Blackbird

Album: The White Album (1968)
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Songfacts®:

  • Paul McCartney wrote this song about the civil rights struggle for African Americans after reading about race riots in the US. He penned it in his kitchen in Scotland not long after an incident in Little Rock when the federal courts forced the racial desegregation of the Arkansas capital's school system.

    "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 recorded: Paul's voice, his Martin D-28 acoustic guitar, and a tapping that keeps time on the left channel.

    This tapping sound is a bit of a mystery, although in the Beatles Anthology video McCartney appears to be making the sound with his foot. Some sources have claimed it is a metronome.

    The birds were dubbed in later using sound effects from the collection at Abbey Road, where the song was recorded.
  • McCartney did not have ornithological intentions when he wrote this song. In England, "bird" is a term meaning "girl," so the song is a message to a black girl, telling her it's her time to fly:

    All your life
    You were only waiting for this moment to arise
  • The guitar accompaniment for this song was inspired by Bach's Bourrée in E minor for lute. This is often played on classical guitar, an instrument Paul McCartney and George Harrison had tried to learn when they were kids. McCartney told Mojo magazine October 2008: "We had the first four bars (of the Bourrée in E minor) and that was as far as my imagination went. I think George had it down for a few more bars and then he crapped out. So I made up the next few bars, and (sings his four-note variation Bach's theme) it became the basis of 'Blackbird.'"
  • This is one of the songs novice guitar players often try to learn, as it's one of the most famous finger-style tunes. The singer Donovan claims some credit for teaching The Beatles a technique similar to the one McCartney used here when they were on a retreat to India in early 1968.
  • The word "bird" had been floating around Paul McCartney's musical lexicon since 1958 when the Everly Brothers had a hit with "Bird Dog," a song about a guy trying to steal another dude's girl. McCartney was a huge fan of the Everly Brothers.
  • There have been hundreds of covers of this song. Perhaps the most enduring is Brad Mehldau's instrumental jazz rendition, released in 1997. The only charting version of the song was by the Cast of Glee, which took it to #37 in 2011.

    Other notable covers include renditions by José Feliciano, Billy Preston, Sarah Vaughan, Jaco Pastorius, Bobby McFerrin and Dwight Twilley. The Doves did a cover in 2002 for the soundtrack to the TV series Roswell.

    The singer-guitarist Kenny Rankin recorded it for his 1974 album Silver Morning. McCartney was a big fan of Rankin's rendition: when the Songwriters Hall of Fame induced Lennon and McCartney in 1987, McCartney skipped the ceremony but had Rankin accept the award on his behalf and perform "Blackbird."
  • The "broken wings" concept had been fluttering about for a while, notably in Kahlil Gibran's 1912 story The Broken Wings. (The Beatles song "Julia" uses lines from one of Gibran's poems, but McCartney has never cited him as an influence on "Blackbird.") In 1985, the American group Mr. Mister released their #1 hit "Broken Wings," which was directly inspired by The Broken Wings and like "Blackbird," used the line, "Take these broken wings and learn to fly."
  • Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl told Q magazine that he feels this is the greatest Paul McCartney song. He commented: "It's such a beautiful piece of music, perfect in composition and performance, and in its lyrics and in the range of his voice. Just learning that song made me a better guitar player and gave me a better appreciation of songwriting. To me it's just musical bliss."
  • At the Academy Awards ceremony in 2016, Dave Grohl performed this song to accompany the "in memoriam" segment, recognizing those in the movie industry who died the previous year.
  • Blackbird Singing is the title of a book of poems McCartney wrote.
  • This is one of about 12 Beatles songs that McCartney often played in his live shows throughout his career. It lends itself to live performance because it is rather compact (it runs just 2:18) and can be played with just a guitar.
  • Crosby, Stills & Nash recorded "Blackbird" in 1968 during sessions for their first album, but their version wasn't released until 1991 when it appeared on their CSN boxed set. "A song by our favorite group," Graham Nash wrote in the liner notes. "We were staying on Moscow Road in London in 1968, hoping to get onto the Apple record label. The Beatles were recording The White Album, and when we heard McCartney do 'Blackbird' we flipped and learned it right away. It was perfect for our three-part harmony."

