Beatles: Blackbird Meaning

Song Released: 1968

Covered By: Glee Cast (2011)

Blackbird Lyrics

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 arise.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your...

1. anonymous

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   Jan 31st 2010 !⃝

   Argh... I can't stand all the terrible things people are writing here. Before you write/rate another interpretation please remember IT WAS WRITTEN ABOUT A BLACK WOMEN DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT! Not about helicopters in Vietnam or some of the other crap people have here.
   
   It's about black people being oppressed and fighting for freedom even though society has tried to break them (broken wings) and the bird singing is most likely a reference to slave songs.
2. anonymous

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   Jan 9th 2010 !⃝

   This song is one more about the same person most of the other songs are about. Blackbird, Jude, Fool on the hill, Sexy Sadie, JoJo, "old Flattop", all about 1 person.
3. anonymous

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   Oct 28th 2009 !⃝

   This song is about THE ULTIMATE SAD STORY of a bird who lives in a cage it's whole life until it becomes old . One day the Blackbird is faced with the chance of a lifetime - AN OPEN DOOR . But , sadly this bird has never been able to fly especially now with old broken wings . To make matters worse , his sunken eyes are old and cannot see .
   
   
   That wonderful chance of a lifetime simply came too late .

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
4. sargam

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   Sep 4th 2009 !⃝

   To a westerner who who was involved with Eastern Religion as the Beatles (& I) were, then a very simple explanation is that the song is about enlightenment.
5. anonymous

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   Aug 8th 2009 !⃝

   I recently went to a paul mccartney concert and he indeed did say that blackbird was about african americans during the civil rights music.
6. anonymous

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   Jul 18th 2009 !⃝

   I belive it is about someone who is very shy becoming more confident.
7. anonymous

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   Jun 11th 2009 !⃝

   This song is definitelly about the civil rights movement, no contest about it. But you can also relate it to anyone, like things are worth fighting for if you believe in them and dont give up fighting because it will pay off if you truely believe you can change something.
8. talltale

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   May 5th 2009 !⃝

   Yeah, but did he mention the Vietnam helicopters? Just askin.
9. anonymous

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   Apr 19th 2009 !⃝

   Paul McCartney performed this song at Coachella Music Festival on Friday 4/17 and introduced it as a song about the civil rights movement in the 60s. He even used President Obama as context for the song.
   
   Debate is over in my opinion
10. anonymous

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    Apr 16th 2009 !⃝

    I was just reading Geoff Emerick's (One of the Beatle's Sound Engineers) autobiography, and he claims that the song is about the African-American Civil Rights movement in America. Seeing as he was there when the song was written and recorded, I figure that if I'm going to trust anyone it'll be him. And it makes sense.
11. anonymous

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    Jan 31st 2009 !⃝

    Whenever i listening to this song there are certain emotions i feel. Mainly there is a calming feeling that just flows over me. It's great, i have no idea what this song was meant to represent. Here's what i think though. Paul wanted everyone to feel calm and hopeful after the amount of death and despair that the recent years (that being the late 1960's) had been going through. Of course what I think is only an opinion out of thousands. Isn't that the best part of being a song writer though hearing your songs being interpreted by the fans of the song. ^_^ great song.
12. anonymous

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    Jan 9th 2009 !⃝

    Mccartney wrote it while in india when by his window he noticed a blackbird with broken wings and also with the racial problems in america.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
13. Waiting

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    Nov 20th 2008 !⃝

    It can be interpreted to be death. I song it to my mother on her deathbed, and it all became clear.
14. meliac

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    Oct 2nd 2008 !⃝

    Blackbird singing in the dead of night-means someone is seeping but no one's listening.
    Take these broken wings and learn to fly- takes you experience and learn from it
    Take these sunken eyes and learn to see- from all the bad things try to see the best
    Blackbird fly Blackbird fly- say what you have to be free
    Into the light of the dark black night.- make people listen to you
    
    Well that's what I think
15. drencrom68

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    Sep 27th 2008 !⃝

    "was that the death of Martin Luther King Jr., which provoked riots in April 1968, didn't take place until Paul had returned from the States with the song already written.
    "
    
    And just how do YOU know when Paul wrote the song?

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

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