A bandsintown profile on the band before the album’s release gives a brief rundown of the creation of the song:

““Blackbird” is another product of the duo’s collaboration. It was one of the few instrumentals Andriano had worked out before they arrived. He loved the music but wasn’t happy with his own lyrics or melodies before he passed it over to Skiba, who was obsessed with the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird as a kid. Skiba drew the military airplane on everything, built model kits, and even as an adult, devoured books on it. Around the time the lyrics came together, “Blackbird” was the nickname for a girl he was dating. ‘She didn’t look like a bird, but she has this sleekness, this sexiness, that I felt just reminded me in some way of that plane.’”