about 15, I think, on the piano at home, before I moved from Liverpool. It was kind of a cabaret tune. Then, years later, I put words to it.|quotewidth=500px|Paul McCartney|1984}} |
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| − | Lennon said of the song, "Paul wrote it in the [[Cavern Club|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."<ref name="anthology247">{{cite book |author=The Beatles |title=The Beatles Anthology |year=2000 |pages=247 |publisher=Chronicle Books |location=San Francisco |isbn=0-8118-2684-8}}</ref> In his 1980 interview for ''[[Playboy]]'' he said, "I would never even dream of writing a song like that."<ref name="sheff183"/>
| + | {{cquote|I thought it was a good little tune but it was too vaudvillian, so I had to get some cod lines to take the sting out of it, and put the tongue very firmly in cheek.|quotewidth=500px|Paul McCartney|1994}} |
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| − | ==Instrumentation==
| + | {{cquote|I had that song when I was a kid. I had that when I was about 16, but I never did anytghing with it until I was about 24 and then we put the words to it. |quotewidth=500px|Paul McCartney}} |
| − | A clarinet trio (two [[Clarinet|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."<ref name="martin-help34"/> 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 guitar|bass]], [[tubular bell]]s and [[electric guitar]].
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| − | ==Recording==
| + | {{cquote|I am sure Paul wrote 'When I'm Sixty-Four' with his father in mind. Paul's father had played in a dance band in the post-war years. It so happened that Jim McCartney was 64 years old in July 1966. Jim loved music-hall stuff, corny popular songsa, the kind of thing that Paul normally wouldn't tolerate. Nevertheless, 'When I'm Sixty-Four' was not a send-up but a kind of nostalgic, if ever-so-slightly satircal tribute to his dad. On one level, I think it was an echo of the songs Jim played when Paul was young. It's almost a Des O'Connor number. It is also not really much of a Beatles song, in that the other Beatles didn't have much to do on it. Paul got someway round the lurking schmaltz factor by suggesting we use clarinets on the recording, 'in a classical way.' So the main accompaniment is the two clarinets and a bass clarinet, which I scored for him. This classical treatment gave added bit to the song, a formality that pushed it firmly towards satire.|quotewidth=500px|George Martin|1994}} |
| − | 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]].<ref name="lewisohn89-91">{{cite book |author=[[Mark Lewisohn]] |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=89–91}}</ref>
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| − | 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.<ref name="martin-help35">{{cite book |author=[[George Martin]] |title=With a Little Help from My Friends |year=1994 |pages=35}}</ref> 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."<ref name="miles319"/>
| + | <div class="clear"> </div> |
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| − | ==Release== | + | ==Interesting Web Resources== |
| | + | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_I%27m_Sixty-Four Wikipedia entry] |
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| − | 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 Singles Chart|UK]], breaking a string of #1 singles going back to 1963.<ref name="martin-help">{{cite book |author=George Martin |title=With a Little Help from My Friends |year=1994 |pages=26}}</ref> If "When I'm Sixty-Four" had been issued as a B-side, it would not have appeared on ''Sgt. Pepper''.
| + | '''Have a listen:''' |
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| − | ==Credits==
| + | {{#ev:youtube|hH7v6wordKs}} |
| − | *John Lennon – lead guitar, background vocal
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| − | *Paul McCartney – lead vocal, bass guitar, piano
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| − | *George Harrison – background vocal
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| − | *Ringo Starr – drums and tubular bells.
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| − | *Robert Burns, Henry MacKenzie, and Frank Reidy – two clarinets, bass clarinet<ref name="lewisohn90">{{cite book |author=[[Mark Lewisohn]] |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |pages=90}}</ref>
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| − | ==Cover versions==
| + | [[Category:Songs]][[Category:Paul McCartney]][[Category:Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (album)]] |
| − | *In 1969, [[John Denver]] recorded a version for his album ''[[Rhymes and Reasons (John Denver album)|Rhymes and Reasons]]''.
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| − | *In 1976, [[Keith Moon]] recorded a version for the evanescent musical documentary ''[[All This and World War II]]''.
