political

The Beatles Albums- When I’m Sixty-Four

 

 

Lyrics:

When I’m Sixty Four”

Hey Cecil. Hope you like the song old man.

Hey Cecil. Hope you like the song old man.

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?You’ll be older too
And if you say the word
I could stay with youI 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 & DaveSend 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?
Ho!

 

Song Facts:

Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 6, 8, 20, 21 December 1966
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick

Released: 1 June 1967 (UK), 2 June 1967 (US)

Paul McCartney: vocals, piano, bass
John Lennon: backing vocals, guitar
George Harrison: backing vocals
Ringo Starr: drums, chimes
Robert Burns, Henry MacKenzie, Frank Reidy: clarinets

Available on:
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Yellow Submarine Songtrack

The first of the Sgt Pepper songs to be recorded, When I’m Sixty-Four was originally intended to be the b-side to Strawberry Fields Forever.

When I'm Sixty-Four - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

The song dates back to The Beatles’ earliest days. Paul McCartney had composed it on the family piano at 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool “when I was about 15”.

Back then I wasn’t necessarily looking to be a rock ‘n’ roller. When I wrote When I’m Sixty-Four I thought I was writing a song for Sinatra. There were records other than rock ‘n’ roll that were important to me.
Paul McCartney

McCartney used to perform a variation of the song in their Cavern Club era, on piano, when the group’s equipment used to stop working.

When I’m Sixty-Four was something Paul wrote in the Cavern days. We just stuck a few more words on it 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 that was quite a hit with us. We used to do them when the amps broke down, just sing it on the piano.
John Lennon
Anthology     The Beatles Bible
Other Tidbits:
McCartney wrote and sang the lead vocals on this song which asks if a woman will still be with him when he got older, when he was 64 years old. On May 17, 2006, Paul and his then wife, Heather Mills, separated, finalizing the divorce in 2008. McCartney turned 64 on June 18, 2006, so the answer to his musical question with regards to Mills, would be no.
This was the first song recorded for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The song was used in the Robin Williams movie The World According to Garp.
In opening scenes of the 2007 musical Across The Universe, the main character, Jude, has his ticket stamped to New York by an elderly man who says that he would have left the city sooner when he was young, but he is now 64 and still working at the shipyard. It’s a definite reference to McCartney’s song that didn’t make it into the movie, which features only Beatles songs. (thanks, Cameron Hirtle – Roseburg, OR)

 

 

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