Beyonce covered a classic hit from The Beatles titled, Blackbird, which appeared on her country-themed album, Cowboy Carter, that officially dropped on Thursday.
The performer, 42 – who rewrote lyrics to Dolly Parton’s song Jolene which she also covered on the LP – also featured four African-American country artists on the song, including Tanner Adell, Britteny Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts.
The cover – which is spelt as Blackbiird – is the second track on the album and leads into 16 Carriages.
Similar to the original, a guitar played the tune in the background as Beyonce showed off her impressive vocal skills as she kept to the original lyrics.
Some included, ‘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.’
Beyonce, 42, covered a classic hit from The Beatles titled, Blackbird, which appeared on her country-themed album, Cowboy Carter, that officially dropped on Thursday
Similar to the original, a guitar played the tune in the background as Beyonce showed off her impressive vocal skills as she kept to the original lyrics; seen in 1967
The fellow artists on the track offered harmonizing background vocals for the duration of the cover.
Adell has been a big fan of Beyonce and had previously mentioned her dream of collaborating with the Crazy In Love hitmaker on country music.
‘I really love Beyonce, so I would love to do a big Beyonce country moment with dance. Obviously, I dance too, so I would be over the moon doing something with her,’ she told Country Now in 2023.
Brittney Spencer is known for her performances of Highwomen and also Crowded Table while Roberts has released tracks such as Country Club while
Tiera Kennedy is also rising in the music industry and has opened for other artists such as Kelsea Ballerini.
Blackbird is found on the 1968 album, The Beatles, which is also known as The White Album. The song was written by Paul McCartney and also John Lennon – and addressed racial tension in the southern U.S. in the 1960s.
Back in 2021, McCartney opened up about writing the track in his book, The Lyrics, per Rolling Stone. ‘At the time in 1968 when I was writing Blackbird, I was very conscious of the terrible racial tensions in the U.S.’
‘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.’
Some included, ‘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 is found on the 1968 album, The Beatles, which is also known at The White Album. The song was written by Paul McCartney and also John Lennon – and addressed racial tension in the southern U.S. in the 1960s; seen in 1968
The performer also featured four African-American country artists on the song, including Tanner Adell, Britteny Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts; Adell seen above earlier this month in Nashville
‘That imagery of the broken wings and the sunken eyes and the general longing for freedom is very much of its moment,’ Paul said.
He had also talked about the song’s lyrics in another book titled Many Years From Now (1997).
‘I had in mind a Black woman, rather than a bird. 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.””
Social media users flocked to X to gush over the Blackbird cover, with one admitting to getting an ’emotional’ effect from the track.
‘I’m sorry this Blackbird rendition is this absolutely beautiful and so emotional. They all sounded so amazing. #COWBOYCARTER.’
Another added, ‘Now…how did y’all leave out the fact that Beyonce included Brittney Spencer AND Reyna Roberts AND Tiera Kennedy along with Tanner Adell?! She called ALL the budding Black country girls!!!’
One fan shared a GIF of The Beatles waving and typed out, ‘Blackbird is Beyonce’s song now. #COWBOYCARTER.’
‘Paul McCartney wrote Blackbird about a Black woman during the civil rights movement so for Beyonce to put Black county girls on this specific song, I’m going to be so normal about my favorite song,’ one added.
Social media users flocked to X to gush over the Blackbird cover, with one admitting to getting an ’emotional’ effect from the track
Another added, ‘Now…how did y’all leave out the fact that Beyonce included Brittney Spencer AND Reyna Roberts AND Tiera Kennedy along with Tanner Adell?! She called ALL the budding Black country girls!!!’
Beyonce also covered Dolly Parton’s 1973 track, Jolene, and notably rewrote the lyrics to the song.
A big alteration that was made occurred in the chorus, with the original seeing Dolly pleading with another woman. However, Beyonce changed the lyrics to give a stern warning to the woman to not ‘come for my man.’
‘Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/I’m warning you, don’t come for my man/Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/Don’t take the chance because you think you can,’ she sang.
Beyonce also made changes to lyrics in the verses as well, such as in verse one. Dolly had originally sung about the woman’s beauty while also belting out, ‘I cannot compete with you.’
In Beyonce’s version, she instead sang: ‘You’re beautiful beyond compare/Takes more than beauty and seductive stares/To come between a family and a happy man.’
‘Jolene I’m a woman too/The games you are playing are nothing new/So you don’t want no heat with me, Jolene,’ she further warned.
The cover concluded with a bridge as the songstress was joined by a choir as they belted out: ‘I crossed those valleys, highs and lows and everything between/Good deeds roll in like tumbling weeds.’
‘Good and happy cause you can’t dig up them planted seeds/Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene.’
Beyonce also covered Dolly Parton’s 1973 track, Jolene, and notably rewrote the lyrics to the song; seen in November 2023 in Nashville
A big alteration that was made occurred in the chorus, with the original seeing Dolly pleading with another woman. However, Beyonce changed the lyrics to give a stern warning to the woman to not ‘come for my man’
Beyonce then briefly sang in the perspective of her man and sang, ‘I’ma stand by her/She gon’ stand by me/Jolene I’ma stand by him/He gon’ stand by me Jolene.’
Dolly also had the opportunity to appear on Beyonce’s eighth studio album to voice an interlude.
The 20-second snippet – which is titled Dolly P – leads into the singer’s Jolene cover, and Parton could be heard saying, ‘Hey, Miss Honey Bey, it’s Dolly P.’
‘You know that hussy with the good hair you sing about? Reminded me of someone I knew back when. Except she has flaming locks of auburn hair,’ she added, subtly referencing to Beyonce’s ‘Becky’ from her Lemonade album era.
Cowboy Carter contains a total of 27 tracks, and Beyonce collaborated with other music artists on the country album, including Miley Cyrus on the song titled, II Most Wanted
Earlier this year on March 19, she announced Cowboy Carter’s release date – which is act ii for her successful 2022 album Renaissance
‘Bless her heart. Just a hair of a different color. But it hurts just the same.’
Cowboy Carter contains a total of 27 tracks, and Beyonce collaborated with other music artists on the country album, including Miley Cyrus on the song titled, II Most Wanted.
She worked alongside another legend, Willie Nelson, on Smoke Hour and Smoke Hour II, while Post Malone was featured on Levii’s Jeans. Her daughter, Rumi, also appeared on the song Protector.
Earlier this year on March 19, she announced Cowboy Carter’s release date – which is act ii for her successful 2022 album Renaissance.