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| − | *In the 1978 film, ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (film)|Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'', [[Frankie Howard]] and [[Sandy Farina]] sing the song.
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| − | *It was featured in an [[Allstate]] Insurance commercial with [[Julian Lennon]] singing.
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| − | *It was used as the theme song for the movie version of [[John Irving|John Irving's]] novel ''[[The World According to Garp]]''
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| − | *During the 1980s, an instrumental version opened each episode of the [[BBC]] feedback programme ''[[Points of View]]''.
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| − | *For the 40th anniversary version for [[BBC Radio 2]], [[Russell Brand]] did a version with Oscar-winning composer, [[David Arnold]].
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| − | *[[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.
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| − | *In 2004, classical guitarist and composer Branimir Krstic<ref>[http://www.branimir.net www.branimir.net]</ref> covered the song on the first full classical rendition of Sgt. Pepper.
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| − | *In 2005, the song was covered by [[Arjen Anthony Lucassen]] on the [[Ayreon]] single [[Come Back to Me (Ayreon song)|Come Back To Me]].
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| − | *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 (band)|Chicago]].
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| − | *A version of the song appears in the movie ''[[Troop Beverly Hills]]''.
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| − | *[[Les Fradkin]] has an instrumental version on his 2007 release ''[[Pepper Front To Back]]''
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| − | *[[The Rutles]]' song "Back In '64" is a [[pastiche]] of this song.
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| − | ==Cultural references==
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| − | {{Trivia|date=April 2009}}
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| − | *The song accompanies the "Sea of Time" sequence in the film ''[[Yellow Submarine (film)|Yellow Submarine]]''.
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| − | *The song is played during the opening credits of the film "[[The World According to Garp]]".
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| − | *The song was parodied by [[The Rutles]] as "Back in '64" on the album ''Archaeology''.
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| − | *''[[When I'm 64 (TV series)|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 (actor)|Alun Armstrong]] as two older men who surprise themselves by falling in love with each other.
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| − | *A special website tribute involving indie French pop bands was launched as McCartney turned 64 on [[June 18]], [[2006]]. Called [http://www.whenim64.info When I'm 64], it features many different renditions of this famous song.
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| − | *[[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]].<ref name="dailymail">{{cite web |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=391319&in_page_id=1773 |title=Sir Paul's children rework his classic to serenade him at 64 |publisher=[[Daily Mail]] |first=Nicole |last=Lampert |date=2006-06-19 |accessdate=2007-03-09}}</ref><ref name="SundayMirro">{{cite web |url=http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/archive/archive/tm_method=full%26objectid=17249181%26siteid=62484-name_page.html |title=EXCLUSIVE: ABBEY BIRTHDAY MACCA |date=2006-06-18 ||first=Ben |last=Todd |accessdate=2007-03-09 |publisher=[[Sunday Mirror]]}}</ref>
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| − | *The song was often humorously referenced in 2006, when [[Paul McCartney|McCartney]] divorced [[Heather Mills]], ironically, at the age of 64.
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| − | *The song is referenced in the 2007 comedy ''[[Walk Hard (film)|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."
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| − | *In the film ''[[Across The Universe (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."
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| − | *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.
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| − | *The song was parodied on the British puppet show [[Spitting Image]] as it was called "When You'r 65" showing a elderly couple being made fun at by younger people, then the old man loses his wife as she fades away.
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| − | ==Notes==
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| − | {{reflist}}
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| − | ==External links==
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| − | *[http://www.stevesbeatles.com/songs/when_im_sixty_four.asp Song lyrics]
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| − | *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/64.shtml BBC series page]
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| − | {{The Beatles}}
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| − | [[Category:The Beatles songs]]
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| − | [[Category:Songs produced by George Martin]]
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| − | [[Category:1967 songs]]
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| − | [[Category:Pinky and Perky songs]]
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| − | [[Category:Old age]]
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| − | [[Category:Songs written by Lennon/McCartney]]
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| − | [[Category:John Denver songs]]
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