“It reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place”: Paul McCartney praises Beyoncé for her version of Blackbird
The Cowboy Carter character was “inspired by the original Black cowboys of the American West”.
Images: Jim Dyson (left) and Michael Buckner (right) / Getty
Beyoncé’s new country album, COWBOY CARTER, features a cover of The Beatles’ 1968 White Album track, Blackbird, and Paul McCartney – who wrote the song – gave his blessing for her to do so.
According to Macca, the pair had a FaceTime call in which she thanked him for letting her put her own spin on the track. He has previously said across various interviews that he was inspired to write it due to racial tension in the South of the USA.
An official press release for the album states that the Cowboy Carter character was “inspired by the original Black cowboys of the American West” and explains, “The word cowboy itself was used in a derogatory way to describe the former slaves as ‘boys,’ who were the most skilled and had the hardest jobs of handling horses and cattle, alike.”
Taking to Threads, Instagram’s text app, McCartney writes, “I am so happy with Beyoncé’s version of my song Blackbird. I think she does a magnificent version of it and it reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place.
“I think Beyoncé has done a fab version and would urge anyone who has not heard it yet to check it out. You are going to love it!” He adds, “I spoke to her on FaceTime and she thanked me for writing it and letting her do it. I told her the pleasure was all mine and I thought she had done a killer version of the song.
“When I saw the footage on the television in the early ‘60s of the black girls being turned away from school, I found it shocking and I can’t believe that still in these days there are places where this kind of thing is happening right now.”
He concludes, “Anything my song and Beyoncé’s fabulous version can do to ease racial tension would be a great thing and makes me very proud.”
COWBOY CARTER was originally set to land before Beyoncé’s 2022 house album, RENAISSANCE, but following the COVID-19 pandemic, she says she felt it was the wrong time to release it.
Due to the delay, many fans online have been wondering how the new country release was kept under wraps for so long without anyone spilling any details on the internet. Guitarist Justus West who played on track 16 CARRIAGES explained on Threads following the release, “For those of us who worked on the album… it’s career suicide to get online and spill the beans.
“Not only would you be disbarred from the Beyoncé camp, no other artist would trust you could keep confidence. You’d essentially be out of the circle of trust for big/major projects that require a level of silence.”