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ARTIST: Beyonce
TITLE: “If I Were A Boy”
WEB DEBUT: Oct. 8, 2008
ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: Beyonce’s attempt at a gender-bending single is a starkly intimate ballad that starts off with her waking up and reveling in the relatively low-energy process of getting ready–no eyeliner or lipstick to be trifled with here! From there, it goes into a description of how she’d spend her day as a he: chilling with the dudes, flirting with any and all women who enter their orbit, and generally ignoring any emotional needs put forth by the woman who’s allegedly an important part of his life. (The lyric “I’d put myself first / And make the rules as I go / ‘Cause I know that she’d be faithful / Waitin’ for me to come home” has about eight levels of bitterness going on.) So yeah, it’s pretty much a breakup anthem, as evidenced by the chorus, which is about women being taken for granted and men not realizing that they’ve got a good thing until said ladies have wised up, moved on, etc. In that sense, it’s lyrically different from Ciara’s attempt to play Man For A Day; Beyonce doesn’t come off as put-upon by her man’s screwups as much as she is determined not to make the same mistake twice.
WHERE TO HEAR IT: Z100 has the stream.
I think it should be noted she’s using the correct “were” instead of the too-common “was.”
@Poubelle: Yeah, but Ciara was using “was” to denote the past tense, as in she was a boy before the sex change.
@Al Shipley: Hah. Though following “if” the past should be “had been” anyway. (Sorry, I was raised by an English teacher.)
I was hoping for some crunk ass shaking shit like this:
And then went on to be completely disappointed when I read this:
“Beyonce’s attempt at a gender-bending single is a starkly intimate ballad”
Really?
Okay.
Here’s hoping it’s the shit anyway.
Sincerely,
The Currently speakerless Beyonce fan.
@Tauwan: It’s no “Me Myself and I,” but it’s sure to be an anthem for millions of lonely girls in junior high this fall.
And yeah, she does sound surprisingly bitter. What’s wrong, B? Didn’t Jay just put $5 million on your finger?
@slowburn: I know, “Single Ladies” is almost as vicious with its “If you liked it you shoulda put a ring on it” refrain and Get Me Bodied pt 2 claps.
I really like both, though. Angry Beyonce is the best Beyonce.
um…this is just Irreplaceable.
I wanna hear “single ladies,” where do we find that one?