The powerful meaning behind Beyoncé's Blackbird cover explained

29 March 2024, 16:21

Beyoncé announces Act II with visual teaser

By Sam Prance

Beyoncé's interpretation of The Beatles' Blackbird features Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts.

Beyoncé has covered The Beatles' 'Blackbird' and fans are losing it over the hidden meaning behind her 'Blackbiird' lyrics.

Beyoncé's new album Cowboy Carter is finally here and, alongside a Miley Cyrus collaboration and a new interpretation of Dolly Parton's 'Jolene', Beyoncé has recorded her own version of 'Blackbird' by The Beatles. If that weren't enough, the cover also features rising Country music stars Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts.

However, people are only just realising what 'Blackbird' is actually about and why Beyoncé's version of it is so powerful.

READ MORE: Is Taylor Swift on Beyoncé's Bodyguard? The background vocals theory explained

Describing 'Blackbird' in his book The Lyrics, Paul McCartney said: "When I was writing ‘Blackbird', I was very conscious of the terrible racial tensions in the US. The song was written only a few weeks after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. That imagery of the broken wings and the sunken eyes and the general longing for freedom is very much of its moment."

In the book Many Years From Now, Paul also said: "I had in mind a Black woman, rather than a bird. 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.’"

Beyoncé - BLACKBIIRD (Official Lyric Video)

Mackenzie Green, the daughter of civil rights pioneer Ernest Green of the Little Rock Nine, has also taken to TikTok to talk about how the song was inspired by "the women of Little Rock" and how excited she's been for Beyoncé's cover.

The song has two simple verses: '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' and 'Blackbird singing in the dead of night / Take these sunken eyes and learn to see / All your life / You were only waiting for this moment to be free."

In covering 'Blackbird' and teaming up with young Black female stars in Country music, Beyoncé sings the song directly from the perspective of Black women who've too often been ignored in Country music and the world at large.

Beyoncé - 'Blackbiird' lyrics

VERSE 1: Beyoncé
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
(You were only waiting for this moment to arise)

VERSE 2: Beyoncé
Blackbird singing in the dead of night (Dead of night, night)
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see (Learn to see all of your life)
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free

CHORUS: Beyoncé
Blackbird fly (Blackbird, blackbird, fly, fly, fly, fly)
Blackbird fly (Blackbird, blackbird, fly, fly, fly, fly)
Into the light of a dark, black night

BRIDGE: Beyoncé
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh

CHORUS: Beyoncé
Blackbird fly (Fly)
Blackbird fly (Fly)
Into the light of a dark, black night

VERSE 3: Tanner Adell
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly (Learn to fly, learn to fly)
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

OUTRO: Tanner Adell & Beyoncé
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Read more Beyoncé news here:

• Beyoncé Renaissance visuals: Everything we know about the upcoming film and music videos
• The deeper meaning behind Beyoncé's Texas Hold 'Em lyrics explained
• The savage meaning behind Beyoncé's rewritten Jolene lyrics explained
• The personal meaning behind Beyoncé's 16 Carriages lyrics explained
• When will Beyoncé's Renaissance film be on streaming? How to watch online

WATCH: Joe Keery gets deep in 'My Life In 20 Questions'

Joe Keery Gets Deep In 'My Life In 20 Questions' | Djo