"Blackbird"
By: The Beatles
The song “Blackbird” by the Beatles depicts racial inequality particularly the time of the civil rights movement when African Americans started to protest against the discrimination that they faced in American society. While inspecting the lyrics of the song, it is evident that symbolism is widely used to depict the life of African Americans during a time of segregated America. In this song, the “blackbird” symbolizes an African American woman which is suggested by the song writer's choice of a bird as the subject and the dark color used to describe the animal. The song starts of with the line, “Blackbird singing in the dead of night” represents the idea of how African Americans how they lived life in the darkness as they faced many forms of violence from white people, were pushed to a corner of society, and were treated as inferior. The next couple of lines, “Take these broken wings and learn to fly.
All your life you were only waiting for this moment to arise” is a clear depiction of how African Americans were abused in various ways due to racism but they should step up and protest against this injustice. By doing this, they will be able to “fly” which is a representation of the movement toward equality and true freedom. Moreover, symbolism if further used in the lines, “Take these sunken eyes and learn to see. All your life you were only waiting for this moment to be free.” This represents the need for African Americans to open their eyes and acknowledge the inequities they face so that they can finally achieve what they ultimately desire, equality. Throughout the rest of the song, the lines are encouraging as they motivate the bird to fly since it has been anxiously waiting for this moment all along. This portion of the song corresponds to the idea that African Americans should start voicing their opinion and take a powerful stand against racism and discrimination since they have been looking forward for a time marked by justice and fairness. Lastly, the song ends with a powerful line that is repeated three times,“You were only waiting for this moment to arise.” The repetition of the this line is emphasizing the fact that African Americans have been anticipating a time when they will be finally to live in an America based on the principles of equality and freedom. Therefore, “Blackbird” is depicting the situation of African Americans during the times of segregation and is enforcing the idea that they should start protesting in order to ultimately enjoy equality. Moreover, this song clearly relates to the theme of social inequality since this is the main subject being discussed in the form of discrimination against African Americans.
All your life you were only waiting for this moment to arise” is a clear depiction of how African Americans were abused in various ways due to racism but they should step up and protest against this injustice. By doing this, they will be able to “fly” which is a representation of the movement toward equality and true freedom. Moreover, symbolism if further used in the lines, “Take these sunken eyes and learn to see. All your life you were only waiting for this moment to be free.” This represents the need for African Americans to open their eyes and acknowledge the inequities they face so that they can finally achieve what they ultimately desire, equality. Throughout the rest of the song, the lines are encouraging as they motivate the bird to fly since it has been anxiously waiting for this moment all along. This portion of the song corresponds to the idea that African Americans should start voicing their opinion and take a powerful stand against racism and discrimination since they have been looking forward for a time marked by justice and fairness. Lastly, the song ends with a powerful line that is repeated three times,“You were only waiting for this moment to arise.” The repetition of the this line is emphasizing the fact that African Americans have been anticipating a time when they will be finally to live in an America based on the principles of equality and freedom. Therefore, “Blackbird” is depicting the situation of African Americans during the times of segregation and is enforcing the idea that they should start protesting in order to ultimately enjoy equality. Moreover, this song clearly relates to the theme of social inequality since this is the main subject being discussed in the form of discrimination against African Americans.