"Blackbird" is a folk song written and recorded by Sir Paul McCartney in 1968. The song was written at a time of great change, as the Civil Rights movement was underway in the United States. McCartney was an advocate of the movement and wrote of the escalating civil rights issues, speaking on behalf of the African Americans.  McCartney uses his haunting, yet simple lyrics, symbolism and the imagery of a blackbird to exemplify the struggle and redemption of African Americans in the United States in attempt to inspire a nation to change.

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night." The blackbird represents the population of African Americans in the United States living in distress and oppression. The first line shows the struggle of the African Americans to be heard by the U.S. government and the rest of the nation. The blackbird is forced to sing under the cover of darkness for fear of being caught. If the many brave souls of the Civil Rights movements spoke out they would be prosecuted and arrested without a fair trial. The "dead of night" symbolizes the dark and desperate time the African Americans were going through. But despite that fear the bird still sings, much like the drive and need for equality was strong in black communities regardless of their political suffrage. 

"Take these broken wings and learn to fly." McCartney paints a tragically beautiful picture of an injured bird learning to fly again. The communities and families of the South needed to rise from the ashes and claim the equal rights they were entitled to. The relationship between the South and African Americans had been irreversibly changed by the Civil War. There was a sour taste left in the mouth of south, allowing prejudice and racism to flourish in the wake of the Reconstruction. The hard feelings and negative associations with African American's were the bird's broken wings and the Civil Rights movement was a chance for change and to prosper again. This bird has been hiding in the night and healing, much like the South had been in quiet suffering after the war. African American Civil Rights activists had been forced into hiding by the white public, but this didn't stop them from evangelizing, plotting, and philosophizing in darkness much like this bird has been learning to fly. 

"All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise."  Timing is very significant in the importance of this line. The song was written in 1968, marking the last year of the Civil Rights movement. As McCartney looked back on the movement, he saw the positive impact of the movement and the successful changes that had been made in the United States. "All your life" shows the daily struggle that the African Americans lived with. Inequality is humiliating, inconvenient, and just wrong. The African Americans in the United States were forced to live like this for years, and for many their entire lifetime. The bird, patiently waiting for his time to arise symbolizes the start of the Civil Rights movement, when enough was enough. It was time for a change and the community rose from the shackles of the racist South.

McCartney reiterates the first line of the song: "Blackbird singing in the dead of night." This shows that despite an internal revolution many were still left in the dark, so to speak. Many still could not ride buses and many could not eat at restaurants. This was all due to a fundamental change that needed to happen. The beautiful bird could not see the light until it was accepted by all of the creatures of the forest. African Americans could not experience true freedom until they were accepted by their neighbors, by their bosses, and by their local jurisdictions.

"Take these sunken eyes and learn to see." The South is symbolized by the sunken eyes. They had closed their eyes on change and were stuck in the past. The Civil Rights movement was the enlightening that the southern eyes needed to see. This vision that the south had was hundreds of years in the making and McCartney is saying that the Civil Rights movement is the change it has always needed. "All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free." The South was free from the hatred that tied down their culture. Living in a constant state of hate and anger had plagued the south and was taken out on the African Americans living there.  

The last stanza of the song is again a repeat of the first: 

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

This repeat of the last line is haunting to listeners due to its vagueness. He speaks again of the rise but not the success. There was still much work to be done in the South, to mend the broken wings and give rise to a new generation of empowered African Americans. This shows that while they rose and made a significant change, many were left with hate in their hearts and sunken eyes. It is a reminder that true, powerful change is not instant; it is a battle to be endured, to be courageously fought, and to be eventually won, so that the blackbird can fly free once again. 

