“Blackbird” by The Beatles
By 1968, the Fab Four were beginning to add topicality and commentary to their music. “All You Need Is Love” had been an anthem for hippie idealism the year before and their classic B-side “Revolution” addressed violent protest; and on their self-titled double LP (popularly known as “The White Album”), Paul McCartney offered this plaintive ode to black women in America fighting in the Civil Rights Movement.
Notable lyric: “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 arrive…”