Comments: 109

  • Martin from Leighton Buzzard Bedfordshire.Blackbird, just such a great song over 50 yrs old. Whenever I hear it I get a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.
    People that know me will understand.
  • Marc from TexasActually the song was inspired by a story told to him by his step grandmother Eddy. That is why the first three takes of the song are "for Eddy". There was a blackbird that sang at night outside their house. Sadly when his father died there was a falling out between him and his step mother and step sister.
  • Christine East from On With Life Owl Creek: Ankeny, IaSusan Sarandon’s ALS movie, “Blackbird” sounds like it will seem like expression of Beatles Paul McCartney’s descriptions of his lyrics & musical meanings like on disabilities,..
  • Bridget from CoTo me, this is like a very late response to the poem "Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar. The poem is about a bird who wants to be free, and this song is about freedom as well. If you don't know the poem, go check it out!
  • Garrick from NzTo those who insist the tapping is a metronome could you please get a life. You have no idea what you are talking about.
  • Tj from Roseville, CaMcCartney said he never played Bach's Bouree correct and just a few notes in the intro of the song were his inspiration for "Blackbird".
  • Stephen from San Diego, CaAlthough McCartney may have said it was influenced by Bach's Bouree, it had to have been Etude, Op. 60, No. 19 by Fernando Sor. It's fairly obvious when you hear it. It's even in the same key as Blackbird. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_BbVxdFSs Bach's Bouree doesn't sound anything like Blackbird. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Johann_Sebastian_Bach_-_Suite_BWV_996,_E_Minor_-_V_Bourr%C3%A9e.ogg McCartney said it was a classical piece, so I think he must have simply confused the name of the piece if he said it was Bouree
  • Donna from Ft. Lauderdale, FlThey say if you want someone's attention, speak quietly or whisper. Blackbird has that kind of power. Simple and unadorned, yet reaches deeply into one's subconscious.

