Beyoncé’s new album, Cowboy Carter, has a special song called “Blackbiird” that uses parts of an old Beatles song from 1968 called “Blackbird.” Paul McCartney, one of the Beatles, played the acoustic guitar and tapped his foot in the original version, and Beyoncé got permission to use those exact sounds in her cover. This was confirmed by people who work with Beyoncé, according to a news site called Variety.
The song credits, which tell us who helped make the music, show Paul McCartney as a guitarist and producer for “Blackbiird.” But they don’t say that his guitar and foot-tapping come from the 56-year-old Beatles recording. Beyoncé changed the name to “Blackbiird” with extra “i” letters to match the theme of her album, which is like a sequel to her earlier work, Renaissance.
Paul McCartney wrote “Blackbird” by himself in 1968 for the Beatles’ White Album. Even though John Lennon gets credit too, it was all Paul’s idea. He wrote it to support the civil rights movement in America, a time when people were fighting for fairness. The title “Blackbird” also connects to a British word, “bird,” which means “girl.”
Beyoncé made her version special by adding voices from four Black women in country music: Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts, and Brittney Spencer. She also included new sounds like strings, a violin, and a bass, played by someone named Khirye Tyler. Unlike the Beatles’ version, she took out the bird chirping noises.
This isn’t the first time Paul McCartney has let someone use “Blackbird.” In 2019, he allowed a musician named Rachel Fuller to mix the original song with new orchestra and choir music. Beyoncé’s album also has other fun covers, like Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” and songs with stars like Miley Cyrus and Post Malone. Stevie Wonder even played harmonica on her “Jolene”!
Recently, Beyoncé thanked Jack White, someone she worked with before, by sending him flowers and a note. She said he inspired her a lot for Cowboy Carter. A music review from NME gave the album five stars, saying Beyoncé’s singing is amazing and the album feels big but personal. It’s exciting to see how she mixes old sounds with new ideas!
