LONDON -- About 14,000 yesterdays have passed since Paul McCartney first mused about turning 64. He can stop musing. The Beatles' groundbreaking 1967 album, Sgt.
Pepper's, made room for the more mundane McCartney tune When I'm Sixty-Four, in which he wondered about ...
well, his golden years. "When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now," he crooned. The famous hair remains intact (though what shade is hard to discern), but the year is here -- and his birthday is today.
McCartney could be excused for skipping a party. It's been a traumatic year, in which he split from his wife, Heather Mills McCartney, amid lurid headlines about their relationship and her past. "People seem to be interested in him as a celebrity, but not as a musician," says Beatles historian Peter Doggett.
That's a bitter blow for a man, who, with John Lennon, formed rock's most storied songwriting partnership. Fans seem determined to answer McCartney's question -- "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?" -- in the affirmative.
EVOKES QUIET, OLD AGE The Beatles Story Exhibition in McCartney's home town of Liverpool is celebrating his birthday with cake, balloons and a weekend of events, including a "When I'm Sixty-Four" karaoke contest. A seemingly throwaway but enduring song, When I'm Sixty-Four is a musical hall-style ditty evoking images of a quiet, old age of gardening, holiday cottages and visits from the grandchildren -- "Vera, Chuck and Dave."
McCartney wrote the song when he was a teen and recorded it at 24.
Two years later, he married American photographer Linda Eastman. It was a happy union that lasted almost three decades. When Linda died of breast cancer in 1998, McCartney was devastated.
He later began a relationship with model and activist Heather Mills, 26 years his junior. The pair, who share a passion for animal rights and vegetarianism, married in 2002 and had a daughter, Beatrice.
TALES OF WOE
Papers soon began running stories about trouble in the marriage.
Mills McCartney was accused of meddling in her husband's career, persuading him to dye his hair -- he said he did it of his own accord -- and to undergo plastic surgery (he denied having any).
McCartney defended his wife and continues to stick up for her. Since the split was announced last month, tabloids have been full of lurid allegations about Mills McCartney's past, and published photos of her in naked poses.
Despite his recent difficulties, there are few signs McCartney plans to slip into quiet retirement. He toured last year, and released an album, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, hailed as his best in decades. Listeners detected a melancholy and fragility missing from much of his solo work.
"Even though I'm essentially an optimist, an enthusiast, like anyone else I have down moments in my life," McCartney said last year.
"You just can't help it. Life throws them at you.
"
Beatles-watchers say McCartney is still fired by musical ambition.
"He still has got it in him to write great songs," says Pete Nash, chairman of the British Beatles Fan Club. "He thinks he can write another classic, and I think he will.
"
WHEN I'M SIXTY-FOUR
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.
I could be handy, mending a fuse
When your lights have gone.
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride,
Doing the garden, digging the weeds,
Who could ask for more.
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.
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 Dave
Send me a postcard, drop me a line,
Stating point of view
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, wasting away
Give me your answer, fill in a form
Mine for evermore
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.
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