Happy Birthday to you, Sir Paul. (Andy, I'm thinking of you as I write this. Some day, you and I will go see our favorite British boyfriend in concert!)
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| Lucky enough to sit this close in Montreal -- August 12, 2010 |
Today's offering for Poetry Friday are the lyrics of Blackbird, one of my all-time favorite songs. It's credited to Lennon/McCartney, but it was Paul who wrote it in 1968 in Scotland -- inspired by the ongoing racial tensions in the US, and as a message for those who were fighting for equality. He said this in a radio interview:
"I had been doing poetry readings. I had been doing some in the last year or so because I've got a poetry book out called "Blackbird Singing", and when I would read Blackbird, I would always try and think of some explanation to tell the people, 'cause there's not a lot you can do except just read the poem, you know, you read 10 poems that takes about 10 minutes, almost. It's like, you've got to, just, do a bit more than that. So, I was doing explanations, and I actually just remembered why I'd written Blackbird, you know, that I'd been, I was in Scotland playing on my guitar, and I remembered this whole idea of "you were only waiting for this moment to arise" was about, you know, the black people's struggle in the southern states, and I was using the symbolism of a blackbird. It's not really about a blackbird whose wings are broken, you know, it's a bit more symbolic"
– Paul McCartney, Interview with KCRW's Chris Douridas, May 25, 2002
The poem is in smaller print so the line breaks stay to true to format.
Blackbird
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 life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free
Black-bird fly
Black-bird fly, into the light of a dark black night
Black-bird fly
Black-bird fly, into the light of a dark black night
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
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Rock on over to Jone's and check out more Poetry Friday posts.
3 comments:
I love "Blackbird," too. On top of all that talent, he's the cutest bass player evah! Woooooo! *Sung falsetto while shaking moptop.*
*swoon*
Sigh sigh sigh.
Blackbird is probably my fave Paul ballad -- so timeless and gorgeous.
Jealous that you sat that close to the stage last year -- and that you saw him again last week!!!
Jama, that's the feeling I got sitting there. We sat just about that close, too, this last time. It's worth the price of admission. He put on a three hour show in Montreal, and almost that long a show in Vegas.
I can't imagine ever seeing a better concert.
It seems Blackbird is a favorite of many!
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