Remember how confused you were after seeing the Lemonade trailer? Well, if you've seen Beyoncé's visual album on HBO, which combines film, art, and some incredible new songs, it might leave you equally confused. From jumping off buildings to cheating accusations to wedding photos, the visuals and poetic music are top-notch. This leaves fans feeling #blessed, but also leaves a ton of unanswered questions. Is Lemonade about Jay Z? Is it about Beyoncé’s parents? Did Jay Z cheat? Everything all right? But perhaps the most powerful element of the album is Beyoncé’s speaking portions in songs and chapters, which include poetry by Somali-British poet Wasan Shire. The words in "Lemonade" are often chilling. What does it mean?
Beyoncé speaks slowly and clearly against a quiet background, with crickets in the distance. "Rage" ends with "Why can't you see me? Everyone else can," while "Indifference" begins with "Now that you've killed me, what will you say at my funeral?" In "Resurrection" In the middle, she said, "Why are you afraid of love? You thought it was impossible for someone like you. But you are the love of my life." Deep stuff, am I right?
So what else did Beyoncé say in "Lemonade" ? Here's the breakdown by title:
"intuition"
I try to build a home in you, but doors lead to trapdoors and stairs lead to nothingness. At night, a strange woman wanders the corridors. Where do you go when you are quiet?
You remind me of my father, a magician... able to be in two places at once. In keeping with the tradition of the man I am, you came home at 3am and lied to me. What are you hiding?
Here the past and the future meet. What a blessing. What a damn curse.
"deny"
I try to change. I shut my mouth tighter, trying to be gentler, prettier, less sober. Fast for 60 days, wear white clothes, don't look in the mirror, don't have sex, and slowly stop talking. At that time, my hair was down to my ankles. I slept on a mat on the floor. I swallowed a sword. I levitate. Went to the basement, confessed my sins, and was baptized in the river. I knelt down and said "Amen" and said "I mean."
I whip my own back and ask for dominion at your feet. I threw myself into a volcano. I drank blood and I drank wine. I sat alone, bent over and praying to God. I crossed myself thinking I saw the devil. The skin on my feet has thickened, I've bathed in bleach, and blocked my periods with pages from the Holy Book, but deep down I still need to know...are you cheating on me?
Cheating? Are you cheating on me?
"anger"
If that's what you really want...I can wear her skin over mine. Her hair covered my hair. Her hands were like gloves. Her teeth were like confetti. Her scalp, a hat. Her sternum, my dizzying cane. The three of us were able to pose for photos. Immortal...you and your perfect girl.
I don’t know since when, love has become elusive. As far as I know, no one I know has it. My father hugged my mother's neck, and the fruit was too ripe to eat. I think lovers are like a tree...growing and growing with each other. Find the same light.
Why can't you see me? Why can't you see me? Why can't you see me? Anyone else can.
"indifferent"
Now that you killed me, what are you going to say at my funeral? Here lies the body of the love of my life, whose heart I broke without a gun to my head. Here lies the mother of my children, living and dead. Rest in peace my true love, the one I took for granted. Most bomb chicks avoid sleep because of me. Her God was listening. Her paradise will be love without betrayal. Ashes to ashes, dust to chickens.
"emptiness"
She sleeps all day. Both worlds dream of you. Until blood flows in and out of the uterus. Waking up to the smell of zinc, the orgasm calming the sadness, the sadness intensifying the orgasm. When a man says to a woman, "I love you so much. Put your legs around me. Pull me in, pull me in, pull me in." God is in the room. Sometimes, when he took her nipple into his mouth, she would whisper, "Oh, my God." This was also a form of worship.
Her hips rubbed against pestle and mortar, cinnamon and cloves. Whenever he quits...a loss. Dear Moon, we blame you for the floods... we blame you for the flow of blood... we blame you for those who are also wolves. We blame the night on darkness, on ghosts.
"loss"
Every fear...every nightmare...anyone has ever experienced it.
"Accountability"
You find a black tube in her beauty box that contains your father's old prison letters. You desperately want to look like her. You look nothing like your mother. You look everything like your mother. Movie star beauty. How to apply mom's lipstick. You go to the bathroom and put on your mom's lipstick. Somewhere no one can find you.
You have to dress like she has a look of disappointment on her face. Your mother is a woman, and women like her cannot be contained. Dear mother, let me inherit this land. Teach me how to make him beg. Let me make up for all the years he made you wait. Did he bend your reflection? Did he make you forget your name? Does he make you believe he is God? Do you kneel every day? Are his eyes closed like doors? Are you a slave to the back of his head?
Am I talking about your husband or your father?
"reform"
He bathed me until I forgot their names and faces. When I came home, I asked him to look me in the eyes. Why do you deny yourself heaven? Why do you think you are unworthy? Why are you afraid of love? You think this is impossible for someone like you. But you are the love of my life. You are the love of my life. You are the love of my life.
"forgive"
Baptize me... Now reconciliation is possible. If we are going to heal, let it be glorious. 1,000 girls raised their arms. Do you remember when you were born? Are you grateful for a cracked hip? The deep velvet of your mother, her mother, and her mother? There is a spell that will be broken.
"resurrection"
Something is missing. So many young women tell you, “I want a man—and lo and behold, they all make me feel better than you do.” So how do we guide our children into the future? what are we going to do? How do we lead them? like. Love, love. Hmm-hmm-hmm. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. I just love the Lord, I’m sorry, bro. I love the Lord. This is what I got.
Who do you call when your back is against the wall and your wall is against your back? Hey! Who did you call? Who did you call? You have to call him. You have to call Jesus. You have to call him. You have to call him because you have no other hope.
You are scary...strange and beautiful.
magic.
"hope"
The manicurist pushed my cuticles back...turned my hands over, stretched the skin on my palms, and said, "I see your daughter and their daughter." That night, in a dream, No. A girl emerged from the crack in my stomach. Scars heal and turn into smiles. The man I love pulled the stitches out with his fingernails. We left the curly black stitching on one side of the tub.
When I woke up, the second girl crawled headfirst down my throat, a flower blooming from the hole in my face.
"redemption"
Take a pint of water, add half a pound of sugar, the juice of eight lemons, and the zest of half a lemon. Pour the water from one pot into the other several times. Strain through a clean napkin.
Grandmother, alchemist, you spun gold out of hard life and made beauty out of what was left behind. Find healing where it doesn’t exist. Discover the antidote in your own toolbox. Breaking the curse with his own two hands. You pass these instructions on to your daughter, who in turn passes them on to her daughter.
I’ve had my ups and downs, but I’ve always found the inner strength to pick myself up. I was offered lemons, but I made lemonade. My grandma said, "Nothing real can ever be threatened." True love brought me salvation. Every tear brought redemption, and my tormentor became my antidote. So we will heal. We have to start over. You brought orchestras, synchronized swimmers.
You are a magician. Pulling me back again, just like you cut me in half. Make the woman in question disappear. Pulling the sadness away from between my legs like silk. Knot after knot. The audience applauded...but we couldn't hear them.
These words are truly haunting and will give us a lot to dissect and talk about in the future. In true Beyoncé style.
Editor's note: A previous version of this article did not mention that Lemonade featured poetry by Warsan Shire .
Image: Beyoncé/YouTube; Jiffy
This article was originally published on April 24, 2016. Updated on August 22, 2019.
