Queen Bey has entered her country era.
You heard me right.
The Grammy-Award winning queen of multiple singles and albums, Beyoncé herself, is dipping her toes into the country music genre–something that has shocked many and surprised others.
Her latest venture consists, so far, of two songs, including “Texas Hold ‘Em.” It’s the lead single from her forthcoming album titled Act II.
This simple, catchy track is sure to get stuck in your head. It finds Beyoncé channeling her Texas roots, profanely singing about dancing, alcohol and life in the country.
This song rolls out like short chapters of a short story.
Beyoncé begins by asking listeners to cast aside their cares and hang out with her in a small country town (“So lay your cards down/So park your Lexus and throw your keys up/Stick around…).
It switches then between going to a “dive bar” and dancing (“It’s a real-life boogie and a real-life hoedown”), watching out for tornadoes (There’s a tornado in this city/hit the basement…”) and making it through those hot summers (“There’s a heatwave coming at us/Too hot to think straight/Too cold to panic”).
Still, everyone who lives in this small town enjoys casting their cares aside by drinking (“Rugged whiskey, ‘cause we survivin’/Off red cup kisses, sweet redemption, passin’ time”).
They also do so by dancing the night away (“Then spin me in the middle boy, I can’t read your mind”) when the pressures of living out West feel too heavy (“All of the problems just feel dramatic/And now we’re runnin’ to the first spot that we find, yeah”).
There are three repeated profanities that stick out and they are an inescapable part of the song.
The first two find Beyoncé enticing someone to come dance by saying, (“And I’ll be d–ned if I can’t slow dance with you…/Don’t be a b–ch, come take it to the floor now”). And the third is about how destructive tornadoes can be (“that s— ain’t pretty”).
There’s currently only an online visualizer on YouTube for this song (the music video may be coming), and it’s quite graphic. Beyonce walks into view, sporting a leather thong (all of which we only see from the front), black panty hose, and nothing on top except a leather vest that barely covers her nipples. This of course is paired with her sensually running her finger up her stomach and chest until it forms a gun that she “shoots.”
I did not think Beyoncé would ever be breaking into the Country music genre. Yet, here we are.
Her first rodeo is sonically impressive. In reviewing this song, I’ve obviously listened to it multiple times and it’s now stuck in my head. Perhaps forever.
But that presents its own issue for listeners, especially young ones. Had Beyoncé omitted the three strong profanities that are repeated multiple times, we wouldn’t have too much of an issue. We’d really just be singing about country folks living their country lives (like every other country song on the radio). But she didn’t.
So I’m here to let you know that there’s no way to avoid those words or the emphasis we hear on drinking liquor and dancing the night away. And if you hop on YouTube, or even bring up her song in Apple Music or Spotify, you’ll also see a risque visualizer that leaves little to the imagination.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
