The Medusa Fora

I was checking out another Pogues-related site where there is quite an analysis of Pogues songs. When ‘Thousands…’ is being discussed there is some question about “The Blackbird”. It's speculated that it refers to either the Irish ballad ‘The Blackbird’ or the Beatles ‘Blackbird’. I’m not sure if this has been asked on this forum, but I'm just wondering....

Philip, would you give us the definitive answer?

this is the wrong place for this reply i know: but, does anybody remember that story mcartney tells about the writing of Blackbird?

cougar wrote:this is the wrong place for this reply i know: but, does anybody remember that story mcartney tells about the writing of Blackbird?

No, but look here. http://www.pogues.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=26173&highlight=blackbird#26173

right. i remember seeing that - thank you Eric. paul's statement of how he came to write that song (or i should say how he wrote that "riif" - if you will-) is pretty neat. ive fallen into that realm myself.

Aineen wrote:I was checking out another Pogues-related site where there is quite an analysis of Pogues songs. When ‘Thousands…’ is being discussed there is some question about “The Blackbird”. It's speculated that it refers to either the Irish ballad ‘The Blackbird’ or the Beatles ‘Blackbird’. I’m not sure if this has been asked on this forum, but I'm just wondering....

Philip, would you give us the definitive answer?

For the record, Behan is known to have loved the trad tune "The Blackbird" and did indeed dance to it on at least one occasion, albeit on Grafton Street, Dublin, not Broadway, New York.

As the four note acoustic guitar figure which plays counterpoint to the line (after "broke the silence" on Shane's version) quotes from neither the Beatles nor the Irish trad tune, you may wish to conclude that there is in fact no "definitive answer", the uneasy ambiguity of the line being part of its purpose.

philipchevron wrote:As the four note acoustic guitar figure which plays counterpoint to the line (after "broke the silence" on Shane's version) quotes from neither the Beatles nor the Irish trad tune, you may wish to conclude that there is in fact no "definitive answer", the uneasy ambiguity of the line being part of its purpose.

So,.... you forgot why you wrote it? Didn't you!

Eric V wrote:

philipchevron wrote:As the four note acoustic guitar figure which plays counterpoint to the line (after "broke the silence" on Shane's version) quotes from neither the Beatles nor the Irish trad tune, you may wish to conclude that there is in fact no "definitive answer", the uneasy ambiguity of the line being part of its purpose.

So,.... you forgot why you wrote it? Didn't you!

That's certainly another conclusion you may choose to draw, though as for myself, I couldn't possibly comment.

philipchevron wrote: as for myself, I couldn't possibly comment.

Eric V wrote:So,.... you forgot why you wrote it? Didn't you!

Jaysus, the brass neck of some people!

I think Walshy would class a question like that as BOLD

soulfinger wrote:

Eric V wrote:So,.... you forgot why you wrote it? Didn't you!

Jaysus, the brass neck of some people!

I think Walshy would class a question like that as BOLD

I think she would say something about "the cheek" of it.