A 14-year-old Paul McCartney penned the beginnings of what would become “When I’m Sixty Four.” Though he was a ways away from hitting that milestone when he wrote it, it feels markedly tender now that McCartney is in his 80s.
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In the lyrics, a young McCartney muses about growing old. Uncover what prompted McCartney’s look into the future, below.
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Behind the Meaning
McCartney is known for his playful style of writing. He wrote many tongue-in-cheek tracks for the Beatles, but “When I’m Sixty Four” has to be one of the most timeless. According to McCartney, the number 64 was an “arbitrary one.”
“I probably should have called it ‘When I’m 65,’ which is the retirement age in England,” McCartney once explained. “And the rhyme would have been easy, ‘something, something alive when I’m 65.’ But it felt too predictable. It sounded better to say 64.”
Though the age might have been arbitrary, it still helps to tell the definable, if humorous story. In the lyrics, McCartney asks his partner if their love will stand the test of time. If many years from now, he doesn’t have all the attractive attributes he does right now, will she still love him?
Elsewhere he lays out what he hopes to be their future. 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, he sings.
Unfortunately, McCartney doesn’t get his answer by the end of the song. Though we could look to McCartney’s real love life to discern an answer for ourselves, we think it best to let the question in this song hang in the air.
McCartney created his own milestone with this track. Fans have been waiting for the day he would truly be 64 for years. Now with Macca in his 80s, the song has turned from a hopeful look into the future to a nostalgic look back.
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 you
Photo by Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images
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