"Blackbird" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album The Beatles (also called "the White Album"). The song was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. McCartney performed the song as a solo piece. McCartney has said the lyrics were inspired by hearing a blackbird call in Rishikesh, India, and by the civil rights movement in the southern part of the United States.

The song is often considered one of the best by the Beatles. It has been performed by many artists, including Agua De Annique, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Judy Collins, Neil Diamond, Billy Preston, Sia, Sarah McLachlan, Hiromi Uehara, and Beyoncé.

Origins

Paul McCartney explained in an interview about the album Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road that the guitar music in the song "Blackbird" was inspired by a piece called Bourrée in E minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. This piece is a famous lute composition, often played on the classical guitar. As teenagers, McCartney and George Harrison tried to learn Bourrée as a way to impress others. The Bourrée is known for playing melody and bass notes at the same time on the upper and lower strings. McCartney said he took part of the Bourrée and changed its harmony to match the key of G, which is the relative major key of E minor. He used this musical idea for the beginning of "Blackbird" and continued it throughout the song. The first three notes of the song, which then led into the opening guitar melody, were inspired by Bach's music.

On the first night that his future wife, Linda Eastman, stayed at his home, McCartney played "Blackbird" for fans who were waiting outside his house.

Meaning and interpretation

Paul McCartney wrote the song "Blackbird" in 1968. He has shared different reasons for creating the song over time. He said he was inspired by hearing a blackbird sing one morning while the Beatles were learning about a type of meditation in Rishikesh, India. He also wrote the song in Scotland as a response to the Little Rock Nine incident and the civil rights movement in the United States. He wanted to write a song about people who had faced discrimination.

In May 2002, after a concert in Dallas, Texas, McCartney talked about the song with a radio host named Chris Douridas. He said the song was influenced by news about civil rights struggles in the 1960s.

In 2018, McCartney explained that the word "blackbird" in the song should be understood as "black girl" in the context of the civil rights movement in the southern United States during the 1960s.

McCartney’s stepmother, Angie McCartney, said he wrote the song for her grandmother, Edith Stopforth, who was staying at a home while recovering from an illness. She remembered that McCartney visited Edith and sat with her as she listened to a bird singing at night.

Although McCartney has described the song’s meaning clearly, others have offered different interpretations. Some see it as a song about nature, a message supporting the Black Power movement, or a love song. In the 1990s, a writer named Ian MacDonald suggested that "Blackbird" might represent the struggle for civil rights, but he also noted the song’s romantic qualities.

During a rehearsal in 1968, McCartney told the musician Donovan that he wrote the song after reading about riots in the newspaper. He said the word "bird" in the song was meant to symbolize a black woman.

McCartney’s song "Blackbird" was one of several songs from the Beatles’ White Album that Charles Manson, a criminal, believed were messages about a future war that would lead to his group ruling the United States. Manson thought the song encouraged Black Americans to fight against white people. He told his followers to commit violent acts in Los Angeles in 1969 to start such a conflict.

Composition and recording

The song was recorded on June 11, 1968, at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios, Studio 2, in London. George Martin was the producer, and Geoff Emerick was the audio engineer. It is a solo performance, with McCartney playing a Martin D-28 acoustic guitar. The track includes recordings of a male common blackbird singing in the background.

In addition to the blackbird’s song, only three sounds were recorded: McCartney’s voice, his guitar, and a tapping that keeps time on the left channel. Geoff Emerick, the engineer, explained that this tapping was once mistakenly thought to be a metronome. He said it is actually the sound of Paul McCartney tapping his foot. McCartney also confirmed this in The Beatles Anthology documentary (1995). Emerick recalled that McCartney’s foot taps were recorded separately. Footage in the bonus material on disc two of the 2009 remaster of the album shows McCartney tapping both feet alternately while performing the song.