    If I were marooned on a desert isle and was limited to 2 LPs, #1 would be The White Album hands down. #2 quite possibly would be Pretzel Logic or Aja by Steely Dan (a toss up).
  • Andy from IndonesiaThe tempo is fluctuated, one have measure it between 89 - 94 BPM, it is not a metronome. And if if I'm not mistaken, there is an audio clip where McCartney did that distinctive index finger strumming pattern on "Yesterday".
  • Jim from West Palm Beach, FlPaul double tracked the vocals in parts. That gives it that distinct sound.
  • Eliot from Chicago, IlRE: Richard of worldpress.com... Blackbird is w/out a doubt one of the most amazing tunes written for acoustic guitar. I find it depressing that one of the few British contributions to this discussion is a link to his personal blog.
  • Grayson from New Orleans, LaI went to see Paul in concert (Detroit 2011) and he can still sing this song really well. This is my theme song.
  • Kedame from Tuscumbia, AlI think it's funny how many people think this is tried and true fingerpicking style. It's not. Paul doesn't do a traditional fingerpicking style. He uses his own pick/pluck-strum style that pretty much unique to him. He used the same technique in Mother Nature's Son, Calico Skies, and Jenny Wren, among others. Just look at him play it in any video. Even Sean Lennon commented recently that he had been playing it wrong all these years by just using a fingerpicking method. It is NOT the Travis fingerpicking style John uses in Dear Prudence. Paul said he never really had the patience to learn it.
  • Priscilla from Harvard, MaI saw a video on youtube of Paul sitting down in a chair in a recording studio recording Blackbird. He was wearing a pair of bright red shoes ( probably tap shoes) which he was tapping... left right left right etc. on the wooden floor as he played Blackbird. This doesnt prove it is the sound on the recording but it strongly suggests the possibility and is also very interesting to see.
  • Richard from Gretton, United KingdomCheck out http://richoliff.wordpress.com/ for the REAL story behind this beutiful song
  • Richard from Gretton, United Kingdomthe song 'Blackbird' had actually been written for Angie McCartneys (Pauls stepmother) mum by Paul as he sat on the end of a bed with an old Grundig reel-to-reel tape recorder. It was inspired by a blackbird singing in a tree outside their home. I know this because Angie told me this herself last Friday in an interview on British radio. It was all very moving! All the best Ang! x
  • George from Belleville, NjBlackbird is about as simple a song as it gets.Simplicity is the essence of art.I totally agree with Sylvia from London England.No artist can out do the Beatles,the Beatles are in a class all by themselves.
  • Austin from Lawndale, CaI heard it was Lennon hanging out in Eric Clapton's back yard and he ask for the guitar and just started jamming about wat he saw in a dream GUESS I AM WRONG!
  • K from Nowhere, OnYou seen? Sorry, I feel the need to correct your grammar. Either way, I'm watching The Beatles On Record, and it looks like the tapping was made by clogs.
  • Anwar from Scotch Plains, NjI seen Paul McCartney do this song twice in concert, most recently at Citi Field. The first time I seen him in Madison Square Garden. He stated that it was written in regards to the racial tension in America in which they paid much attention to at the time. Then he went on to tell how he and George used to do the Bach Song, and he actually played the 4 bars he knew then proceeded with the song. On the second time in Citi Field, he said he wrote this for the racial inequality to uplift the black women struggling in the south in America. Being that it was Paul himself, the man who wrote the song, stating the same introduction twice, I'll tend to believe him over Simon Cowell
  • Katira from New York, Nyit actually is a metronome, go read "Here, There and Everywhere" by Geoff Emerick, the Beatles' recording engineer. ALSO, it was recorded outside
  • Chloe from St. Louis, Mowonderfully soothing song. perhaps the beatles' best acoustic, and thats saying something. today's june 18th; happy birthday paul :)
  • Valya from Clear Lake, WaThis morning, walking on the lakeshore I live on, looking at blackbird nibbling cattails, I realized, *that* is the same birdsong blackbird (at least, a certain song blackbirds nearby here) makes - a natural fifth! That is, beginning line is a natural fifth--two notes up. "Blackbird sitting in the" is low, "dead of night," up.) Now, having read "Songfacts" about "Blackbird" I realize it wasn't written that way, but I still am enjoying that for my morning. And having that come into my head and out, singing it this morning back to the birdcalls made for a happy beginning to my day (although the birds may not have agreed!).
  • Caroline from Atlanta, GaGreat song. Beautiful lyrics. I have to say that it sounds much prettier when the girl in across the universe sings it. But still an amazing song.
  • Mel from Riverbank, CaWhen I was a kid my dad convinced me that he was the fifth Beatle. Every time Blackbird came on he would say, "I wrote that song!" I have to say I passed on the madness to my own kids :)
  • Jeff from Austin, TxCharles Manson didnt dig the CSNY version, so neither do I.
  • Jim from Ayr, United Kingdom2 things; it is not difficult to play, and some people have a "built in" metronome. I also love the chromatics used in the guitar!
  • Peter Griffin from Quahog, RiThis song has a fake ending-well, I qualify it as a fake ending. Also, Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young covered this song as well.
