Blackbird Singing: Poems and Lyrics, 1965-1999 by Paul McCartney

Blackbird Singing: Poems and Lyrics, 1965-1999 Reviews

• 
  Teresa

  This 2001 collection is probably only for the fans.
  
  Some of the poems are touching and effective, especially those dealing with Linda’s death. Most of the lyrics set forth as poems don’t work as such for me: I know them too well as songs and can only read them with their melodies in my head. That doesn’t take away their power, as melody has always been Paul’s forte.
  
  In the poem Meditate, a couplet jumped out at me as a homage to Prufrock:
  
  

  Shall I fear to now repeat/
  Words that whistled down our street?

  
  
  Finding that was fun.
  
  My impetus to read this now was the announcement of Paul’s “autobiography- in- lyrics” coming out near the end of the year. While writing this review, I’m listening to his 2007 album Memory Almost Full; it’s not one of my favorites, but several of the songs have great lyrics that I imagine will be included.
• 
  Isabell

  I admit to taking this book from the library shelf simply because of its beautiful cover and title. Only then became aware that it was written by Paul McCartney. I don't know much about him, other than that he was one of the Beatles and that his daughter makes cool clothes. My mom and dad first kissed at a party in the 70s while dancing to "Hey Jude." My dad looked a bit like him, too: big soulful eyes, soft narrow lips, and a thick moptop for hair.
  
  I had to check it out.
  
  The introduction is written by someone called Adrian Mitchell, of whom I had never heard, but of whom I should have heard, as it turns out. He is a well-known British poet, THE poet of the anti-bomb movement, according to wiki. In his introduction, he writes about Paul McCartney's poems a little defensively... as if the idea that a songwriter can be a poet might prove to be a tough sell. Here is why I mention him: I fell in love with one of his expressions. He calls the art of poetry "the art of dancing naked," and that must be one of the most beautiful things I've ever read.
  
  And so it is that we see Paul McCartney dance naked here. Maybe it is an awkward, impenetrable dance at times, but nevertheless always an honest dance. Some poems felt to me like he was perhaps dancing drunk on the table, and the judgement as to whether that is beautiful might be best left to each beholder. Some of his poems really left me in awe, like seeing the starry sky on a cold winter's night. Some made me laugh out loud. I also really enjoyed the interspersing of his song lyrics throughout. They stood side by side with his poems, and it was nice to read the words for what they are, without the music.
  
  At the end of the day, I really enjoyed this little volume. It took me less than 2 hours to read through it, and it put a smile on my face. I feel like I know him a little, know his era a little. He is from Liverpool, a lonely boy.
  
  I know a little about dance. Dancing is not all about technique. At the heart of it, it's about expressing something. And really good dancers can make people feel that something. Well, I felt something.
  
  Here is one poem:
  
  
  Full Moon's Eve
  
  On a full moon's eve
  a tiger sprang
  And gnawed on
  Who I used to be
  
  A pale haze lights
  The fox's eye
  And...
  Checking once
  He leaves by a hole in the hedge
  
  Old loves return
  to kiss the lips
  In case the empty gallery
  Should fill with whispering strangers
  Like a flood
• 
  Andrew

  Here's the thing; Paul McCartney is not a lyrics guy. "Eleanor Rigby," sure, but that's an exception, not the rule. My personal favourite is a bit of an exaggeration, but, as an example, I present, as included in the book, the lyrics to "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?":
  
  Why don't we do it in the road?
  Why don't we do it in the road?
  No one will be watching us,
  why don't we do it in the road?
  
  Why don't we do it in the road?
  Why don't we do it in the road?
  No one will be watching us,
  why don't we do it in the road?
  
  Why don't we do it in the road?
  Why don't we do it in the road?
  No one will be watching us,
  why don't we do it in the road?
• 
  Josephine

  This review might not be totally objective. Because I'm a big fan of Sir Paul McCartney and his music and especially his lyrics.
  I've always thought that Paul McCartney has written some of the most beautiful songs... in the world. The lyrics are often a simple story with a poetic feel to it, so why not publish them on paper as a collection? It makes sense.
  
  All I can say is: read it. And admire the art of writing songs. The thing about Sir Paul McCartney is, that it seems so easy - and thats the beauty of his lyrics.
• 
  Dana

  Now, I honestly don't know much about poetry. I've never been a huge fan of it but from time to time, I do like to sit down and try and explore it a little. I picked this book up years ago during the height of my Beatles phase and decided to re read it tonight.
  
