Blackbird

When I was a student in the late sixties my friend Dave had The Beatles ‘White Album’ that we often listened to. One of my favourite tracks was Paul McCartney’s song ‘Blackbird’. On Friday Caroline, who used to be a professional violinist with the Royal Opera Company, visited our ‘Singing for Health’ group – and played ‘Blackbird’ beautifully on her violin. Last night Cate McHugh won the final of The Voice with a remarkable rendition of ‘Blackbird’.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night,
Take these broken wings and learn to fly.
All your life,
You were only waiting for the 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 the moment to be free.

Black bird fly, black bird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Paul McCartney wrote Blackbird as he reflected on the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. He said, ‘…I’d heard about the civil rights troubles that were happening in the ’60s in Alabama, Mississippi, Little Rock in particular, I just thought it would be really good if I could write something that if it ever reached any of the people going through those problems, it might give them a little bit of hope…’ Blackbird is a symbolic figure representing black people facing racial oppression. It’s about freedom, justice and rising above adversity.

For Cate McHugh last night this message of hope and resilience applied to her. Because of the degenerative macular condition ‘Stargardt Disease’, she lost her sight at the age of twenty-two. ‘Take these sunken eyes and learn to see…’ takes on particular poignancy; Cate’s singing about light, darkness and freedom is given a personal, fresh meaning. On ‘The Voice’ stage last night her broken wings were certainly flying.

And for me this morning, I have friends whose wings have been broken by sickness, age, broken relationships and bereavement, and any flight is impossible; folks who can’t see why darkness has come into their lives, or how they can see things in a better light. They’re ‘waiting for the moment to arise’ and it never comes. Paul McCartney’s words, echoed by Cate McHugh, tell us that flight, sight and light is possible.

And I remember the Jesus who came to bring good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, freedom for the oppressed, light to the darkness… and flight to those with broken wings.