Alter Bridge

"Blackbird" is a song by Alter Bridge, the title track from the album of the same name. "We felt like 'Blackbird' was the perfect song to use as the title track for this record,” commented lead singer/guitarist Myles Kennedy. “ Though a majority of the album is not as dark thematically, we really hoped to draw attention to what we felt was one of the most challenging yet gratifying songs we’ve ever written. It was inspired by a friend of mine who passed away as the song was completed; it’s a story about the struggle to move on to a better place. It was my wish for him to finally find his peace. ” He also explains on the Wal-Mart bonus DVD that comes with the album: “ Like when we were working on 'Blackbird,' we were all in a room and Mark had had that really haunting, killer guitar part that starts the song out. And we were trying to find a chorus for it, so we were banging it out for a few hours, not having [any] luck, so I went into the other room, and they were still working on something and there was an urban dance group in the next room because it's a rehearsal studio. And there was just this cacophony of sound - I heard them, and I heard this over here, and it was just noise. And it was weird; it was like, out of those two noises, even though they were playing something completely different, came this, you know, idea for the chorus of 'Blackbird.' ” Mark Tremonti has also said that all four members consider this song to be their favorite song from Blackbird, which was why it was chosen to be the title track for the album. The song is the longest Alter Bridge song to date, coming in at 7 minutes and 58 seconds. Also worth noting is the fact that both Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti have a guitar solo on the song. Though Kennedy is the rhythm guitarist for the band, he provides the first half of the guitar solo, while Tremonti plays the second half. The song is also widely considered a favorite by many fans of the band. On this note, it is worth mentioning that Kennedy hits his longest recorded vocal note on the song, a high F#(F#4) held for 31 seconds.