# Sped-up vocals in Beatles' "When I'm Sixty-Four" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 21, 2004, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sped-up-vocals-in-beatles-when-im-sixty-four/265282 "2004-09-21T06:23:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sped-up-vocals-in-beatles-when-im-sixty-four/265282/1 "2004-09-21T06:23:06Z")
(Sped-up, or recorded slowly. Whatever.) What’s the reason for Paul McCartney’s sped-up vocals in “When I’m Sixty-Four?” I can think of a couple possible options: a) Paul (or John, or George Martin, or George or Ringo or Neil or Mal or Yoko or whoever was coming up with the wacky ideas that day) wanted the vocals to sound like the quavering, wizened voice of an old man. b) Since Paul wrote the song when he was fifteen or sixteen (and it was what the Beatles played in the early days as a joke when their amps stopped working), it was a way of making him sound like a teenager again. c) It’s an imitation of the high, nasally vocals on old records whose style “When I’m Sixty-Four” emulates. d) High-speed vocals on _Sgt. Pepper_ signify escape in its many forms, including drug-induced highs, simple distraction, and childhood memories. Cf. “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and the vocal part after “…I went into a dream” in “A Day in the Life.” While “When I’m Sixty-Four” is ostensibly about Paul’s future, it’s on a deeper level about Paul’s father, who was a bandleader and apparently was 64 years old at the time of the _Sgt. Pepper_ release, and therefore also about Paul’s memories of a childhood and adolescence surrounded by music. e) Some or all of the above. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sped-up-vocals-in-beatles-when-im-sixty-four/265282/2 "2004-09-21T07:58:53Z")
I’ll go with option c. I think they were trying to imitate the vocal distortion you hear on many old 78 RPM recordings. IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sped-up-vocals-in-beatles-when-im-sixty-four/265282/3 "2004-09-21T12:35:32Z")
f) They were all stoned out of their minds, and one of they said “you know what would be cool? \ If we sped it up and shit!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sped-up-vocals-in-beatles-when-im-sixty-four/265282/4 "2004-09-21T13:11:00Z")
According to the bible, aka The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions by Mark Lewisohn (actually a fascinating read for musicians and Beatles fans alike - surprisingly worth it), page 91 at the bottom: > [@](#): > > The remixes of “When I’m Sixty-Four” done on 29 December and marked best for the UK and US did not satisfy Paul. He suggested that they scrap all previous mixes and start again, speeding up the new mix to raise it by as much as a semitone, a big difference. Geoff Emerick (engineer on the session) thinks Paul **may have wanted his vocals to take on a more youthful air, as if he were, say a 16-year-old looking forward to being 64.** (bolding mine). Certainly when the stereo remix was made, as far away as 17 April 1967, Richard Lush - the tape operator on that session - remembers George Martin being incredulous at how much the mono mix had been speeded up. “He kept saying ‘Surely it can’t have been _that_ fast’?”. It was, and anybody with the luxury of today’s vari-speed record turntables or tape machines can hear the song at the right speed if they so wish. This, therefore, strongly suggested it is **Already in Use** ’s option B. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sped-up-vocals-in-beatles-when-im-sixty-four/265282/5 "2004-09-21T13:41:18Z")
The sped-up vocals on **I’m Only Sleeping,** on the other hand, **were** intended to suggest an old man’s voice. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sped-up-vocals-in-beatles-when-im-sixty-four/265282/6 "2004-09-21T16:35:44Z")
Hmm, Lewisohn usually knows what he’s talking about. Still, I find the Beatles’ repeated use of sped-up vocals to be an interesting exercise in conceptual continuity. Then again, they screwed around in the studio so much that it’s not like it’s that unusual. Although I can’t think of any slowed-down vocals on Beatles songs offhand. “Rain” maybe? I know the rest of the instruments were slowed down, but I’m not sure about the vocals. Yes, I am obsessed. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Roboto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Mr.Roboto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Roboto)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sped-up-vocals-in-beatles-when-im-sixty-four/265282/7 "2004-09-22T16:00:04Z")
I’ve purchased Vinyl Albums where some tracks seem to be recorded faster than the song in memory. ``` case-in-point: The Seeds....."Pushin Too Hard" This generation vinyl recording is "Too Fast" from the original Crescendo Album. If the track time is 2:36, and the song plays at 2:26, oops, you've been ripped-off! ``` ---
**Author:** ![High\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8797f3/32.png) [@High\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/High_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sped-up-vocals-in-beatles-when-im-sixty-four/265282/8 "2004-09-22T22:17:31Z")
> [@Anonymous Coward](#): > > f) They were all stoned out of their minds, and one of they said “you know what would be cool? \ If we sped it up and shit!” > > 😃 DING DING DING DING DING DING! WE HAVE A WINNER! Show him what he’s won Bob. “Anonymous Coward: You have won 24 carot cubic zerconium diamonds in the sky. That’s not all, Anonymous. You’ve also won…A NEW SUBMARINE.” ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sped-up-vocals-in-beatles-when-im-sixty-four/265282/9 "2004-09-23T00:20:18Z")
> [@Already in Use](#): > > Hmm, Lewisohn usually knows what he’s talking about. Still, I find the Beatles’ repeated use of sped-up vocals to be an interesting exercise in conceptual continuity. Then again, they screwed around in the studio so much that it’s not like it’s that unusual. Although I can’t think of any slowed-down vocals on Beatles songs offhand. “Rain” maybe? I know the rest of the instruments were slowed down, but I’m not sure about the vocals. If you mean a vocal that was recorded to a speeded-up rhythm track, thus playing back slower in the final mix, then no, I don’t think they ever did it. A few Beatles masters are slowed down from their original tempo. Phil Spector’s mix of “Across the Universe” comes to mind, and “Ticket to Ride” and “Strawberry Fields” were both slowed down to end up about a quarter-tone below their native keys.