  • Scott from Oskaloosa, IaIn 1989 a book was published titled,"Beatlesongs",which I happen to have puchased. In the acknowledgements it states,"This book could not have been possible without the numerous authors and interviewers who did the original research and asked the right questions of the various Beatles". Under the song Blackbird it states it was McCartney inspired while reading a newspaper account of U.S. race riots in mid-1968 and wrote this song as a metaphor of the struggle for the black civil rights. But Lennon takes credit for one line in the song. It was recorded June 11th, 1968 at Abbey Road. There was no mention of the song being called "Sparrow".
  • Tiffany from Nonya, OhMcCartney said this song was made for Sarah McLachlan after he heard her version she made for the movie I Am Sam....
  • Jules from San Jose, CaThis song IS about the civil rights movement. I have seen Paul McCartney 4 times and the last 2 times I saw him he did Blackbird both times and mentioned that when this song was written, it was written about a black girl during that time period.
  • Steve from L.a., CaSimon Cowell (A.I.) says that the song originally was called "sparrow". He states that Paul saw a sparrow fly down to a water puddle that had oil in it. The bird got some of the oil on it and was actually darker so Paul changed the tittle to "blackbird". Cowell did make this statement in front of 30 million viewers so I tend to believe it. Which then shoots the "racial"theory down.
  • Ed from Deal, EnglandThe bird song is indeed a British blackbird, a member of the thrush family, but it was whistled by bird impressionist Percy Edwards.
  • Christy from La, CaI have something kind of funny to share about this song. I saw this interview on youtube with Paul and he was talking about this song and how he wrote it and played it etc and he said something like "well, I'm not very good at fingerpicking" HES CRAZY!!!!!! This song is pretty darn hard to finger pick if you ask me.
  • Christy from La, CaThis song is soooooooo amazing!! I absolutely love it. I don't take lessons and can't read tabs so I had to figure out the whole thing by ear. The chords arent that difficult but the finger picking is pretty fast. When you listen to the song it sounds like he is strumming, but he is actually picking the strings very very rapidly. If you want to play this song the right way you have to finger pick it. If you can't figure it out I dont know where you would learn it though. All of the lessons on youtube were wrong. But yeah anyway this song ROCKS!!!
  • Meredith from Wauwatosa, WiAlexandra from Toronto- I heard the same thing when I was at the concert in Milwaukee! This song is so pretty! Certainly Paul at his best! I also read somewhere that Paul has a fake fingernail on his left pointer finger from all the crazy cords he plays in this song. How weird!
  • Becky from Yorkshire, EnglandI know the song's about the black civil rights movement in general but I've always believed the title wasn't a reference to a "black bird" struggling during the movement but a play on the term "Jim Crow," which came to being in the late 19th century from a black & white minstrel act & became a racial slur used against black people. But that's my interpretation, anyway!
  • Anthony from Fredonia, WiThis song was recorded outside of abby road studios in the back....McCartney wanted the sound to sound outdoorseyish...so thats what geoff (one of the peeps that recorded him at abbey road...) gave him...
  • Kristen from Portland, OrNick - that's because it is easy. I had never ever had guitar lessons, and had hardly played, but I looked up the Tab and got it down at age 12. believe me, it's an incredibly easy song
  • Phillip from Fresno , Ca, CaYeah, Colin, it's just standard tuning, I was throwing out a curveball to find out how many posters return to the site, read the new comments and respond or not... but it's so amazing, the sheer mass of talent the Beatles shared; I truly believe they are Angels reincarnated at the beginning of the Age, to lead the way...
  • Brendan from Calgary, Canadagreat riff to play
    a little trickey to get the timing rite tho
  • Colin from Old York, EnglandIt's in standard tuning... It's not that difficult to play. I allways thought it was about WW2 planes...
  • Me. from Not Telling You : ), Kyi first heard this song on the roseanne episode. big fan of tht show.....&& this song. i never thought the beatles would be a group id be into but there awesome!
  • Joe from West Boylston, MaThe clicking is Paul tapping his feet on a piece of wood put there deliberately to make the tapping louder. There's a photo showing the mic used to pick up the tapping along with a detailed description of the entire session in "Recording The Beatles"
  • Krissy from Boston, MaActually Phillp there is this singer named Jesse McCartney ( no relayionship to Paul) u may or may not know him but he tried to sing this song. You can watch the video at that adress. But it was awful the way he did it.
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=7NqaD1xwcmQ
  • Phillip from Fresno , Ca, CaI agree with Krissy, there will NEVER be another version remotely comparable to the White Album; it would be like some Hollywood actor reciting Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream"...
    For all the little 13 year old guitar players talking about how quickly and easily they nailed this "simple" song - please post the tuning you used... I am an award-winning record producer and the ONLY person I have ever heard duplicate this note-for-note with the EXACT fingering and droning as Sir McCartney was taught by the COMPOSER to this virtuoso and the alternate tuning was so far out I had never even contemplated it! I want to see if your rendition contains Paul's oh-so-subtle nuances or if you merely reproduce notes at different places on the guitar neck. Please post your tuning for the world to evaluate, sir...
  • Joel from Marsten HeathThe infamous American mass killer, Charles Manson, said this song was about a fight between blacks and whites... That is so bloody stupid...
    The song was obviously about the American civil
    rights movement. Yeah, I'm a brit living in the not so good US of A..
  • Sabrina from Richmond, VaHello.. Regine, of NYC, NY

