Special note to Paul, in case you're reading: Happy birthday! (Also, call me!)
Day 4 of the Week of Paul, which is also the birthday itself, takes us back to when Paul was a teenager, writing "When I'm Sixty-Four" in his dad's house in Liverpool. That famous love of old-timey music that we discussed the other day is evident again here, and in fact Paul has said that at the time he wrote this, he wasn't even thinking in terms of being a rock star-- he was thinking in terms of being a songwriter, really, and figured this would be a nice one for a musical or something. And don't you love the image of Paul at sixteen, coming up with this strange little tune in his bedroom or something, struggling to realize his secondary dream of being a Tin Pan Alley songsmith? If you hear this song as an early attempt, you realize how promising it really is. This here is a kid with potential. But, since Paul was also doing the rock band thing, he did actually bring it to the Beatles, and they were known to play it at the Cavern before they hit the big time. As John noted later, they could play it on the piano when the amps broke. Paul happened to re-stumble upon "When I'm Sixty-Four" years later when getting ready for the Sgt. Pepper sessions, brought it in, and, with the help of George Martin and the keen orchestration that makes Sgt. Pepper so awesome generally, recorded it for the album.
So Paul takes some flack for his "granny songs," and in the case of shallower stuff like "Your Mother Should Know" or "Honey Pie," that's perhaps justified. But what "When I'm Sixty-Four" has that the other two don't (as much) is wit-- in the lyrics, of course, but also in (especially in) the music. Listen to the countermelody the clarinet has against Paul's vocal on the last verse, and tell me that's not witty as hell. To say nothing of that little clarinet flourish after the "go for a ride" line! I'm not sure if it was George Martin's or Paul's idea to bring in the two clarinets plus bass clarinet that add so much to the arrangement, but it was genius, and you can't even imagine the song without those cheery little clarinet lines. Of course, that's partly because the arrangement is so spare elsewhere. According to the official records of such things, John is playing a guitar, though I don't hear it at all until the last verse. Paul's on bass, and Ringo is playing that bell and drumming (superbly, by the way-- dig the tippa-tappa mini-fills at the verses' half-points), and there's a piano part, also played by Paul, that jumps in occasionally. But that's it except for the clarinets, which is part of why they stand out so much. (George, along with John, sings backup, but doesn't play at all.)
As for the lyrics, they present the pleasures of growing older so lovingly, and with just the right amount of detail, that I find it's kind of winsome. I mean, this is a song that I'll bet a lot of coupled people who are Beatles fans find themselves singing in a happy-lazy way to their s.o.'s on Saturday mornings. (Not that I would know anything about this personally. Ahem.) I want to say, though-- isn't it interesting that neither the lyrics nor the music really seem out of place on Sgt. Pepper at all? I mean, Sgt. Pepper was supposed to be a freaking edgy album, right? What did people think of it when it was new? (I urge anyone who was there to chime in.) It might be that I'm just so accustomed to hearing "When I'm Sixty-Four" on Sgt. Pepper, which is obviously now an icon of an album, that it only SOUNDS like it makes sense. But truly, all the clever musical tricks that make the whole album so distinctive are here on this song as well, and following on the heels of something as different as "Within You Without You" it just sounds like the Beatles are the most ingenious band that ever lived (which, duh). And more importantly, it sounds as though the Beatles are reclaiming the music-- and the provincial attitudes-- of their parents and recasting it into their own psychedelic template. Does that make sense? I don't know.
Point is, "When I'm Sixty-Four" is better than, say, John Lennon ever gave it credit for. And today on his birthday, I gotta give it up to Paul for not compromising his taste in the name of what's cool. Because in this song, at least, his instincts really were right on.
"When I'm Sixty-Four, released in the U.K. side B track 2 of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, June 1, 1967; in the U.S. June 2, 1967.
