Friday September 9, 2022 “Blackbird” The Beatles
Kind of an animal two fer today with blackbirds and beetles…OK beetles are insects but I’m still including them.
Paul McCartney wrote this song about the civil rights struggle for African Americans after reading about race riots in the US. He said 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.
It has been suggested that the guitar accompaniment on “Blackbird” was inspired by Bach's Bourrée in E minor for lute. Only three sounds were recorded: Paul's voice, his Martin D-28 acoustic guitar, and a tapping that keeps time on the left channel. The tapping sound is a bit of a mystery, although in the Beatles Anthology video McCartney appears to be making the sound with his foot although some sources have also claimed it is a metronome.
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has said that he feels this is the greatest Paul McCartney song. "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."
Stay safe and well…and yes here it is one more annoying time, another freaking song that means something that is different than what it seems just like Animal Farm, “At the Zoo”, “The Snake”, “When Doves Cry” and “It Aint Me Babe”...another damn parable.