    The artist you are seeking is Dionne Farris, formally of Arrested Development.I love this song.
    I have the original on my Ipod and the Farris CD. Listening to Paul sing this song brings peaceful thoughts. Hearing Farris' version brought to mind the struggles of black woman from slavery to civil rights. I was floored when I discovered it was written in that very spirit..WoW : )
  • Tanya from Safford, AzIn listening carefully to the 'tapping' sounds, I noticed that it is an alternating high/low pattern. One sound more 'bright', the other more 'dull'. Similar to the 'tick tock' sound of a clock. So I think it's safe to say that the sound was not made by tapping feet, but by an electronic metronome.
  • Cristina from Santiago, ChileI had never thought it was foot tapping, but according to Francie Schwartz, who was present at the recording of the song, it's foot tapping.
    GREAT song.
  • Anca from The Hague, NetherlandsThe Cafe Wha? band in New York plays this song so beautifully!! The first time I was there was the first time I heard this song and it made such an impression on me. The way the bassist, Byron, sings this is so touching and wonderful. I ended up choosing this song at my father's funeral last year and it sent everyone into the ugly cry. This is the most beautiful song ever!
  • Julia from Newark, Dejust a suggestion..if you like blackbird go find McCartneys "jenny wren", from his solo works, the similarities are astonishing.
  • Buzz from Towntown, MiGreat song, actually one of the first songs I learned when I started playing guitar. In fact I just played it like an hour ago, pretty fun.
  • Megan from Wouldn't You Like To Know!, MtI love this song! I am using it for an English paper, comparing its optimism to the optimism that Holden in Salinger's Catcher in the Rye maintains throughout the book. It makes me happy!
  • Carl from Hershey, PaI had a bet with someone. He said Billy Preston wrote this song. I know Billy remade it, but Paul definitely wrote it, correct? What year did Paul write it and what year did B.P. redo it?
  • Zontar from Lincoln, NeIn fact, if you listen to some old Beatleg material of Paul doing some acoustic stuff with Donovan you hear(though the details are tough to discern)Paul talking abt. the british term 'bird' for a woman or girl;joking about not wanting any black women to be offended by the song title, and at some point he mentions THAT THE SONG IS A TRIBUTE to Diana Ross???!! Dave, Lincoln,NE
  • Regine from Nyc, NyWe all know that this song was remade several times, and some are very good. For example, Sarah MacLachlan is mentioned a number of times, but how would I find all the remakes? I'm specifically looking for a beautiful version of this song by an African American woman in the 90s.
    Does anyone know how I can find an answer to the first or second question?
  • Warrinder from A Town, CanadaI heard a version of Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman doing it. Randy Bachman said he was given it by someone involved with The Guess Who and that he thought no one would have ever heard it again.
  • Vera from Charleston, ScThis song inspired "The Wings" by Gustavo Santaolalla. This song is better known as the Brokeback Mountain theme. Listen and compare the two songs. You'll see I am right.
  • Michelle from Antigonish, CanadaThis is an amazing song and was stuck in my head for weeks, and I still need to make a dove out of hands while singing it!!
  • Linus from Hamilton, On, CanadaSounds best live, beautiful song.
  • Julian from Anaheim, CaTo me this is the coolest acostic song ever! It's so awesome b/c it's very uplifting.
  • Ace from Kingston , CanadaThis song is on teh album for I AM SAM, its is done very well by a women, the entire soundtrack are beatle songs, Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) does hide your lvoe away and it kicks ass, i would recommend buying it I AM SAM
  • Yuya from Kyoto, JapanAlex, It's Paul tapping his foot. I have a video of the recording session, and he was CLEARLY tapping his foot.
  • Robb from Hamburg, NyPaul was tapping his foot. In the Anthology Dvd's they show paul playing this while tapping his foot. Although it obviously isnt the version on The White Album, but Paul is a pretty recourceful guy and foot tapping seems to suit his style better.
  • Sylvia from London, EnglandI love this song. The guitar is fabulous! About my favorite Paul song. I don't think people should even bother covering Beatles songs! They should know better that it is not possible to recreate the awesomeness that their songs had originally! Boy are some of the covers I've heard embarrasingly horrible. No matter how hard people try, they will never be as good as The Beatles!
  • Tyler from Brantford, Canada"You know what? It is a metronome. I just emailed Paul McCartney, and he told me. But I'm not allowed to give out his e-mail address!"

