Blackbird Singing
Poems and Lyrics, 1965-1999
by Paul McCartney
'The critics sharpen their pencils when they see me....I don't care—they criticized Sgt. Pepper.'—Paul McCartney
"They don't like me stepping out of my chosen field. But hell, I want to do it, so tough.''—Paul McCartney, on critical reaction to his foray into poetry
"Paul McCartney is a genius with the common touch. He oozes a creativity that expresses itself in music, painting, poetry and in the attitude to life which informs all his art. People who admire him will want these 52 poems and 25 lyrics simply as a reminder of all that he, mainly through his songs, has meant to them....Unlike more rarefied poets, who communicate mostly with each other in obscure crannies of our culture, McCartney writes as freely (and often as beautifully) as a blackbird sings. He really can't help himself, but must record his experience of the world in new creations that at once pay tribute to what's familiar and interpret it uniquely, with a vividness all our own."—Stephen Logan, The Sunday Times [London]
"It's nice to have the lyrics of so many contemporary classics all together. The "literary event'' solemnity can't hide the larky humor of "Yellow Submarine'' or "Maxwell's Silver Hammer,'' the poignancy of "Yesterday.'' Music of our years, music to our ears."—Nancy Pate, Orlando Sentinel
"[T]his is the first time Sir Paul McCartney has released his writings in a single collection, and the results are decidedly strong....when McCartney's writings succeed—as many of them do in Blackbird Singing—they become nothing short of exhilarating."—Peter Neil Nason, Tampa Tribune
"[W]hile this book is far from the Gospel According to Paul, it's certainly McCartney at his most genuine....The literary intelligentsia may roll their eyes. Still, fans will appreciate Blackbird Singing because it's Paul being Paul: succinctly, playfully, and sentimentally. And what's wrong with that?"—René A. Guzman, San Antonio Express-News
"Sir Paul McCartney—painter, composer, and songwriter (even the Queen taps her feet to "Penny Lane")—has been steadily writing poetry along with the lyrics memorized by much of the world....There are the grand and expected songs, such as "Hey Jude," "Yesterday," and "Eleanor Rigby"; ditties like "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" and surreal oddities like "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window"; elegies for McCartney's wife, Linda Eastman McCartney, and for friend Ivan Vaughan; and a variety of verse, such as "To Find the Joy": "Seagulls spiral whirl / Against the sullen oak / No scientific thought informs / Their madcap swirl."...While McCartney is of a completely different cast than Bob Dylan, his appeal may be even greater than that of the latter great poet-songwriter."—Publishers Weekly
"McCartney isn't aiming at literary greatness. These campaigning, elegiac, impressionistic poems are more about message than stylistic mastery. It would be to miss their point to use them as fodder in the endless "is Bob Dylan better than Keats" debate....There is a new generation of poets coming up—writers as influenced by Elvis Costello as by daffodils. Blackbird Singing will not satisfy the academics. But it might be a first step in a fresh direction for many new readers. Could poetry even become the new rock 'n' roll?"—Rachel Campbell-Johnston, The Times [London]
"...the nine-page "Standing Stone" sequence, more than four times the length of anything else included, is a remarkable feat of historical imagination—a primeval redemption myth whose sustained narrative detachment bursts into a subtly orchestrated lyric orgasm. It evokes the whole-earth mystique that has gathered such practical momentum since the 1960s (partly thanks to campaigning by the likes of Linda and Paul)....About 20 pages are devoted to Paul's late wife and muse, and though they are uneven (sometimes because of their palpable sincerity), they contain meditative lines that will speak volumes to anyone who has experienced the solitary confinement that follows the loss of a soulmate."—Michael Horovitz, The Guardian Read the entire review
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