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Annotating for Better Understanding

Identify components of the text that you understand & make notes on your interpretation

Look for: symbolism, images, themes, literary devices, plot, setting, or other key points

Summarize in the margins

Identify any confusing elements

Look up any unfamiliar words & note a synonym

Make connections to art, music, or other literature

Note dates, important people & important places

Draw arrows to show related ideas

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LibGuides: English I: Annotation Guidelines

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Resources to help with English I projects based on assigned readings.

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Mining literature for deeper meanings - Amy E. Harter

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"Blackbird" is Paul McCartney 's hopeful essay on the Civil Rights Movement and the "End of Racism in America".

The tune was inspired by J.S. Bach's Bourrée in E minor, a well known lute piece.

McCartney's explanation of the song's origin has changed over the years.

McCartney's foot can be heard tapping throughout the song.

Ask us a question about this song

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Can you please put a video with it

There isn't an official music video for this song, but you can watch a video of Paul McCartney rehearsing the song here:

You can also listen to the full song here:

What is the symbolism of "Take these broken wings and learn to fly"?

Paul McCartney stated that the song uses symbolism to describe the struggle of Southern Black Americans for civil rights. The broken wings could symbolize how broken down and discriminated against African Americans were, and for them to learn to fly would be to try to overcome what they were going through. This is further evidenced by the following lines "All your life / You were only waiting for this moment to be free". Even though equality exists, it is still more difficult for Black Americans in America than their white peers.

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Blackbird Covers

Blackbird [Live] by Marillion, Blackbird (Acoustic) by Jesse McCartney, Blackbird by Peter Hollens & Tim Foust, Mother Nature's Son (Live) by Bobbie Gentry, Blackbird by Midnite String Quartet, Blackbird by Sarah Vaughan, Blackbird by Cory Wong, Blackbird (Live) by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Blackbird by Rick Wakeman, Blackbird by Dion, Blackbird by Sheila E., Blackbird by Chris De Burgh, Melro (Black Bird) by Tetê Espíndola, Blackbird by Crosby, Stills & Nash, Blackbird / All My Loving by Jesse Daniel Smith, Blackbird by The Gray Havens, Blackbird by Pedro Aznar, Blackbird by The Anchoress, Blackbird by Ellem, Blackbird by Al Di Meola, Blackbird by KIDZ BOP Kids, Blackbird by Cosmos (Vocal group), Blackbrid by Tiffany Alvord, Blackbird by Morgan James, Blackbird by Justin Hayward, Blackbird by James Smith (UK), Blackbird by Anderson .Paak, Black Bird by ​The Guess Who, Blackbird - The Beatles by Conan Gray, Blackbird by Hot water, Blackbird by Delta Rae, Blackbird by MonaLisa Twins, Blackbird by Foo Fighters, Blackbird by Cameron Mitchell, Blackbird by Boyce Avenue, Blackbird by The Beat Bugs (Ft. Sia), Blackbird by Jess Greenberg, Blackbird by Victoria Vox, Blackbird by Glee Cast, Fade to Blackbird by Beatallica, Blackbird by Judy Collins, Blackbird by Cassandra Wilson, Blackbird by Elliott Smith, Blackbird by Emmerson Nogueira, Blackbird by Doves, Blackbird by Collin Raye, Lon-dubh (blackbird) by Julie Fowlis, Blackbird by Evan Rachel Wood, Blackbird Singing by The Paragons, Blackbird by Neil Diamond, Blackbird by Raul Midón, Blackbird by Terri Lyne Carrington, Blackbird by Kenny Rankin, Blackbird by Ramsey Lewis, Blackbird by Bobby McFerrin, BLACKBIRD by BONNIE PINK, Blackbird by Arturo Sandoval, Blackbird by Brad Mehldau, Blackbird by Sarah McLachlan & Blackbird by Dionne Farris

View Blackbird samples

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"Blackbird" is Paul McCartney 's hopeful essay on the Civil Rights Movement and the "End of Racism in America". The tune was inspired by J.S. Bach's Bourrée in E minor, a well known lute piece. McCartney's explanation of the song's origin has changed over the years.

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Paul McCartney is singing the praises of Beyoncé's new cover version of "Blackbird."

The Beatles legend posted a photo of himself and Beyoncé April 4 on Instagram. In his caption, he said the "Texas Hold 'Em" singer's "magnificent" rendition of "Blackbird"on her new "Carter Cowboy" album "reinforces" the song's "civil rights message."

