ICYMI: Beyoncé has a new album. A follow-up to her 2022 record “Renaissance,” “COWBOY CARTER” takes on some new sounds she’s merely dabbled in before. The country album is getting heat from the haters, but fans are also really loving it.
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. is even getting in on the action on social media, shouting out the city’s ties to one cover song.
There are several featured artists on the album, including Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton. Beyoncé also welcomed some lesser-known artists to the table, as well. Four up-and-coming Black country artists get a spot on the second track, “BLACKBIIRD,” which is a cover of the Beatles’ famous song. (The double vowel is a theme on Beyoncé’s album, as it goes along with the part two narrative.)
The subject of that song? The Little Rock Nine.
Thank you @Beyonce for your #COWBOYCARTER cover of @thebeatles’ BlackBird track inspired by Paul McCartney’s reflection of the Little Rock Nine and Brown v. Board of Education’s impact on the Civil Rights Movement and education across the nation.
— Frank Scott, Jr. (@FrankScottJr) March 30, 2024
It’s true! In 2018, Paul McCartney sat down with GQ and explored his most famous songs. Here’s some of what he had to say about “Blackbird,” which he wrote in 1968.
“I was sitting around my acoustic guitar and I’d heard of the civil rights troubles that were happening in the ‘60s in Alabama, Mississippi, Little Rock, in particular. So that was in my mind, and I just thought ‘It’d be really good if I could write something that if it ever reached any of the people going through those problems, it might kind of give them a little bit of hope.”
Update: NPR published an article on April 2 that includes an interview with Melba Pattillo Beals, one of the members of the Little Rock Nine. Beals shares her thoughts on Beyoncé’s cover and recalls what it was like to integrate Central High School in 1957. Read more here.