Max's Musings

When I'm 64

When I'm Sixty-Four

In another couple of weeks, I'll turn seventy-four, but that doesn't mean that this song doesn't still speak to me.

McCartney wrote the first version of the song in 1956, when he was 14. In one sense, it's a nostalgic looking back at the music of his parents, and in particular the British star of the thirties and forties, Peter Fromsby. But the musical style is more advanced than mere nostalgia, and one can find echos of such diverse composers as Scott Joplin and Johann Strauss.

The lyrics pose a young lover's question: will you still love me when I'm old? Will their love for each other survive the ravages of time? The lyrics leave the question unanswered, so the listener can find their own message. Surely, when I turned sixty-four I found solace in the love my partner and I shared, and still share.

On the occasion of his sixty-fourth birthday, McCartney's grandchildren recorded a version of the song for him--it's still hard for me to think of McCartney having grandchildren, but we all age. Sadly for him, his first wife had died long before he reached sixty-four. His second marriage had ended acrimoniously just a month before this sixty-fourth birthday, providing an answer of sorts to the question the song raises. But the events of his sixty-fourth year weren't the end of his story, and he eventually found another life partner, a long-time friend. By all accounts, their 2011 marriage continues to thrive.

The song appeared in the Beatle's animanted movie, "Yellow Submarine," and played over the opening credits in The World According to Garp.

This is one of those songs I enjoyed in 1967 when it came out, and continue to enjoy today. The Beatles were a multi-talented group, and any number of thier songs could be on my personal soundtrack. This one, by McCartney, is as good as any other.

                                                 
Links
                                                 
Lyrics
https://www.thebeatles.com/when-im-sixty-four

                                                 
Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCTunqv1Xt4