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You're right there again, Megan. The album starts off rocking and poppy and kind of experimental, respectively, and then Getting Better is rock and pop, and then a departure starts. Fixing a Hole vascillates between rock and whatever it gets from that harpsichord opening and the feel of the first two lines of the 'wrong-or-right' section, which is very different from the other two lines, and the guitar lines, and the way he sings 'will go.' She's Leaving Home is orchestral, Mr. Kite takes another experimental left turn, and then George's Indian song. By the time you've reached this song, you've abandoned expectations -- at which point they go back to their bread and butter to finish out the record.
ReplyDeleteMeg: Coupon ...
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Oooh, thanks! And for the record, that's as cogent a description of Sgt. Pepper as anything I've ever read. Good call on all.
ReplyDelete"Musical meringue" is the turn of phrase that made my day. You're hilarious.
ReplyDelete("Ahem"? That's not quite how I spell or pronounce my name.)
ReplyDeleteSure, I'll be older, too--- but I plan to age in a distinguished-but-sexy way. You know, like Benjamin Franklin, but way hotter.
Well, Meg, i was around those days when the album came out, so this is me chiming in. I'm trying to remember what my (and my friends') thoughts were. First off, the Beatles could do no wrong in our circle. As far as the mixed bag of songs, the sixties were so full of different styles of music all playing on the same radio stations that I don't know that we thought it was unusual. And back then you didn't have several to choose from, with each favoring a certain type music. In Atlanta, for teenagers, we had one station - WQXI. In the South, soul music was BIG, along with R&B, Blues, and rock n' roll all fighting for air play. It was not unusual to hear Ottis Redding's Sitting on The Dock of the Bay followed by Over Under Sideways Down by the Yardbirds. Music was eclectic, if that works. And it was mostly Hits oriented with a shuffling in of secondary songs. So, a radio listener would be exposed to all kinds of music and either come to appreciate the diversity or suffer through it. (And while driving a car THAT was all we had until eight track tapes came along) So, the Beatles turning out a song that didn't "rock" didn't strike me/us as weird. Not that it was the preferred song off of an album. It was kinda like them saying, Hell we can do it all. There was also another thing going on at the time (and it is being echoed again today with digital downloading): Back in the 60's, there were people who listened to the radio and only bought singles because they loved hits. AND there were people who bought albums because they loved bands. Two very different groups appreciating music. So, some people would not even know about many of the songs on Sgt Pepper because they didn't get air play. Those folks would have a "narrow" view of the band. I'm rambling here. That's what happens when you live through the sixties ...
ReplyDeleteOne vote here for more rambling.
ReplyDeleteWell, Troy, you asked for it, so here goes. This is moving off subject a bit, but hey, that's what rambling is, right? Back in the 60's, big groups would tour the States, but there were not really that many opportunities to see the bands from England, the British Invasion groups. Soul acts like James Brown performed in Atlanta all the time. But, what we did have was local groups who were basically cover bands, and they would play the Top Forty stuff. The idea was to do the covers as close to the original artist as possible. No attempt to "make the song their own" with different interpretations. The bands that could really pull off the covers were the most successful. I remember two in particular: Four More, and Rain. They would play Friday and Saturday nights at skating rinks. All skating rinks had stages, and around 9 or 10pm the skating would stop, the band would take the stage and play till midnight. People would dance or just hang out. It was great!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Frank, for reminiscing-- that's interesting about the Beatles just being able to do it, so why not do it.... But it utterly makes sense.
ReplyDeleteLive music in the '60s always sounds like it was so pleasantly localized, so engaged with its audience, or something. I love hearing about the radio options in various parts of the country, too.... it all sounds much richer than what's out there today. But then again, I'm too busy listening to the Beatles for the 10,000th time to even know too much about what the scene is like these days, so maybe I can't even make that comparison.
"When I'm 64" is the perfect song for this birthday (you could have been obvious and chosen "Birthday" from 1968. But THIS song was released in Nineteen SIXTY-SEVEN . .so it's totally appropriate !
ReplyDeleteAlso - Craig Ferguson started his show last night wishing Paul a ahppy birthday - and then sang a bit of "When I'm 64" - but not long enough to have to pay for it ! :-)
ReplyDeleteRock on, Yer Blogger-- I didn't even think of the 67 connection!
ReplyDelete(By the way, I heart your blog.)