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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"...You were only waiting for this moment to be free."
Posted by a friend on FB~
McCartney was shocked. There was no segregation in England. But, here in America, the land of freedom, this is how blacks were being treated. McCartney and the Beatles went back home to England, but he would remember what he saw, how he felt, the unfairness of it all.
He also remembered watching television and following the news in America, the race riots and what was happening in Little Rock, Arkansas, what was going on in the Civil Rights movement. He saw the picture of 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford attempt to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School as an angry mob followed her, yelling, "Drag her over this tree! Let's take care of that n**ger!'" and Lynch her! Lynch her! No n**ger b*tch is going to get in our school!
McCartney couldn't believe this was happening in America. He thought of these women being mistreated, simply because of the color of her skin. He sat down and started writing.
Last year at a concert, he would meet two of the women who inspired him to write one of his most memorable songs, Thelma Mothershed Wair and Elizabeth Eckford, members of the Little Rock Nine (pictured here).
McCartney would tell the audience he was inspired by the courage of these women: "Way back in the Sixties, there was a lot of trouble going on over civil rights, particularly in Little Rock. We would notice this on the news back in England, so it's a really important place for us, because to me, this is where civil rights started. We would see what was going on and sympathize with the people going through those troubles, and it made me want to write a song that, if it ever got back to the people going through those troubles, it might just help them a little bit, and that's this next one."
He explained that when he started writing the song, he had in mind a black woman, but in England, "girls" were referred to as "birds." And, so the song started:
"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."
McCartney added that he and the Beatles cared passionately about the Civil Rights movement, "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. "
"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."
- Jon S. Randal, via Valgeir Sveinsson
GReedDiamond
(5,312 posts)Heartstrings
(7,349 posts)One of my favorite Beatles tracks! I always love finding out the inspiration behind a songs creation.
Thank you for this, babylonsister!
lapucelle
(18,252 posts)Thanks for reminding me. Loved this whole album.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)I never knew the story behind it. Which makes it even more beautiful.
keithbvadu2
(36,799 posts)So many songs, poems, children's stories, Christmas songs and such have political, religious, and social meanings but we do not know their purpose anymore.
The common folk could not speak openly against the ruling class so they came up with simple tunes that were actually codes for protest.
Funny thing; many of them would have been written by someone of the upper, educated class to sneak in such codes.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,855 posts)Thank you for posting.
Hekate
(90,681 posts)Brings tears to my eyes
joanbarnes
(1,722 posts)Me, a white child of the 50's loved school so much, remember asking "Mommy, why won't they let the little girl go to school?" I JUST DIDN'T GET IT in the Land of Lincoln.
Pinkflamingo
(177 posts)XOXO
Chemisse
(30,811 posts)What a fascinating story there is behind this short but powerful song.
JudyM
(29,241 posts)Thanks for posting this!
TexasBushwhacker
(20,186 posts)AwakeAtLast
(14,124 posts)Bravo Sir Paul!
Delphinus
(11,830 posts)Thank you for this great information. Yay Paul!