Paul McCartney says Beyoncé’s ‘Blackbird’ cover ‘reinforces’ civil rights message that inspired him to write it

CNN ^ | 4/4/24 | Alli Rosenbloom, CNN

[DallasBiff]

Paul McCartney is singing his praises for Beyoncé’s vers

ion of “Blackbird.”

The music legend on Thursday wrote on his Instagram page that he’s “so happy” with the Grammy-winner’s cover of the 1968 Beatles track that is included on her newly released “Act II: Cowboy Carter” album, under the slightly revised title “Blackbiird.”

“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,” he wrote. He went on to “urge anyone who has not heard it yet to check it out.”

[Republican Wildcat]

Perhaps he didn’t either... until now...

[bigbob]

Hey Bulldog is an ode to a Mack truck

[howlinhound]

I’ll never forget the disgust I felt when the Beatles were honored decades ago for their lifetime accomplishments and Paul used the occasion to rail about the supposed hole in the ozone layer.

[basalt]

sure you did Paul...whatever you say...

[basalt]

you were famous by then Paul...why weren’t you at any of those “big marches’ back then??....i didnt see you at Kings funeral in 1968..why?? Id like to know what you called Michael Jackson right afer he slicked you out of your own music catalog. But cheer up, you formed the only rock band i ever truly HATED...that thing you called “WINGS”. God, i hated that group...the music, the way they looked...ugh

[ansel12]

1970 New York Times
Charlie Manson: One Man’s Family
Jan. 4, 1970

“A song called “Blackbird,” he believed, was really referring to black militants when it said: “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 arrive.”

https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/04/archives/charlie-manson-one-mans-family-charlie-manson-one-mans-family.html

[TChad]

Here's the Beyoncé version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhempeEjGUA

Well, it's a cover. It's not terrible. I'm not sure how much she adds.

[KevinB]

“And Your Bird Can Sing” was a Lennon song, though.

[Gay State Conservative]

Understood.I was just passing along a not-so-well-known tidbit about Beatles songs...as was pointed out about “Blackbird”.

[lee martell]

I like several of John’s song’s, but that one was a dud.
Absolutely no liftoff potential.

[wardamneagle]

Who really gives a flying f*ck ?

[rllngrk33]

Who really gives a flying f*ck ?

Not me, that's for sure. I got sick of the Beatles over 40 years ago and I never liked Wings either.

[Clutch Martin]

Paul II, always the giddy PR advocate. The real Paul McCartney of the Beatles died in 1966 and was secretly replaced by the doppleganger Billy Shears.

[Albion Wilde]

Well, it's a cover. It's not terrible. I'm not sure how much she adds.

Unlike the raging misanthropes on prior posts on this thread, many of whom are way off base with their suspicions, I believe McCarthy may truly have had this theme in mind but was reluctant to speak about at the time when Blackbird was released. We had a much more highly visible race problem in America than the UK was having at the time; maybe he thought it wasn't his place to wade into our conflict, which was getting people killed.

I loved the original, and I'm not offended by Beyoncé's version. It is good that some more crossover can happen among younger black people born long after the Beatles craze.

I'm actually surprised and pleased that she kept this cover low key instead of giving it the full-shrieking Mariah Carey/Whitney Houston treatment. True, she missed an opportunity to add a little something original; but at least she didn't murder the spirit of it like she did with Jolene.

[Albion Wilde]

Even after Beatlemania and the incarnations following that, Paul remains an attention-seeker. It’s still not enough.

Why begrudge him continuing into his old age? Is there a mandatory retirement age for self-employed musician/composers? I don't understand why you think he should just shut up and sit in a rocking chair.

[Albion Wilde]

he didn’t write this song for black rights. what a load of concocted well after the fact crapola.

And you know this how?

[Albion Wilde]

You seem to be taking this rather personally.

[x]

McCartney’s given different versions of why he wrote the song. The racial angle has come to figure more and more over the years. Was it there from the beginning? That’s certainly possible. Was it the main motivation? That’s harder to say.

I can’t say what was in Paul’s head when he wrote it, but Charles Manson thought it was a call for a race war (along with “Helter Skelter”), and Charlie was a pretty clever guy.

[basalt]

cant stand the guy...never could. From running his mouth about the Vietnam war...Now hes trying to kiss ass and be some kind of SJW...go away dude, you are a has been..

[basalt]

then he got truly patheic with those awful songs with Michael Jackson in the 80’s. Him and his “Silly Love Songs”...make you wanna projectile vomit. Lennon and Harrison were the brains behind that gig anyway..