"I am so happy with @beyonce's version of my song 'Blackbird.' 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," wrote McCartney.

McCartney added that he "would urge" music lovers to listen to Beyoncé's "fab version" of his song.

The musician also revealed that he and the former Destiny's Child member have communicated about her version of the song.

"I spoke to her on FaceTime and she thanked me for writing it and letting her do it," wrote McCartney. "I told her the pleasure was all mine and I thought she had done a killer version of the song."

McCartney then explained that he was inspired to write "Blackbird," which originally appeared on the Beatles' 1968 double album "The Beatles" (also known as "The White Album") after watching television footage of Black students being harassed for attending newly integrated schools following the Supreme Court's landmark 1954 Brown v. The Board of Education decision that outlawed segregation in public schools.

"When I saw the footage on the television in the early '60s of the Black girls being turned away from school, I found it shocking and I can't believe that still in these days there are places where this kind of thing is happening right now," wrote McCartney.

He added, "Anything my song and Beyoncé's fabulous version can do to ease racial tension would be a great thing and makes me very proud."

McCartney has previously spoken about the inspiration behind "Blackbird," specifying that it was watching footage of the Little Rock Nine, the nickname for the nine teenagers who became the first Black students to enter the formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1957, that prompted him to write the song.

The Little Rock Nine required escorts by military personnel to protect them from protestors that had surrounded the high school.

"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," McCartney told GQ in 2018.

"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,'" he continued.

McCartney added that the song is specifically about the young Black women of the civil rights movement.

"In England, a bird is a girl, so I was thinking of a Black girl going through this; now is your time to arise; set yourself free; take these broken wings," he explained.

In the song, McCartney tells the story of a blackbird "singing in the dead of night" who can "take these broken wings and learn to fly."

"All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise," the musician sings, later, adding, "All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free."

Melba Pattillo Beals, 82, who was a member of the Little Rock Nine, told the Washington Post that hearing Beyoncé's rendition of "Blackbird" filled her with pride for the role she played in public school desegregation.

"This song awakens so much," said Beals.

Beals revealed that she only learned in 2016 that the story of the Little Rock Nine inspired "Blackbird."

"Paul McCartney said by writing that song, 'I hear you. I may not be able to rescue you, but I hear you singing in your dark,'" said Beals.

Beyonce's rendition of "Blackbird" uses McCartney's original master recordings that feature his guitar playing and the sound of his toe-tapping, according to Variety.

The "Bodyguard" singer also added soaring harmonies courtesy of four Black country music singers - Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer and Tiera Kennedy - as well as new orchestral and bass parts.

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Paul McCartney responds to Beyoncé's cover of his song 'Blackbird'

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Beatles legend Paul McCartney responds to Beyonce's 'cover of 'Blackbird." Here's the history of the song and how the lyrics relate to the Civil Rights movement.

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Paul McCartney Explains the Meaning and Inspiration of the Beatles' "Blackbird" | Exclaim!

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The Beatles' classic 1968 track "Blackbird" is newly in the public consciousness thanks to Beyoncé's faithful cover, titled "BLACKBIIRD," which appears on the new album COWBOY CARTER. It's a perfect moment, then, to revisit songwriter Paul McCartney's explanation of the song, which he gave in an episode of A Life in Lyrics from iHeartPodcasts back in the fall.

In the episode published on November 29 of last year, McCartney explained that the guitar part was inspired by Bach's "Bourrée in E Minor."

McCartney noted that it was written in the spring of 1968, recalling, "I think it was in Scotland at the time, on a break, I got this idea of a 'blackbird singing in the dead of night.' It was just an image of a blackbird silhouetted, in the dead of night, in this sort of forest somewhere, as being this lonely image."

Beginning with this image of a blackbird, the song quickly morphed into a political commentary about the civil rights movement, which was taking place in the US at the time.

"Then it started to be about arising - 'Take these broken wings.' So, in other words, I was writing about the civil rights disturbances in Little Rock, particularly, that we'd be hearing about - segregation, and stuff - that shocked us so much," McCartney said. "Sunken eyes seeing, broken wings flying. This is your moment to arise and be free. Then I realized I was sending it in that direction. It now wasn't an ornithological piece; it was now to do with politics and to do with freedom, really."

Given the context in which the original song was written, it's significant that Beyoncé's version features vocals from Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts - all Black female country singers.

Hear Bey's version below.

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Paul McCartney Explains the Meaning and Inspiration of the Beatles' "Blackbird" | Exclaim!