  It's an easy read and some of the poems are amusing but I think that Paul should stick to music. Some of his songs are written in this book and it was actually interesting to read the songs vs the poems. You can tell the man is a lyricist. His lyrics were better than his poetry. That being said, when he wrote on subjects that were closer to home for him (his wife, his children, John's death) he managed to create something beautiful. It was nice to see him dabble in this field but I much prefer his music and his melodies.
  
  Overall, it's a nice little read to keep you occupied for an hour or two but you may find that putting on an old Beatles album is more enjoyable.
• 
  Dave

  A book that started as a surprise gift to Paul from Linda ended up being this collection of poems and song lyrics from Paul's Beatles, Wings, and solo output catalog.
  I was very familiar with all of the song lyrics, but not so much with Paul's poetry. The standout for me was Standing Stone which reads more like an old Greek epic and was a long poem turned into a classical score and symphony by the London Symphony Orchestra with an album that came out in 1997.
  Paul displays his wit, charm, and even Lennon-like coarseness at times and "Eleanor Rigby" always seemed like a great poem to me and I recall seeing the lines in an Anthology of Literature softcover I once had for a class.
• 
  Jonathan

  A good selection of McCartney's lyrics (some with other writers) and poetry. There is a long poem, Standing Stone, which is particularly impressive. Seeing the lyrics written down shows just how imaginative a writer McCartney is, and how far his compositions are from the popular idea of what a pop song should be about. There are several touching poems about his family, and I was especially moved by those about his late wife Linda.
• 
  Adam

  I am unimpressed. The introduction of this book entreats us to forget Paul McCartney the musician and focus on Paul McCartney the poet. If that was the goal, the lyrics should have been left out, or at least they should have been presented in a separate section. I've heard and enjoyed McCartney's songs since infancy, and I've heard the stories behind many of those songs time and again; it's just not possible for me to divorce the lyrics from all of that history.
  
  Instead, Beatles lyrics, Wings lyrics and McCartney's solo lyrics are interspersed with poems, with no nods to chronological order (which might have shed light on the development of his poetic voice or shown how his very public work compared to more private efforts from the same era, if there is such overlap).
  
  And frankly, the poetry is mediocre. Take away the juvenile wordplay and weak metaphors, and you won't be left with much. Sorry, Paul; your words just don't work that well without music.
• 
  Cob

  I'll keep it short: I'm a huge Paul McCartney fan. This includes both poems and lyrics (as the title indicates), and I'm of the firm opinion that Paul's work is best set to music. His original poems are definitely interesting, but they (let me see if I can word this correctly) read as if they were either written to be songs or written to break with Paul's usual songwriting techniques. Like, I rarely thought, "This is a poem." That being said, seeing Paul's experiments with poetry and re-reading some of his lyrics as poems brought some new insight into his work. I saw new patterns, recurring themes, and wordplay. So--no surprises here, but it did give me a chance to just sit and think about one of my favorite songwriters.
• 
  Nicole Rizik

  Como diría un amigo viejo (que no es lo mismo que un viejo amigo) este libro está lleno de sorpresas. Paul estaba muy lejos de ser mi Beatle favorito, yo siempre fui Team Lennon. Sin embargo, este libro me ha llevado a comprender que el éxito de los Beatles se encuentra atrás de Paul.
  
  La simplicidad de sus letras, las historias cotidianas, los recuerdos de viejos tiempos -de mejores tiempos- y el espíritu positivo hacia el futuro... Te golpean en la cara y te ponen a reflexionar sobre muchos aspectos de la vida.
  
  Definitivamente Paul "took his broken wings and learned to fly".
• 
  Brenda

  I love the Beatles, even met Paul McCartney's step-mom in Damascus, Lebanon when I was 10 and got a personally autographed photo of the Beatles from her. I love the songs and lyrics. I'm not a fan of most poetry. This book has both lyrics and poems. When I read the lyrics, the songs were in my head. I liked maybe 1/2 of the poems, so that's why I gave it 3 stars.
• 
  Jimmy

  The best ones were those that I found myself singing along as I read them.
• 
  Sara

  The typical, whimsical song lyrics and words from McCartney. Interesting to read his poetry with a mix of his well known songs.
• 
  Lola Sebastian

  I’m a huge beatles fan but some of the terrible poetry in this book lowkey traumatized me when I was younger.
• 
  Angela Maher

  I thought I would like this more than I did, but I'm still glad I read it.
  It's interesting seeing these words presented like this. Lyrics are a form of poetry in many cases so putting them with dedicated verse is fitting. Some lyrics were obviously lyrics, however, and some poems obviously poems. Then some fell into a twilight where they could be either.
• 
  Jessica

  I first read this book in 2013. I found it again at the library and I was surprised I had only given it 3 stars. I love the Beatles.. so I reread it.
  I'm giving it 3 stars again. I LOVE the lyric poems, but the others I did not care for.
  
