A picture by unknown artist, showing The Beatles at the age of 64
When I'm Sixty-Four is a love song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney (but credited Lennon/McCartney) 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. 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."
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. 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."
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
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?
[Chorus]
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I'm sixty four?
[Bridge]
You'll be older too
And if you say the word
I could stay with you
[Verse 2]
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?
[Chorus]
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I'm sixty four?
[Bridge]
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
[Verse 3]
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 forevermore
[Chorus]
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I'm sixty four?
[Outro]
Ho!
Credits[]
- Paul McCartney - Vocal, Backing Vocal, Bass (Rickenbacker 4001S), Piano (Hamburg Steinway Baby Grand)
- John Lennon - Backing Vocal, Guitar (Epiphone 230TD Casino)
- George Harrison - Backing Vocal
- Ringo Starr - Drums (Ludwig Super Classic Black Oyster Pearl), Tubular Bells
- Robert Burns, Henry MacKenzie - Clarinet
- Frank Reidy - Bass Clarinet