"Blackbird" By Kevin Mueller

When I was five years old, I really didn’t know about The Beatles. I had heard of the but not a lot. When my Dad started to show me a lot of their songs like, Help, Hey Jude, Twist and Shout and many more of their songs I just fell in love with them. All of their music is amazing but there was one song that stood out to me, “Blackbird.” I like this song because it is one of The Beatles more mellow songs and the lyrics just stood out to me in general. To me this song is about determination and overcoming your obstacles. Since then I had kinda forgotten about them until Dave Grohl played this song at the 2016 Oscar Awards for the in memoriam section, it was then when I truly fell in love with “Blackbird.” If you haven’t heard of The Beatles, I’m sorry. This band had to be the most famous band in the world, But they had to be inspired by someone, those people are, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Carl Perkins. The Beatles band members consist of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Their hometown is Liverpool, England ,and their album was released in 1968. “Blackbird” was written about African-American people. “Bird” in British is slang for woman so the title for this song is essentially “BlackWoman.” The Beatles use symbolism throughout the whole song to convey the theme that with determination and a full heart, you can overcome any obstacle.

By using symbolism, The Beatles help you understand that with determination and a full heart, you can overcome any obstacle. The Beatles talk about this when they say, “Blackbird singing in the dead of night.” (“Blackbird” 1)In this line, The Beatles use the symbol of a blackbird, talking about a Black woman and night to represent fear. During the Civil Rights Movement, Black people were living in fear because of how much hatred they faced because of their skin color.This reveals the theme that with determination and a full heart, you can overcome any obstacle because Black people were dehumanized in the 1900’s but they fought with open hearts full of determination and they won the battle of inequality.

By using symbolism, The Beatles help the listener understand that with determination and a full heart, you can overcome any obstacle. The Beatles talk about this in the third stanza when they say, “Take these broken wings and learn to fly.”Blackbird” 2) In this line, The Beatles use the symbol of broken wings to convey that with determination and a full heart, you can overcome any obstacle because, if you have ever fallen down, you need to be determined to get back on your feet and FLY.

A particular strength of this song is the lyrics because each one of the lines is unique, even though some repeat, I feel that every time I hear this song, there is always a new meaning to it. An example of this is when, Paul McCartney sings, “Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly/ Into the light of the dark black night.” (“Blackbird” 9-10) This strengthens the song by showing that blackbird has a  happy ending and it free from all of it’s pain.

A particular weakness of this song is the amount of lyrics. Although the lyrics in this song are phenomenal, if The Beatles would have added more lyrics to the song, it would have been a whole lot better. This weakens the song because with the lack of lyrics,is makes the song a little less powerful and more like a broken record.

All in all, “Blackbird” is an incredible song that has inspired many people to open their hearts and overcome things with determination. This is relevant to my life because I have broken bones, I have fallen down plenty of times, but I could not have gotten to the point where I am at today without being determined to bounce back on my feet and having a full heart.I recommend that when you listen to this song that you actually listen to the lyrics instead of the melody because their is a message that is really powerful and might help you out in the future.