Back in the sixties Paul McCartney wrote and recorded Blackbird. The song was partly based on a Bach piece and features great guitar-playing really and talks about hope, empowerment and freedom.
Unrelated, Thom Yorke, suffering from post-“OK Computer” depression, wrote “Everything in it’s right place” on piano and recorded it with Radiohead in 1999, the song initiating their breakout of the confines of (alt-)rock. There are a lot of great alternative versions and covers, some of which I already mentioned here before.
Fast-foward to 2025 and Victoria Canal, a Spanish-American singer and pianist, released her own version of Blackbird which on social media she teased as “every blackbird in its right place”. Canals Blackbird is as intimistic as the original albeit a bit more subdued, maybe partly due to chord progression that borrows from EIIRP. Flying with broken wings in Vicky’s case can be taken somewhat literally; she was born without her right forearm and despite that she learnt how to play the piano with both hands. Although I’m no musician let alone a pianist, this disability likely impacts her piano arrangements by which she proves the “In der Beschränkung zeigt sich erst der Meister” to be so very true.
And finally, in 2026, Selah Sue teamed up with Stéphane Galland (a renowned jazz drummer) and his son Elvin (keyboard & production) and in their repertoire they have a version of Blackbird that was based on Canals arrangement. For me that version is the ultimate one; it starts out as intimistic as Canals version and in the vocals you feel some of Selah’s pain, the longing to be free, to fly. But then little by little the band (and I have to mention those backing singers, that bass-player) picks up and the song becomes a jazz-anthem (does that exist) and although I have heard it at least 20 times since I “discovered’ it the first time (yesterday) I get goosebumps every time. I showed it to my wife yesterday and teared up while trying to explain why I’m so overwhelmed. But there was no need to explain, she felt exactly the same and we hugged.
If you want to see/ hear/ experience it, the best version is on VRTmax but you’ll need to create an account (and still you might not be able to access it due to geographic limitations) or you can look at this smartphone recording of this song in a concert;
