The Beatles song that Paul McCartney wrote to fight racism

The only “crime” of these courageous nine students was seeking the equal education they would have received if their skin color had been different. The civil rights movement did not reach its ‘official’ conclusion until the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and that same year McCartney wrote ‘Blackbird’, a song often mistaken as being solely about an animal, with many people missing its British doppelgänger. meaning of “bird” as “girl”. The song is among his most poignant and has an even deeper resonance when its true inspiration is understood.

Discussing his work years later, McCartney once explained, “I had a black woman in mind, instead of a bird. Those were the days of the civil rights movement, which we all cared passionately about, so this was actually a song of mine to a black woman who was experiencing these issues in the United States: ‘Let me encourage you to keep trying, to keep your faith , there is hope.’ As is often the case with my stuff, instead of saying “Black woman lives in Little Rock” and very specific, she became a bird, became symbolic, so that you could apply it to your specific problem.”

With only McCartney’s voice, his acoustic guitar and the background sound of birdsong, ‘Blackbird’ is a stark, minimalist whole. The quiet, almost contemplative feel of the song is enhanced by the minimalism of the arrangement, which also emphasizes the lyrical themes. The steady, flowing rhythm produced by McCartney’s finger-picked guitar approach anchors the song while allowing the melody to flow freely.

“I was sitting around with my acoustic guitar and I had heard about the civil rights issues that were going on in the ’60s in Alabama, Mississippi and Little Rock in particular,” McCartney later said. GQ. ‘I thought it would be really good if I could write something that, if it ever reached the people who are dealing with these problems, could give them a little hope. So I wrote ‘Blackbird.’”

Two members of the Little Rock Nine were Elizabeth Eckford and Thelma Mothershed Wair. Nearly six decades after cementing their place in the history books, they met Paul McCartney backstage at his 2016 Little Rock concert and stood in the crowd to watch the former Beatle dedicated “Blackbird” to them.

When McCartney introduced “Blackbird,” he passionately told the audience, “Back in the 1960s, there were a lot of civil rights issues, especially civil rights. Little Rock. We would see this on the news in England, so it is a very important place for us because for me this is where civil rights started.”

He added: “We would see what was going on and sympathize with the people who were going through those problems, and it made me want to write a song that, if it ever came back to the people who were going through those problems , might be able to help them. just a little bit, and that’s this next one.

While McCartney is not typically a political songwriter, “Blackbird” demonstrates his unwavering alignment with the right side of history. The case for equality is not inherently political; it is a basic human right. By 1968, The Beatles had become more than a band: they were a cultural phenomenon with significant influence. McCartney’s support for the civil rights movement strengthened the cause and lent weight to those who stood up for justice and equality.

Related topics