The Little Rock Nine being escorted by federal troops after school. Photo: Getty Images
Little Rock Nine member Melba Pattillo Beals, 82, said Beyoncé's take on The Beatles' "Blackbiird" brought new meaning to the lyrics, the Washington Post reported.
- Driving the news: Beyoncé's new country-and-Western album "Cowboy Carter" that dropped March 29, broke streaming records on several platforms and is currently No. 1 on Apple Music.
"Blackbird," the second track on the album, is sung by Beyoncé and Black female artists Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts.
Flashback: The Little Rock Nine are a group of Black students who enrolled in Little Rock's all-white Central High School in 1957. They eventually were escorted to classes by federal troops.
- Beatles co-founder Paul McCartney wrote the song in part as a response to the Civil Rights Movement; it was released in 1968.
The bottom line: Beals told the Post that Beyoncé's version is a meaningful inclusion.
- "Paul McCartney said by writing that song, 'I hear you. I may not be able to rescue you, but I hear you singing in your dark,'" she said.
Go deeper: Hear the original.
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