Paul McCartney – “Bluebird” Live

You’ll Know What Love Is For!

“Bluebird” was written by Paul and Linda McCartney and released in the third studio album, “Band on the Run.” John Blaney claims that this was penned while the two were vacationing in Jamaica. It was recorded in September 1973 and released on January 28, 1974. Paul performed this track with his band, “Wings.” It was also said to be a continuation of the theme of his 1968 song, “Blackbird.”

McCartney used the flight of a bluebird as a metaphor for the power of love to set a person free from mental and physical constraints. Whereas Blackbird had been written about the civil rights struggle in the United States, Bluebird was more personal, and reflected his contentment with Linda McCartney and the stability after the dissolution of The Beatles’ business partnership.

There were several musical elements incorporated during the recording and it includes acoustic guitars, calypso-like percussion and the highlight — a saxophone solo. Like his other songs, this has also been open to different interpretation but no matter what your perspective is, it’s wonderfully written and combined with just the perfect tone and melody.

The song is in the key of F major although it sounds like it is in E-flat major due to the way the guitars are tuned. Benitez states about the music that “the harmonic schemes of verse and chorus strongly suggest that the text of each verse raises a question, only to be answered by each chorus through its exclamations of being a bluebird.”

It’s a classic masterpiece!