Paul McCartney Talks About His Love For “Blackbird”

There are a lot of loveable songs in Paul McCartney’s repertoire. As a member of the most influential band of all time, The Beatles, he crafted classics along with his songwriting partner John Lennon that will remain essential in the music industry for a lifetime.

Some time ago, McCartney was asked by GQ to analyze several of his most well-known songs, which were posted on GQ’s YouTube Channel. Here, Sir Macca explained some of the Beatles songs’ origins, such as “Yesterday,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “A Day In the Life,” “Blackbird,” and many more. For the latter song, he explained:

“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. 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.’”

The one thing he adores about writing any Beatle music was how well it connects to its listeners. “One of the nice things about music is that you know a lot of people listening to you are going to take seriously what you’re saying in the song,” he added.

“Blackbird” was released inside the Beatles’ White double album. Written by Paul McCartney, it was also performed as a solo act by him. A real sound of a male blackbird can also be heard on the track.

Listen to the song below.