Beyoncé’s cover of The Beatles classic ‘Blackbird’, included on her new album ‘Cowboy Carter’, has prompted a lot of reactions among fans.
‘Cowboy Carter’ was released today (March 29), her eighth studio album and the second in an expected trilogy that began with 2022’s ‘Renaissance’.
The second track on the album is a cover of the 1968 Beatles song, which she has renamed ‘Blackbiird’. Given the album’s embrace of country influences – including a cover of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ and appearances from Willie Nelson and Linda Martell – and its themes concerning race in American music history, the song has been chosen pointedly.
Listen to ‘Blackbiird’ here:
Paul McCartney wrote ‘Blackbird’ during the civil rights struggle of the 1960s, just weeks after the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. As he is quoted in the 1997 book Many Years From Now: “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.’”
McCartney was also inspired in part to write the song by the Little Rock Nine, a group of Black teenagers who tried to enrol at an all-white high school in Arkansas in 1957.
In Beyoncé’s version, she uses McCartney’s original guitar part, accentuating the melody with the harmonised vocals of Black country singers Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell and Tiera Kennedy. The emphasis on the words “learn to fly” and “moment to arise” highlight the positive messaging of the original track.
Many on social media have been sharing how emotional the experience of listening to ‘Blackbiird’ has been, with one writing: “Paul McCartney wrote Blackbird about a Black woman during the civil rights movement so for Beyoncé to put the Black country girls on this specific song. I’m going to be so normal about my favorite song.”
Paul McCartney wrote Blackbird about a Black woman during the civil rights movement so for Beyoncé to put the Black country girls on this specific song. I’m going to be so normal about my favorite song. #COWBOYCARTER pic.twitter.com/PWN6knODHA
— Caroline Renard (@carolinerenard_) March 29, 2024
Another said: “All the black country girlies on blackbird where tf is my box of tissue bitch”.
All the black country girlies on blackbird where tf is my box of tissue bitch pic.twitter.com/ry8ok8F2DY
— macaulay cockin (@gardenoutro) March 29, 2024
Check out a range of other reactions to the song below:
“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.”Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts. pic.twitter.com/ymnQ0asOYC
— Caroline Renard (@carolinerenard_) March 29, 2024
I’m sorry this Blackbird rendition is this absolutely beautiful and so emotional. They all sounded so amazing. #COWBOYCARTER pic.twitter.com/m8NNOeBcci
— Ms. Andry Noir, PhD (@keatingssixth) March 29, 2024
Now…how did y’all leave out the fact that Beyoncé included Brittney Spencer AND Reyna Roberts AND Tiera Kennedy along with Tanner Adell?!
She called ALL the budding Black country girls!!! https://t.co/TGI0mXub0Q
— issa rae’s favorite reporter. (@TheGreatIsNate) March 29, 2024
and blackbird being a love letter to the black women of the Little Rock Nine by the beatles themselves 🥹 https://t.co/fUfZRCpdV4 pic.twitter.com/pNTCLsr9eo
— RK Jackson | Atlanta 🛸 (@theerkj) March 29, 2024
me digging up the beatles so they can listen to beyoncé’s cover of blackbird pic.twitter.com/HnmUN57aAH
— wiLL (@willfulchaos) March 29, 2024
Beyoncé covering “Blackbird,” a song not only written as a love letter to Black women but by a band who notably ripped off Black music, and then singing it with incredible Black women in country music just has so many layers to it. Phenomenal and brilliant choice.
— Dom Kelly (@the_tattooedjew) March 29, 2024
‘Cowboy Carter’ also includes features from Post Malone and Miley Cyrus, although the long-rumoured appearance from Taylor Swift did not materialise.
Before its release, Queen Bey also addressed some of the backlash she had received for foraying into the country music sphere. Writing on Instagram, she said: “This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t. But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive.”