How The Beatles Fit Into Beyoncé’s Country Album, ‘Cowboy Carter’
The second track on Cowboy Carter — Beyoncé’s country album on the cover of which the singer wears red, white, and blue, and carries an American flag — is a take on a song by notoriously British band, The Beatles. At first glance, the cover of “Blackbird,” while beautiful, may seem like an outlier. Other artists featured on the album include country icons like Dolly Parton, Linda Martell, and Willie Nelson. The Beatles’ song makes more sense on the album than it may initially seem, though.
Beyoncé covers The Beatles’ ‘Blackbird’ on ‘Cowboy Carter’
Cowboy Carter features a luminous, true-to-the-original cover of “Blackbird.” Beyoncé sings the song, accompanied by the harmonies of Black country artists Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy, Brittney Spencer, and Reyna Roberts. The folky, White Album classic is an unexpected addition to the country album. It’s also a crucial one.
Paul McCartney, who wrote the song in 1968, explained his inspiration for “Blackbird.”
“At the time in 1968 when I was writing ‘Blackbird,’ I was very conscious of the terrible racial tensions in the U.S,” McCartney wrote in his book The Lyrics. “The year before, 1967, had been a particularly bad year, but 1968 was even worse. The song was written only a few weeks after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. That imagery of the broken wings and the sunken eyes and the general longing for freedom is very much of its moment.”
The bird in the song, he explained, is symbolic.
“I had in mind a Black woman, rather than a bird,” he said in the book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles. “Those were the days of the civil rights movement, which all of us cared passionately about, so this was really a song from me to a Black woman, experiencing these problems in the States: ‘Let me encourage you to keep trying, to keep your faith, there is hope.’ As is often the case with my things, a veiling took place so, rather than say ‘Black woman living in Little Rock’ and be and be very specific, she became a bird, became symbolic, so you could apply it to your particular problem.”
Beyoncé said her fight for space in the country genre as a Black woman inspired Cowboy Carter. In this context, “Blackbiird” fits in well.
Beyoncé shared the inspiration behind ‘Cowboy Carter’
When Beyoncé revealed the cover of Cowboy Carter, she shared a lengthy message about the album’s inspiration.
“It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t,” she wrote on Instagram. “But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.”
This is likely a reference to the backlash she received following her CMA performance of “Daddy Lessons” with The Chicks.
“The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me,” she wrote. “[Act II] is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.”
The Beatles aren’t the only artist Beyoncé covered on the new album
“Blackbiird” comes as a bit of a surprise, but the album’s other cover, “Jolene,” does not. For years, Parton has spoken about her desire for Beyoncé to tackle her 1973 classic and, on Cowboy Carter, she finally does. Parton herself appears on “Dolly P” and “Tyrant.” Nelson and Martell also feature in interludes throughout the album.
Other artists featured on Cowboy Carter include Parton’s goddaughter Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Shaboozey, and Willie Jones.
