This very popular delicate track features a single guitar line with only Paul McCartney crooning out The Beatles lyrics is over the top.
Every so often, a few chirps from a bird can be heard as a nod to the song’s opening refrain blackbird singing in the dead of night. This image above is of two of the Little Rock Nine--pioneers of the civil rights movement and John Lennon's inspiration for Blackbird.
However, this song has nothing to do with ornithology and is instead a commentary on the ongoing Civil Rights Movement of the ’60s. Let’s dive into the meaning of the song’s lyrics below. WATCH https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fPVOO5sugMY
McCartney cites the moment Little Rock, Arkansas, schools decided to desegregate as a driving force behind the song. Sitting in his kitchen in Scotland, McCartney picked up his acoustic guitar and began to flesh out the simple tune.
“I was sitting around with my acoustic guitar and I’d heard about the civil rights troubles that were happening in the ’60s in Alabama, Mississippi, Little Rock in particular,” he told GQ. “I just thought it would be really good if I could write something that if it ever reached any of the people going through those problems, it might give them a little bit of hope. So, I wrote ‘Blackbird.'”
Only three sounds were tracked for the final recording: McCartney’s voice, his Martin D-28, and tapping that keeps time on the left channel. The origin of the tapping is a bit of a mystery, although in The Beatles Anthology video McCartney appears to be making the sound with his foot. The bird sounds were later overdubbed from the collection at Abbey Road Studios.
The lyrics as a whole are very symbolic. Playing on a hidden meaning of the word “Blackbird,” McCartney references The Little Rock Nine – the brave Black students who stood in the face of racism by attending a formerly all-white school (more on this later). LISTEN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Man4Xw8Xypo
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free
This happens to be my first-grader Olivia's favorite song by The Beatles.
McCartney uses a repeated opening line for each verse, beginning with Blackbird singing in the dead of night. He then switches out the lyric, praising the students for enduring despite their broken wings and sunken eyes.
He finishes off the verses with another refrain, acknowledging the struggle for equality they have been fighting their entire lives, waiting for their moment of freedom to arrive.