    OK that's obviously a lie.

    It's quite apperently just someone tapping.
  • Alex from Seattle, WaYou know what? It is a metronome. I just emailed Paul McCartney, and he told me. But I'm not allowed to give out his e-mail address!
  • Alexandra from Toronto, United Statesi was at Paul's concert on october 10th at the acc in toronto and he said that when he was younger he and george used to play the guitar outside their house and they would play a song by bach. the little riff from that bach song actaully turned into black bird and that is how it came to be. just thought you'd be interested!
  • Lee from Clearwater, FlGreat song, great origin. That simple acoustic guitar of Pauls was something else. This is my girl friend JTs favorite.
  • Clay from Yardley, PaThe Dave Matthews Band covered this last night at the Gorge in Washington. The Gorge is a huge venue for DMB, and this was the first time it has been played in concert. Keyboardist Butch Taylor has been teasing it occasionally, and last night the whole band launched into an impromptu cover of it.

    Just wanted to give you all a heads up.
  • Jim from Winchester, MaPaul said in a concert that the song "Blackbird" was about a black girl during the civil rights movement. He said in England, women were called "birds" at the time. I heard that the tapping sound in this song is actually a plastic or paper cup being tapped on a table.
  • Mandy from Calgary, CanadaThis song is just so amazing. I absolutly LOVE it. When I first heard it, it was in the movie: I am Sam and was done by another artist- who didnt TOTALLY destroy it- but once I found out who it was really by- the Beatles- I was immediatly went out looking for the record. I listened to it, and they do an AMAZING job and it has been probably my favorite for a long time. Great song.

    And, thanks to this song- I've become a Beatles fan!
  • Barry from New York, NcCrosby Stills Nash performed this at Woodstock right after SUITE: JUDY BLUE EYES. If you listen to the 3 disc WOODSTOCK LP you can hear Stills strum the chord of Blackbird. In 1994 the CSN version of Blackbird was released on the WOODSTOCK DIARY cd.
  • Yoni from Rehovot, IsraelAnother great cover is Bobby Mcferrin's, in which he makes all the sounds and effects
  • Alejandro from Mexico D.f., MexicoI learned this song in guitar in about half an hour... its beautiful... It seems to be much more complicated but in fact is very easy... a man who wrote such a beautiful song like this one can only be a genious
  • Adam from Rochester, NyOne of my favorites by Paul, great guitar work not that hard to play. Just makes you feel good. the beatles are amazing.
  • Ric from Green Bay , WiMust have had a whole lotta influence over Maya Angelou when she wrote " I know why the caged bird sings" http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/Maya_Angelou/13474

    They use alot of the same imagery and have about the same meaning.
  • Ross from Independence, MoHey, I love the Beatles. But, I Just wanted to say something. Kathy, Liz doesn't actually want to strangle you. She was only a little peeved that you wrote "Beetles" instead of "Beatles". She was merely using hyperbole.
  • Mike from Chicago, IlPaul said in a recent interview with Guitar World Acoustic Magazine (his first interview with a guitar magazine in 10 years!), that he and John were attempting to play Bourree in Em by JS Bach by ear. The sloppy result ended up as Blackbird. I've been playing guitar for about 2 years now, and Blackbird is very easy. I learned Bourree first, so that was interesting to hear Blackbird in Bourree rather than hearing Bourree in Blackbird. It was like time travel...sorta...maybe...
  • Stefanie Magura from Rock Hill, ScY'all probably don't care but I saw a Beatles tribute show at a club recently. It's a club I go to a lot with my dad, so we know a lot of the people there, and that's the reason we were able to get in, because it was completely sold out. Well anyway, the doorman dedicated 'Black bird" to me, and I thought that was pretty cool. He had told us that when he had learned the song, that he went home later and couldn't remember any of it. Well, he remembered a lot of the song when he performed it this time, but he kept stopping a lot. i think it's because he was so nervous that he wouldn't remember it. Anyway, i think it's really cool that he dedicated it to me, and by golly, he was determined to get through that song, which he did. and despite stopping a lot, I think he did a good hob.
  • Stefanie Magura from Rock Hill, Scare you kidding? sounds like Paul's tapping his foot to me!
  • Jay from Geneva, CheezlandKevin Spacey did a suprisingly beautiful (yet short) rendition of this beaute.
  • Lola from Street, MdHa yes. Would you not get tired of tapping your foot. Plus it sounds exact. Usually when you tap you cannot keep such a steady thing. And still keep the timing. Nontheless, it is much too complicated.

