Paul McCartney Explains the Meaning and Inspiration of the Beatles' 'Blackbird'

Paul McCartney Explains the Meaning and Inspiration of the Beatles' "Blackbird".

The Beatles' legendary 1968 song "Blackbird" has resurfaced in the public consciousness courtesy to Beyoncé's accurate version, "BLACKBIIRD," which comes on her new album COWBOY CARTER. It's a great time to revisit songwriter Paul McCartney's explanation of the song, which he offered in an episode of iHeartPodcasts' A Life in Lyrics last fall.

[WanMoTing]

I remember hearing an interview with Paul back when the White Album was released. He said that Blackbird is about a black bird. I remember it well because he mentioned that the bird that you hear at the end of the song isn't a blackbird. He said something like, "I think it's actually a thrush". Which reminds me of another song that was popular back then by Peter, Paul & Mary, where they sang a couple lines about The Beatles and say, "And when The Beatles tell mean exactly what they say".

[steveconn]

He was recording a demo for a hip hop superstar sixty years later.