Was Paul McCartney's Song “Blackbird” Inspired by the Civil Rights Movement?
A lengthy post recirculating online offered a slightly dramatized account of the origin of one of Paul McCartney’s most socially conscious songs.
The post, which first appeared on Facebook in June 2017 (and then again in October 2018), reported that the Beatles song “Blackbird,” which was released on the group’s eponymous 1968 LP commonly referred to as the “White Album,” was inspired by a visit the singer/guitarist paid to America.
According to the post:
It is said that [McCartney] was sitting, resting, when he heard a woman screaming. He looked up to see a black woman being surrounded by the police. The police had her handcuffed, and were beating her. He thought the woman had committed a terrible crime. He found out “the crime” she committed was to sit in a section reserved for whites.
Paul McCartney was shocked. There was no segregation in England. But, here in America, the land of freedom, this is how blacks were being treated.
Source: Arturo Garcia/snopes.com