The mono version of the song includes the bird sounds a few seconds earlier than the stereo recording. It was originally released on a mono version of The Beatles and has since been included worldwide in The Beatles in Mono CD box set. The song appears on the 2006 remix album Love with "Yesterday," listed as "Blackbird/Yesterday." "Blackbird" introduces "Yesterday."

Live performances

In 1973, McCartney performed the song along with the Beatles song "Michelle" in an acoustic mix during the television special James Paul McCartney. Since his 1975–76 world tour with the band Wings, McCartney has played "Blackbird" at every concert tour. A solo version of the song, followed by "Yesterday," is on Wings' 1976 live album Wings over America.

McCartney included "Blackbird" in his set at the Party at the Palace concert in June 2002. In 2009, he performed the song at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Before singing, he said the song was written in response to the Civil Rights Movement and added, "It's wonderful to see so many civil rights issues have been resolved."

A live version of the song is in the multi-CD collection Good Evening New York City, released in 2009 and recorded at Citi Field in America.

Legacy

The song is considered one of the best in the Beatles' collection of songs and is often viewed as one of McCartney's greatest musical works. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of its release, Jacob Stolworthy of The Independent ranked "Blackbird" as number five in his list of the top 30 tracks from the White Album. He noted that the song's "beautiful calmness" contrasted with the racial tensions that may have inspired it. He concluded that for many people, the song represents the peak of McCartney's career and continues to be a highlight in his live performances. Although the 1985 Mr. Mister song "Broken Wings" includes the same lyric, "Take these broken wings and learn to fly," Richard Page, a member of Mr. Mister, explained that this was an unintentional reference. He stated that the lyric was inspired by a book titled Broken Wings written by Kahlil Gibran in 1912.

Personnel

According to Ian MacDonald:

• Paul McCartney – main vocals and background vocals, acoustic guitar, tape loops, rhythmic foot tapping

Cover versions

Crosby, Stills & Nash recorded a version of the song in February 1969 during sessions for their first album. This version was later included in a 1991 box set. Live performances by the group from their 1974 tour and a 2019 collection of songs from the Woodstock Festival also feature the song.

In 2008, Scottish folk musician Julie Fowlis sang "Blackbird" in Scottish Gaelic for a recording created by Mojo magazine to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The White Album. She later included the song in her live performances.

In 2010, Chris Colfer performed the song in the musical series Glee. This version was included on the soundtrack album Glee: The Music Presents the Warblers. It reached number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100, which was the song's highest chart position until Beyoncé's 2024 version.

In 2015, Dave Grohl performed "Blackbird" during the "In Memoriam" segment of the 88th Academy Awards. In 2019, Hiromi Uehara played an improvised jazz piano version of the song on her album Spectrum.

Beyoncé recorded a cover of "Blackbird" for her eighth studio album, Cowboy Carter, titled "Blackbiird." The version features country singers Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, and Tiera Kennedy. The cover received positive reviews for its production and its significance in Beyoncé's work. It reached number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song's highest chart position at that time.

The version uses the original Beatles instrumental. McCartney praised Beyoncé's cover, saying, "I think she does a magnificent version of it and it reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place. I think Beyoncé has done a fab version and would urge anyone who has not heard it yet to check it out. You are going to love it!"

Along with a cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene," "Blackbird" was praised by music critics. The cover was appreciated for its production and for being the second track on Cowboy Carter, following "American Requiem," which highlights the album's focus on rediscovering African American country music. Clare Thorp of BBC News noted that the choice to include four emerging African American female artists was intentional, making the lyrics "You were only waiting for this moment to arise" a meaningful moment for the album's purpose. Dave Simpson of The Guardian wrote that Beyoncé's version "has a deep resonance: a spiritual interpretation" and "appreciating the decision to reintroduce the song to the younger generation."

At the 2024 People's Choice Country Awards, the cover was nominated for The Cover Song of the Year. On December 25, 2024, Beyoncé, Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, and Tiera Kennedy performed "Blackbiird" live as part of Beyoncé's 2024 NFL Halftime Show. The song was also included in the Cowboy Carter Tour setlist.