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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 811
EAN num: 9780756773663
ISBN number: 0756773660
Label: Diane Pub Co
Manufacturer: Diane Pub Co
Page Count: 185
Printing Date: 2004-01
Publishing house: Diane Pub Co
Sale Popularity Level: 450211
Studio: Diane Pub Co
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
The Words are as pure and magical as we remember them. Here Paul McCartney, in his very first collected volume of poems and lyrics, emerges with a dreamlike yet thoroughly mature voice that confirms his stature as one of the most original and best-loved poets of our time. To actually read McCartney's poems, whether exuberant ballads of love or poignant messages of deepest grief, is to appreciate the electrifying power of the confluence of dream and song. Readers will be familiar with many of the lyrics, like 'Yesterday', 'Penny Lane', and 'Hey Jude', which are part of the most cherished songbook of the twentieth century, but this volume also contains dozens of poems never before seen. Inspired by his late wife, Linda McCartney, Blackbird Singing gives us extraordinary acess to the inner life of one of the most influential figures of twentieth-century culture. The poems demonstrate, against an acknowledgment of the essential solitariness of existence, an irrepressible belief in the power of words and music to make things better.
Amazon.com Review:
It is nearly impossible to scan any of Paul McCartney's lyrics without hearing the Beatles' music in the background, dictating rhythm, pace, and mood. But as Blackbird Singing demonstrates, the effort is worth making. This very first collection brings together early and late poems, along with some of Sir Paul's greatest hits (including the words to 'Yesterday,' 'Lady Madonna,' 'Penny Lane,' and 'Hey Jude.') In his introduction, editor and fellow Liverpudlian Adrian Mitchell urges readers to 'wash out the name and the fame' and examine what's on the page. If you can do this, you're in for a pleasant surprise.
True, some of the lyrics appear trite on paper--'Heart of the Country' and 'Mull of Kintyre' are notable offenders. Even 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' seems naked and frail without the rousing brass section. But McCartney's deeper vulnerability comes to the surface in 'Dinner Tickets,' a poem about his childhood. And 'Standing Stone' recounts a gutsy fable about a man using the power of imagination to fend off the enemy: he erects a standing stone, 'a weathered finger to the sky' and learns to be 'at peace with peace.' 'Irish Language' boasts a rare streak of irony as the narrator admires the way 'those Irish chappies' swill the language around in their mouths and dribble it through their fingers. The song ends with a beautifully timed punch line: 'The Beatles were a bunch of Micks.' Blackbird Singing closes with poems dedicated to the author's late wife that are tender, sparse, and startlingly honest. --Cherry Smyth
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Rated by buyers 
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Nice collection of McCartney's writings. Some of the works gathered in this anthology are actual poems Paul McCartney wrote with the intention they be read or recited, but this book also presents the lyrics to many of his most famous and beloved songs, and showcases these oft-heard sentences as poetry. What impressed me was how well so many songs stand up as poems. A nice side effect of reading this book is we can see which among the many "Lennon/McCartney" songs done during the Beatles' era were actually the product of McCartney's authorship. Some of the compositions were obvious choices, others less easy to spot and these contained a few surprises. Arguably the most famous Beatles song "All The Lonely People" (aka "Eleanor Rigby" etc.) is perhaps even more moving devoid of its musical accompaniment, simply in the stark naked form of the written word. This is a nice collection from the mind and pen of one of the foremost figures of our time, and aside from pleasing the "must have" urge in hardcore McCartney fans, this book should find favor with anyone who gives it a chance.
Rated by buyers 
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Sir Paul McCartney as musician, songwriter, actor, producer, knight, yes. How about poet as opposed to songwriter? Most definitely, as his school teacher turned him on to Shakespeare and Chaucer. And as "Blackbird" is one of my favourite Beatles songs, I thought it appropriate a title for this collection of poetry and even songs by the Beatles, Wings, and his solo material. However, I also learned in the intro that he was inspired by a message he was giving to a grey women during the civil rights movement. The song was transformed from literal to symbol, so the words changed from "Black women living in Little Rock" to "Blackbird singing in the dead of night."
The book is divided into nine thematic sections:
1. Playing at Home
2. Yesterday
3. Friends And Enemies
4. The Business
5. The World Tonight
6. All The Lonely People
7. Standing Stone
8. Home To Love
9. Nova
Sections 3 and especially 6, taken from a lyric in "Eleanor Rigby," hit home to me. Some of Nova has odes to Linda and shows how devoted a couple they were and the devastation he felt at her passing, such as "Lost" and "She Is..."
However, some poems show McCartney as social critic on the issues of nuclear war, pollution, the legal system, and public safety. In "Jerk of All Jerks", written from the point of view of the title people, he writes "I'm the man that disposes/of nuclear waste/There's no need to worry/it's perfectly safe." And he imparts great wisdom in describing the follies of going for the top is written in the refrain of "Chasing The Cherry": "And say, are you chasing the cherry?/The merry-go-round of the roses/If so, you must know/that the down side/is to sink like a ferry." And reading "Looking For Changes", on the horrors of animal experimentation really got my dander up because Sir Paul told it like it was.
And some of his poems are whimsical and amusing. In "Trouble Is", he writes "Rabbit running in circles/chasing his tail/because it looks like candy floss/Trouble is--rabbits don't eat candy floss." The punchline to this poem is funny.
Where the songs are placed in a poetry format, some of them reveal themselves when read rather than being listened to. "Yesterday" for example, is one, as is "Here Today" from the Tug Of War album (1982), dedicated to John Lennon. And "The Song We Were Singing" from Flaming Pie shows Sir Paul commenting on how we all fall back to our usual selves after undergoing something deep: "Take a sip, see the world through a glass/and speculate about the cosmic solution/to the sound, blue guitars/caught up in a philosophical discussion." But alas, "we always come back to the song we were singing."
Compilation of this book was done by 60's activist/anti-war/counter culture poet Adrian Mitchell under Linda McCartney's guidance. There is also an index, and for the songs, there is a listing telling which album it's from. Helpful, that. And this book, not only reminds people that McCartney is a great songwriter but reveals his inner personality as well.
Rated by buyers -
GOOD BOOK...........READ IT
Rated by buyers -
This book looks like very little on the surface, especially if you know by heart (or own) the lyrics to many Beatles/McCartney songs. But this anthology is more than just lyrics, because the short selection of lyrics that were edited into this are ones that look and sound like poems. Actually there are many new (and many ones I had never read) poems in here, and most are not even songs ("Mother Nature's Son", "Here, There, and Everywhere", "For No One", and "Helter Skelter" aren't to be found in this). Therefore, it is a moving collection of poignant, amusing, and insightful poetry by a master lyricist with feeling. Although Lennon may have written the most notorious Beatles compositions, McCartney proves that he was the Beatle with the gift of both words and emotion.
Rated by buyers -
Blackbird Singing is a wonderful book. I always like Paul's music. After I read this book, I like his words, too. People
always say John wrote good lyrics and Paul wrote good music.
But I found out Paul could write very good lyrics and poems.
They are just simple and beautiful, such as "Ivan", "Dinner Tickets", "Eleanor Rigby", "Yesterday", and etc. They are just
fantastic words no matter you read or sing them. One thing I only can say is Paul should include more his poems and song lyrics in this book, such as "All My Loving", "Get Back", ......
I recommend everyone likes music or literature should read this book - "Blackbird Singing". What a wonderful book! Thanks Paul!
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