Blackbird (song) - Meaning

Meaning

McCartney was inspired to write it while in Scotland as a reaction to racial tensions escalating in the United States in the spring of 1968.

In May 2002, during a show at the Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas as part of the Driving USA Tour supporting the Driving Rain album, McCartney spoke on stage about the meaning of the song. KCRW DJ Chris Douridas interviewed McCartney backstage afterwards for his radio show "New Ground", and the meaning of the song was discussed. This interview aired on KCRW on 25 May 2002.

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 episode of New Ground (17:50 - 19:00)

Also, before his solo acoustic guitar set during the Driving USA Tour, McCartney explained that 'bird' is British slang for girl, making 'blackbird' a synonym for 'black girl.' Near the end of the song's performance, a young black woman sang the lyrics, "You were only waiting for this moment to arrive, blackbird fly...", after which the program faded to commercial.

In 2009, McCartney performed this song at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, commenting prior to singing it on how it had been written in response to the 1960s Civil Rights movement, and added, "It's so great to realise so many civil rights issues have been overcome."