    UM THE BIRD DOESNT SOUND LIKE A BLACKBIRD. Would you people stop saying BEETLES :O
  • John from Miami, FlSarah McLachlan is performing this on her 2005 "Afterglow" world tour. It was amazing! (She's amazing)
  • Nessie from Sapporo, Japan"George Martin mentions that birds were NOT used on this song, but that they hired a guy that performed birdcalls professionally to provide the sounds" Probably a Musicians' Union thing.
  • Mel from Uk, EnglandAt Glasto Macca said it was about a struggling black woman he saw specifically, but about the civil rights struggle for blacks in general.
  • Brad Nash from Rochester Hills, MiI've played guitar for 2 years... I learned it after one year... I'm 13 years old... and it's very easy... it's an amazing composition, don't get me wrong... it's just... easy
  • Sigmoid from Vancouver, CanadaI'm quite certain that in the Anthology documentary George Martin mentions that birds were NOT used on this song, but that they hired a guy that performed birdcalls professionally to provide the sounds.
  • Kathy from Lincoln, NeLiz,
    Thank you for responding to my question. However, I'm not quite sure why it is you would want to strangle me. It was a simple question about a Beatle's song, I was not trying to cause any problems.
    Kathy
  • Kristen from Aurora, IlThis song was mentioned in the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It is a modern coming of age novel. The group of friends in the book loved this song.
  • Tobi from Bonn, AlRe: Yes, I follow Ted ... Blackbird is one the best Beatles "heartbreak" songs!!
  • Morteb from Stavanger, NorwayThis is not a hard song to play on guitar!If you have played guitar for 10 years and can't fix this one, then you must consider a new instrument...
  • Sean from Oconomowoc, WiPaul sure does like Birds, Blackbirdm, Bluebird.
    I love Sir Paul and his music
  • Jesse from New York, Nycrosby, stills, nash and young also covered this. Probably the best cover version in my opinion.
  • N01mportant from Parkersburg, WvThe "tapping" is a metranome
  • Josh from Coral Springs, FlI agree w/ rob, i mean it doesnt really sound like tapping as much as it sounds like a dubbing. Although this can be argued, it would depend on what shoes n all. But to me its more of a dubed version, i always thought tht, tapping never was in my mind, cept when i came here and read it.
  • Rob from Carrollton, TxWell Melvin, unless you have the recording of the original recording session, I still beg to differ. According to "The Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Abbey Road Studio Session Notes 1962-1970"
    - - - -
    "Tuesday, 11 June, 1968. While John was busy experimenting with sounds, Paul started and finished the recording of 'Blackbird', a lovely new composition which featured his own lead vocal, double-tracked in places via an overdub, accompanied by his acoustic guitar and a metronome gently ticking away in the background. It was a straightforward recording - no reductions necessary - and was perfected by the 32nd run through, just 11 of which were complete."
  • Ronan from Dublin, United StatesI was working with a guy from Colombia. We had nothing in common and nothing to talk about. I started whistling this song. He automatically recognised it. A 2 hour discussion about the beatles and music in general ensued. He is now bass player in my band. Shows how musin brings people together!
  • Melvin from Sydney, Australiawrong Rob, it was actually Paul tapping his foot, not a metronome. i got a video of the recording...
  • Nick from Buffalo, Ny"Take these sunkin eyes and learn to see..." My friend has been playing guitar for over 10 yrs and he admits this song is extremely hard 2 play. Now imagine how hard it would be solo on stage in front of 80,000 people. Sir Paul does it and makes it look easy...
  • Scott Baldwin from Edmonton, CanadaAlso on the Wings' album "At the speed of sound".
  • Ted from Pittsburgh, PaThis song is the reason I love the Beatles.
  • Megan from Lambertville, MiThis song was on the White Album and Charles Manson and his "family" listened to it alot and the investigators tried to make a connection between the word "arise" (in the song) and the word "rise" which was written in blood at one of the murders.
  • Liz from Chandler, AzI read that although they wanted blackbirds, they settled for bluebirds.
    Liz, Phoenix, AZ
  • Dash from New York, Nythe Foo Fighters also covered this song... lol
  • Pete from Brisbane, AustraliaThe bird singing isn't a blackbird, it's a thrush, I think.

    Paul performed the song at this year's (2002) 'Party at the Palace' for Queen Elizabeth II of England.

    Pete Porchos Brisbane
  • Carolyn from P'ville, CaSarah McLachlan sang this song for the I Am Sam soundtrack
  • Rob from Carrollton, TxRe: Blackbird - that's not Paul tapping his foot; that's a metronome he had in the studio with him when clicking away in the background.
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