Last week, Beyoncé released a cover of the Beatles’ “Blackbird” on her new album Cowboy Carter, dubbed “Blackbiird” (with two i’s) to keep with the album’s Act II theme. Today, Paul McCartney, who wrote the song, shared a statement about Beyoncé’s decision to cover it.

“I am so happy with Beyoncé’s version of my song ‘Blackbird,'” McCartney wrote. “I think she does a magnificent version of it and it reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place. I think Beyoncé has done a fab version and would urge anyone who has not heard it yet to check it out. You are going to love it!”

“I spoke to her on FaceTime and she thanked me for writing it and letting her do it,” he continued. “I told her the pleasure was all mine and I thought she had done a killer version of the song. When I saw the footage on the television in the early 60s of the black girls being turned away from school, I found it shocking and I can’t believe that still in these days there are places where this kind of thing is happening right now.”

“Anything my song and Beyoncé’s fabulous version can do to ease racial tension would be a great thing and makes me very proud,” he concluded.

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Today, Beyoncé released a remix of “Texas Hold ‘Em” with a new verse: