When the Blackbird Sings
My Blackbird Tattoo: A Tribute to Love and Loss
My Blackbird Tattoo, Still Raw#writingcommunity #booksky #amwriting #writing Unfetterred Treacle on Substack
I’ve always had a soft spot for heavy guitars and deep, growling vocals. So when My Own Prison dropped in 1997, Creed hit me right between the eyes. I was hooked. Scott Stapp’s voice fit that sound perfectly, and the band exploded, until Stapp’s battles with mental health and addiction brought everything crashing down.
For a while, it seemed like that was it. But Creed’s lead guitarist and primary songwriter, Mark Tremonti, wasn’t done. He regrouped with his bandmates and brought in a new frontman, Myles Kennedy, former lead singer of The Mayfield Four to form a new band, Alter Bridge. By the time Myles joined, Mark had already written all the music for their debut album, One Day Remains, which quietly turned twenty last year. What they didn’t know then? Myles was also a world-class guitarist and a gifted lyricist. He ended up playing on tour and co-writing half the songs.
When they hit the studio again, Mark and Myles came in as true partners, and what they made still blows me away. Blackbird, their second album, is easily one of my favorite records of all time. The title track especially. It’s one of those songs that feels too personal to explain but too powerful not to share. The story behind it makes it hit even harder. Myles wrote the lyrics while watching a close friend face the end of his life.
“Blackbird was inspired lyrically by a friend of mine named Mark Morse. He sold me my first guitar when I was a kid, and we stayed friends for years and years. He actually passed away right as that song was being completed so it was dedicated to him and his memory. It’s really about seeing the suffering he was going through and hoping he would find his solace soon and be free from all of that.”
— Myles Kennedy
The solo in that song, shared by both Myles and Mark, was rated by Guitarist magazine as the greatest guitar solo of all-time in the 2011 list.
I didn’t know Mark Morse. But I knew what it meant to lose someone you love and to find a song that felt like it was written for that exact moment. I lost my wife to cancer a few years later and I ended up getting a tattoo made to honor her with the blackbird theme.
Some songs just find their way into your story.
This was mine.
Here is the song:
For a while, it seemed like that was it. But Creed’s lead guitarist and primary songwriter, Mark Tremonti, wasn’t done. He regrouped with his bandmates and brought in a new frontman, Myles Kennedy, former lead singer of The Mayfield Four to form a new band, Alter Bridge. By the time Myles joined, Mark had already written all the music for their debut album, One Day Remains, which quietly turned twenty last year. What they didn’t know then? Myles was also a world-class guitarist and a gifted lyricist. He ended up playing on tour and co-writing half the songs.
When they hit the studio again, Mark and Myles came in as true partners, and what they made still blows me away. Blackbird, their second album, is easily one of my favorite records of all time. The title track especially. It’s one of those songs that feels too personal to explain but too powerful not to share. The story behind it makes it hit even harder. Myles wrote the lyrics while watching a close friend face the end of his life.
“Blackbird was inspired lyrically by a friend of mine named Mark Morse. He sold me my first guitar when I was a kid, and we stayed friends for years and years. He actually passed away right as that song was being completed so it was dedicated to him and his memory. It’s really about seeing the suffering he was going through and hoping he would find his solace soon and be free from all of that.”
— Myles Kennedy
The solo in that song, shared by both Myles and Mark, was rated by Guitarist magazine as the greatest guitar solo of all-time in the 2011 list.
I didn’t know Mark Morse. But I knew what it meant to lose someone you love and to find a song that felt like it was written for that exact moment. I lost my wife to cancer a few years later and I ended up getting a tattoo made to honor her with the blackbird theme.
Some songs just find their way into your story.
This was mine.
Here is the song:
For a while, it seemed like that was it. But Creed’s lead guitarist and primary songwriter, Mark Tremonti, wasn’t done. He regrouped with his bandmates and brought in a new frontman, Myles Kennedy, former lead singer of The Mayfield Four to form a new band, Alter Bridge. By the time Myles joined, Mark had already written all the music for their debut album, One Day Remains, which quietly turned twenty last year. What they didn’t know then? Myles was also a world-class guitarist and a gifted lyricist. He ended up playing on tour and co-writing half the songs.
When they hit the studio again, Mark and Myles came in as true partners, and what they made still blows me away. Blackbird, their second album, is easily one of my favorite records of all time. The title track especially. It’s one of those songs that feels too personal to explain but too powerful not to share. The story behind it makes it hit even harder. Myles wrote the lyrics while watching a close friend face the end of his life.
“Blackbird was inspired lyrically by a friend of mine named Mark Morse. He sold me my first guitar when I was a kid, and we stayed friends for years and years. He actually passed away right as that song was being completed so it was dedicated to him and his memory. It’s really about seeing the suffering he was going through and hoping he would find his solace soon and be free from all of that.”
— Myles Kennedy
The solo in that song, shared by both Myles and Mark, was rated by Guitarist magazine as the greatest guitar solo of all-time in the 2011 list.
I didn’t know Mark Morse. But I knew what it meant to lose someone you love and to find a song that felt like it was written for that exact moment. I lost my wife to cancer a few years later and I ended up getting a tattoo made to honor her with the blackbird theme.
Some songs just find their way into your story.
This was mine.
Here is the song:
