Editing When I'm Sixty-Four (section)

==Release==
The song was nearly released on a single as the [[B-side]] of either "[[Strawberry Fields Forever]]" or "[[Penny Lane]]". It was instead held over to be included as an album track.{{sfn|Martin|Pearson|1994|p=26}} Everett said the protagonist of "When I'm Sixty-Four" is sometimes associated with the Lonely Hearts Club Band concept, but that he believes the song is thematically unconnected to the rest of the album.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=113}}

According to author George Case, contemporary listeners perceived all the songs on ''Sgt. Pepper'' as drug-inspired, with 1967 marking the pinnacle of LSD's influence on pop music.{{sfn|Case|2010|pp=47–48}} Some fans viewed the lyric "digging the weeds" from "When I'm Sixty-Four" as a possible drug allusion.{{sfn|Moore|1997|p=60}} In August 1967, ''[[The Beatles Book]]'' published an article discussing whether the album was "too advanced for the average pop fan". One reader complained that all the songs except "Sgt. Pepper" and "When I'm Sixty-Four" were "over our heads", adding, "The Beatles ought to stop being so clever and give us tunes we can enjoy."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Harris|first=John|author-link=John Harris (critic)|title=Sgt. Pepper: The Day the World Turned Day-Glo!|magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]|date=March 2007|page=87}}</ref>

"When I'm Sixty-Four" was included in the Beatles' 1968 animated film ''[[Yellow Submarine (film)|Yellow Submarine]]''. It was also used over the opening credits of the 1982 film ''[[The World According to Garp (film)|The World According to Garp]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goldstein |first1=Patrick |last2=Rainey |first2=James |title=The Big Picture: How did Jay Roach get a Beatles song for 'Dinner for Schmucks'?|url=https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2010/07/how-did-jay-roach-get-a-beatles-song-for-dinner-for-schmucks.html|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=22 July 2010|access-date=18 February 2021}}</ref>

[[Giles Martin]] remixed the song for inclusion on [[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition|the album's 50th anniversary release]] in 2017. He mixed it from the original tapes rather than their [[ping-pong recording|subsequent mixdowns]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Titlow|first1=John Paul|title=How The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper' Was Retooled To Sound Fresh 50 Years Later|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/40421732/how-the-beatles-sgt-pepper-was-retooled-to-sound-fresh-50-years-later|website=[[Fast Company (magazine)|Fast Company]]|date=19 May 2017|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520021832/https://www.fastcompany.com/40421732/how-the-beatles-sgt-pepper-was-retooled-to-sound-fresh-50-years-later|archive-date=20 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Take 2 of the song was included as a bonus track on the deluxe edition.{{sfn|Howlett|2017}}{{refn|group=nb|On take 2, the song is still at its original speed and includes only McCartney on vocal, piano and bass and Starr on drums.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|pp=89–91}}}}