Bye Bye Blackbird is a song published in 1926 by the American composer Ray Henderson and lyricist Mort Dixon. It is considered a popular standard and was first recorded by Sam Lanin's Dance Orchestra in March 1926, followed by Nick Lucas and Gene Austin the same year.
Contents
Song information
It was the #16 song of 1926 according to Pop Culture Madness. In 1982, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) posthumously awarded John Coltrane a Grammy Award of "Best Jazz Solo Performance" for the work on his album Bye Bye Blackbird. Recordings of the song often include only the chorus; the verses are far less known.
The song was also copied by Charlie and His Orchestra, German Karl Schwedler, of The Templin Band during World War II as part of Joseph Goebbels' propaganda campaign. But the lyrics were changed to reflect the German political rhetoric of the time and intended to demoralize the Allied forces. The tune(s) were sung in English and aimed at United States and British troops, as well as British citizens. It was not permitted in Nazi Germany to play the song and melody because the Nazi leadership forbade "degenerate" styles of music such as jazz.
Segregationists opposed to the American Civil Rights Movement, notably at the Selma to Montgomery marches, played the song over loudspeakers as a taunt.
Two former Beatles have each recorded the song: Ringo Starr for his 1970 album Sentimental Journey, and Paul McCartney for his 2012 album Kisses on the Bottom. Both men have commented that the song was one of many "standards" that they grew up singing with their families. McCartney also noted in the CD booklet for Kisses On The Bottom that he and John Lennon had liked the song so much that they had intended to record a Beatles version of it. This raises the question of whether the very young Beatles had actually performed it on stage.
Deana Martin recorded "Bye Bye Blackbird" in 2016 on her album, Swing Street.
It is used in the musicals Liza with a Z and Fosse.
Meaning of the lyrics
There is much speculation about the meaning of the song. At least two commentators (using the same source) attribute the song to a prostitute's leaving the business and going home to her mother. As such, it is the opposite of "House of the Rising Sun," where the prostitute returns to the business. The reason for the song's apparent ambiguity is that the opening verse and the verses about the bluebird are rarely sung.
Another explanation is that the blackbird represents unhappiness, sad, gloomy times. The bluebird, on the other hand, represents happiness (e.g., the well-known Bluebird of Happiness) and sunshine. In short, blackbird, symbolically, is the antithesis or antonym of bluebird. The audience in those days (1926) would have understood the symbolism. In this case, the singer has had bad times, probably in the city, where "no one understands me" and where there are hard luck stories galore. Now he wants to leave the big city, which has only brought him sadness, and return to his girlfriend in the country who still loves and understands him. It is unlikely that an adult male would return to his mother, as is suggested in the other narrative. It's the faithful girlfriend at home who still loves him to whom he wants to return. He asks her to turn on the light (another possible symbol) at home because he is coming back to where his happiness was and is. Given the mores, even in the loose roaring twenties, it seems unlikely that the song refers to a prostitute. If the song were about prostitution, it is doubtful that the song would have been popular among the general public in those days. As for the claim that the bluebird verses, sung in minor, were dropped because of ambiguity, it was common years afterward to drop verses which were not as melodically memorable. For example, everyone one can probably hum the "In the Good Old Summertime" verses, but who remembers the intro? The intro is seldom played nowadays. Dropping verses later which were not melodically strong was done with countless songs from that period.
Recordings
"Bye, Bye, Blackbird" has been recorded by many artists, including: