Blackbird: A song of flight from illness and sorrow

Blackbird: A song of flight from illness and sorrow

“Blackbird,” written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney, is one of the enduring gems of The Beatles’ 1968 “White Album.”

1968. The year my wife Anne, who is succumbing to brain cancer, arrived in Canada.

McCartney’s “Blackbird” is an acoustic piece, featuring only his voice, guitar, and the subtle sound of a tapping foot.

Anne loves this bird and loves this song.

McCartney has apparently provided an interpretation of the lyrics.

Anne has never heard of this interpretation.

Perhaps she takes the recurring lines “Take these broken wings and learn to fly” and “Take these sunken eyes and learn to see” as a message of empowerment in the face of dire hardship or as a hint of her capacity to seek a new dawn, even in the dead of night.

I think this is how Anne feels about the song.

As part of her story as she takes flight into the unknown.

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

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird, fly
Blackbird, fly
Into the light of the dark black night