  
  
  2013:
  A long and winding road that leads to your door,
  Will never disappear, I've seen that road before,
  It always leads me here, lead me to your door.
  
  The wild and windy night that the rain washed away,
  Has left a pool of tears crying for the day.
  Why leave me standing here?
  Let me know the way.
  
  Many times I've been alone and many times I've cried,
  Anyway you'll never know the many ways I've tried,
  But still they lead me back to the long, winding road,
  You left me standing here, a long, long time ago.
  Don't leave me waiting here lead me to your door...
• 
  Patricia N. McLaughlin

  “When I was a teenager, for some reason I had an overwhelming desire to have a poem published in the school magazine. I wrote something deep and meaningful—which was promptly rejected—and I suppose I have been trying to get my own back ever since.” —Paul McCartney. Boy, did he ever!
  
  Favorites include
  “Blackbird”*
  “When I’m Sixty-Four”
  “Here Today”
  “Penny Lane”
  “The Long and Winding Road”*
  “The Fool on the Hill”
  “Hey Jude”
  “Yesterday”*
  “Paperback Writer”
  “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”
  “Eleanor Rigby”
  “My Love”*
  “Meditate” [Ode To Monkey Mind]
  
  *Doubly divine!
• 
  Nicolas

  There's a reason why these songs have lasted the test of time. They are so clever and moving. It is great to see them in print like this. It was also interesting to read some of his straight poetry. Overall, this was a excellent collection.
  
  We discuss this and more in our McCartney spotlight on the All the Books Show:
  https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/ep...
• 
  Mermaid

  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 arise
  Blackbird singing in the dead of night
  Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
  
  
  All your life
  
  
  You were only waiting for this moment to be free
  Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
  Into the light of a dark black night
  Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
  Into the light of a dark black night
  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 arise
  You were only waiting for this moment to arise
  You were only waiting for this moment to arise
  
  
  John Lennon/Paul McCartney
  
• 
  Honesty

  I just could not finish this book. Paul McCartney may have been good at pop lyrics, but as a serious poet he's--lacking. There were no original ideas or imagery in this book, and a fair portion of the poems were song lyrics any Beatles fan would have heard before. Oddly, I found out that it wasn't the lyrics I loved so much as all the elements of the song put together, as on the page without an accompaniment they were not very interesting.
  
  But I read more than half of it, so for all intents and purposes I'll let it count towards this year's page count. Might as well get something out of it.
• 
  Kari

  These pages are filled with some heartfelt well written poems, but most of the pages contained really below average poems. Paul McCartney’s strength in deftly conjoining words with music made me have high expectations for this collection, so for me, some of his poetry left something to be desired (music)— but that might not be the case for other McCartney fans, it’s hard to say. It was worth reading since it was a relatively short collection and had brief moments of excellence; however, I would recommend lowering your expectations first.
  
• 
  James Biser

  Word choice is a gift that Paul McCartney has developed. The songs and poems in this book are masterful. When he has taught classes on writing, he explains to his students that his secret to writing a song is working on it until he recognizes that a song (or poem) seems complete or right. This is a book of poetry so fine that I want to return to it repeatedly. It is not good enough to just have the Beatle and Wings in my collections of music.
• 
  Caroline H

  Realized as I was reading that I’ve never actually read a lot of Beatles lyrics and they are very clever. Enjoyed that.
  Paul McCartney the Poet, not as much. There were a handful of poems I liked. The rest were average with like some sneaky dirty lines, which threw me cause I just think of Paul McCarney as this old dude.
• 
  Vivian

  This was a birthday present for my 29th birthday. It was one of the best presents ever as it has brought me joy over the years. I love The Beatles and I love Paul McCartney. Getting to read his words anytime I want is a wonderful feeling of love , hope and at times sadness.
• 
  Angie

  It was nice to revisit old and newer song lyrics that bring me joy and smiles, as well as reading poetry new to me. McCartney continues to stimulate minds and hearts with this book- loved every page. My personal favorite is “Calico Skies.”
• 
  Vivien Brown

  Some of these are instantly recognisable as familiar song lyrics, so much so that I sang them to the tunes in my head as I read them. Many of the others are unfamiliar and to be honest not very good. Unmemorable poetry. A disappointment.
• 
  Jennifer

  Of course, I love the song lyrics, but I also really liked many of the poems.