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Beyoncé's cover taps into the song's roots in the civil rights movement

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Beyoncé is one of the most intentional artists on the planet. When she chooses to cover a certain song or reinterpret an entire genre of music, you can bet there's a good reason. This is certainly true of her decision to remake The Beatles' 1968 classic "Blackbird" for her new album Cowboy Carter, a collection of songs inspired by the chilly reception she received from some country music fans when she performed with The Chicks (then known as the Dixie Chicks) at the CMAs in 2016.

Although it's not strictly a country album-it's stylistically pretty varied- Cowboy Carter affirms the rightful place of Black artists in the genre. Guests include Linda Martell, the first Black artist to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. Given this inclusionary message, it's fitting that Bey opted to cover "Blackbird" (renamed "Blackbiird" in keeping with the stylized spelling she uses on the album), a hopeful acoustic earworm that Paul McCartney wrote more than a half-century earlier with similar themes in mind.

When "Blackbird" arrived in 1968 on The Beatles' self-titled 1968 double LP, known as " The White Album," many fans probably didn't realize that McCartney had written a low-key civil rights anthem. That's due to the subtlety and universality of his lyrics.

"I had in mind a Black woman, rather than a bird," McCartney told Barry Miles for the 1997 book Many Years From Now. "Those were the days of the civil rights movement, which all of us cared passionately about, so this was really a song from me to a Black woman, experiencing these problems in the States: 'Let me encourage you to keep trying, to keep your faith, there is hope.' As is often the case with my things, a veiling took place so, rather than say 'Black woman living in Little Rock' and be very specific, she became a bird, became symbolic, so you could apply it to your particular problem."

McCartney mentions Little Rock in that quote because the song was specifically inspired by the " Little Rock Nine," a group of Black students selected by the NAACP to attend Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1957, three years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public school was unconstitutional. Arkansas governor Orval Faubus opposed desegregation and ordered the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the students from entering the school. Later that month, President Eisenhower dispatched federal troops to escort the students to class.

In 2016, McCartney met two of the Little Rock Nine-Elizabeth Eckford and Thelma Mothershed-and during a concert in the Arkansas capital, he spoke about how their experiences moved him to write the famous song.

"This is, to me, where civil rights started," McCartney said. "We would see what was going on and sympathize with the people going through those struggles, and it made me want to write a song that if it ever got back to the people going through those struggles, it might just help them a little."

Whether people realized its true meaning, "Blackbird" grew to become one of the most covered songs of all time. (In 2008, it ranked No. 8 on a list compiled by the U.K.'s Independent newspaper.) McCartney based the music on Bach's " Bouree in E Minor," and the sweet melody can be adapted to fit almost any genre.

According to WhoSampled.com, "Blackbird" has been covered at least 278 times by artists ranging from folk-pop singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan to funk-soul master and Beatles associate Billy Preston to ska/reggae legend Desmond Dekker to jam-band kings Phish.

For her cover, Beyoncé enlisted four Black female country singers-Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts, and Tanner Adell-to help sing the final verse. Beyoncé also sampled the original Beatles backing track-that's McCartney's guitar and foot tapping you hear on her version-and in an Instagram post, McCartney said he was "so happy" with the new rendition.

"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. "I think Beyoncé has done a fab version and would urge anyone who has not heard it yet to check it out. You are going to love it.

"I spoke to her on FaceTime and she thanked me for writing it and letting her do it," McCartney continued. "I told her the pleasure was all mine and I thought she had done a killer version of the song. When I saw the footage on the television in the early 1960s of the Black girls being turned away from school, I found it shocking and I can't believe that still in these days there are places where this kind of thing is happening right now. Anything my song and Beyoncé's fabulous version can do to ease racial tension would be a great thing and makes me very proud."

Beyoncé's version also struck a chord with at least one member of the Little Rock Nine. One week after Cowboy Carter dropped, The Washington Post reported that Melba Pattillo Beals, one of the brave students who made history in 1957, was especially moved by the new recording.

"This song awakens so much," Beals told the paper. "Paul McCartney said by writing that song, 'I hear you. I may not be able to rescue you, but I hear you singing in your dark.'"
Read More About The Beatles:

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"Blackbird" Revisited: How The Beatles' Civil Rights Anthem Has Been Inspiring Artists for More Than 50 Years

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How Johann Sebastian Bach and the Little Rock Nine inspired one of The Beatles' biggest hits-and one of the most covered songs ever recorded.

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