Editing When I'm Sixty-Four (section)

==Composition==
[[Paul McCartney]] wrote the melody to "When I'm Sixty-Four" when he was about 14,{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=92}} probably at [[20 Forthlin Road]] in April or May 1956.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=811n16}} In 1987, McCartney recalled, "Rock and roll was about to happen that year, it was about to break, [so] I was still a little bit [[cabaret]] minded",{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=811n16}} and in 1974, "I wrote a lot of stuff thinking I was going to end up in the cabaret, not realizing that rock and roll was particularly going to happen. When I was fourteen there wasn't much of a clue that it was going to happen."{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=811n16}} 

The song is sung by a young man to his lover, and is about his plans of their growing old together. Although the theme is [[ageing]]<!-- this is the correct UK spelling; don't change it to the US spelling "aging" -->, it was one of the first songs McCartney wrote.{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=319}} Beatles historian [[Mark Lewisohn]] suggests it was McCartney's second composition, after "[[McCartney (album)#suicide|Call It Suicide]]" but before "[[I Lost My Little Girl]]".{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=818n49}} It was in the Beatles' setlist in their early days as a song to perform when their amplifiers broke down or the electricity went off.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=89}}{{sfn|Martin|Pearson|1994|p=34}} Lewisohn and [[George Martin]] speculated that McCartney may have thought of the song when recording began for ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' in December 1966 because his father, [[Personal relationships of Paul McCartney#Jim and Mary McCartney|Jim McCartney]], had turned 64 earlier that year.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=89}}{{sfn|Martin|Pearson|1994|p=34}}

In 1967, [[John Lennon]] said of the song, "Paul wrote it in the [[The Beatles at the Cavern Club|Cavern days]]. We just stuck a few more words on it like 'grandchildren on your knee' and 'Vera, Chuck and Dave'{{nbsp}}… this was just one that was quite a hit with us."{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=247}} In 1972, Lennon said, "I think I helped Paul with some of the words, like 'Vera, Chuck and Dave' and 'Doing the garden, digging the weeds'".<ref>{{Cite news |date=1972 |title=LENNON-McCARTNEY Songalog: Who Wrote What |work=[[Hit Parader]] |url=https://ia800609.us.archive.org/21/items/JohnLennonInterview1972HitParaderMagazine/1972JohnLennonHitParaderInterview.pdf |access-date=8 November 2022}}</ref> Lennon's contribution of the children's names were likely made in the studio.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=112}} McCartney's manuscript for the song sold for $55,700 ({{Inflation|US|55700|1994|fmt=eq|r=-3|cursign=[[United States dollar|US$]]}}) at [[Sotheby's]], [[London]] in September 1994.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=334n73}}

The song uses [[Secondary chord#Secondary dominant|applied dominants]] more than the rest of ''Sgt. Pepper'', in the refrain ('''B'''–2–3), in a [[tonicization]] of VI in the bridge ('''B''') and, as [[Musicology|musicologist]] [[Walter Everett (musicologist)|Walter Everett]] puts it, in "the wide array of jaunty [[Chromaticism|chromatic]] [[Nonchord tone#Neighbor tone|neighbors]] and [[Nonchord tone#Passing tone|passing tones]] comparable to those in McCartney's dad's '[[Walking in the Park with Eloise]]'".{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=113}}

===Instrumentation===
A clarinet trio (two [[Clarinet|B{{music|flat}} clarinets]] and a [[bass clarinet]]) features prominently in the song. Martin said they were added at McCartney's request to "get around the lurking schmaltz factor" by using them "in a classical way".{{sfn|Martin|Pearson|1994|p=34}} One clarinet provides an [[alto]] [[Counter-melody|countermelody]] in the third verse. The bass clarinet doubles McCartney's bass for the [[Transition (music)|retransitional]] [[wikt:arpeggiation|arpeggiation]] of V<sup>7</sup> at '''C'''–1–2.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=113}} During the chorus, the clarinets add texture by playing [[legato]] [[quarter note|quarter notes]] while the bass clarinet plays [[staccato]] quarter notes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reeks |first1=John |title=Rock 'n' Roll Clarinets?! The Beatles' Use of Clarinets on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band |journal=The Clarinet |date=June 2018 |volume=45 |issue=3 |url=https://clarinet.org/rock-n-roll-clarinets-the-beatles-use-of-clarinets-on-sgt-peppers-lonely-hearts-club-band/ |access-date=18 February 2021}}</ref> In the song's final verse, the clarinet is played in [[descant]] with McCartney's vocal.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} Supporting instruments include [[Tack piano|piano]], [[Bass guitar|bass]], [[Drum kit|drum set]], [[tubular bells]] and [[electric guitar]].{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=220}}