The biggest takeaways from Beyonc’s ‘Cowboy Carter’
Kaitlyn Huamani March 29, 2024
Beyonc told us
all ten 10
days before she dropped Cowboy Carter: Its not a country album. Its a Beyonc album.
The singles from the album, Texas Hold Em and 16 Carriages, and
the aesthetic, in all its its
rodeo-chic
glory
aesthetic
,
certainly gave the impression that the album would be pure country
music
, but the final product, which the star released at the stroke of midnight on Friday, is a genre-defying wonder.
Featuring collaborations with country legends including
Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton
, Beyonc uses the album to both honor classic country music and redefine what the genre sounds and looks like.
Here are the biggest takeaways from Cowboy Carter:
The significance of the ‘Blackbird’ cover
The second song on the album is a stirring rendition of
t
he Beatles
classic Blackbird, featuring four up-and-coming Black female country artists:
Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell and Tiera Kennedy
.
While the song is one
t
he Beatles most well-known tunes, its meaning and inspiration is lesser known.
Paul McCartney
has said that he was inspired by the civil rights movement
in of
the
‘
60s, and specifically, by the Little Rock Nine
,
the first Black students to enter a previously all-white high school in Arkansas in
1957
.
The powerful meaning behind the song, coupled with the spotlight on rising Black women in country, make the cover a poignant addition to Cowboy Carter.
‘Jolene’ is reinvented with Dolly Partons blessing
In the most
–
anticipated and
often
teased collaboration on the album, Beyonc breathes new life into
Dolly
Partons
classic
hit Jolene. In the interlude Dolly
OLLY
P, Parton references the infamous Becky with the good hair mentioned in Beyoncs song Sorry from Lemonade.
Hey, miss Honey Bey. Its Dolly P. You know that hussy with the good hair you sang about? she says on the track. Reminded me of someone I knew back when. Except she has flaming locks of auburn hair. Bless her heart. Just a hair of a different color, but it hurts just the same.
The interlude leads into
Jolene
, Beyoncs cover of Partons prominent
1973
track about a
red-haired
woman flirting with her then-husband. Beyonc rewrites the lyrics to make the song less of a plea for Jolene to leave her man alone, and more of a warning of whats to come if she doesnt do so.
I’m warnin’ you, woman, find you your own man, she sings. Jolene, I know Im a queen, Jolene, Im still a Creole banjee b from Louisianne (Don’t try me).
Parton had previously given Beyonc her consequential stamp of approval, saying she couldnt wait to hear the full album, and also hinted at a Jolene cover ahead of the tracklists release.
She’s since
. Miley Cyrus goes back returns to her country roots
One of the biggest surprises to come out of Cowboy Carter is Beyonc and Miley Cyrus duet
,on
II Most Wanted
. Cyrus, who won her first Grammy in February, is the daughter of country singer
Billy Ray Cyrus,
and has dabbled in country-inspired work throughout her career, including her own noteworthy cover of her godmothers hit Jolene.
The song shows off the
impressive vocals of the
two artists
‘ impressive vocal chops
, and they sing that they will be each others shotgun rider forever.
Cyrus took to Instagram to share her gratitude for Beyonc, writing that she loved the star
since
long before she
got to
work
ed
with her. She shared videos to her Instagram Story of her
younger self
talking about Beyonc in
red carpet
interviews
on red carpets over the years
.
My admiration runs so much deeper now that Ive created along side of her, the post continued. Thank you Beyonc. Youre everything & more. Love you.
Black country legend Linda Martell joins Beyonc and gets her due Linda Martell
is known as the first commercially successful Black female country artist. A pioneer in the industry, Martell paved the way for Beyonc to create Cowboy Carter nearly six decades after Martell started her career.
Martell is featured on two songs: in the interlude of
Spaghettii
and, of course,
The Linda Martell Show
. In each song, Martell talks about how the traditional rules of genre are restrictive.
Martell thanked Beyonc for including her in the project in a statement
Friday
on Instagram
on Friday
, writing that she is proud of the artist for exploring her country roots.
What she is doing is beautiful and Im honored to be a part of it, the statement continued. Its Beyonc, after all!
Beyonc responds to country critics through her lyrics
Many of the lyrics throughout the album discuss
the
genre directly, and seem to respond to criticism Beyonc has received any time she
‘s
ventured into country music territory throughout her storied career.
In
Ameriican Requiem
, the artist overtly addresses her critics, singing: Used to say I spoke, Too country / And the rejection came, said I wasn’t country ‘nough’ / Said I wouldn’t saddle up, but / If that ain’t country, tell me what is?
In both of Martells interludes, she calls out genre purists, seeming
lyto
address
ing
Beyoncs detractors who criticized her move into country. She calls genres a funny little concept and says, In theory, they have a simple definition that’s easy to understand / But in practice, well, some may feel confined. She also introduces Ya Ya
A YA
in her second interlude, saying that the song
plays with straddles
multiple genres, which makes it a unique listening experience.
In what is probably
likely
Beyoncs most apparent address of her critics, like country radio stations
who that
initially declined to play her singles from the album, she enlists the help of
Willie
Nelson. The country legend introduces the next song on the album and
adds in what he wants tells
listeners
what
to take away from his set.
Sometimes you don’t know what you like until someone you trust turns you on to some real good s, he says. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I’m here.
Beyonc acknowledges isn’t fazed by a lbum of the y ear snubs
In “
SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN Sweet Honey Buckiin’
,” Beyonc addresse
sd
her previous albums never taking home the coveted Grammy Award for
a
lbum of the
y
ear. Although she holds the crown for
ofhaving the
most Grammy wins of any artist, her work has never nabbed “AOTY
.
” and she makes it clear in “Cowboy Carter” that she doesn’t let that fact bog her down.
“A-O-T-Y, I ain’t win / I ain’t stuntin’ ’bout them / Take that s on the chin / Come back and f up the pen,” she sings.
