Beyoncé’s eagerly awaited country album Cowboy Carter is finally here. The follow-up to Renaissance, which is the star’s eighth record, dropped at midnight on March 29, featuring 27 tracks with a run time of 80 minutes.
In a press briefing, Beyoncé revealed that she recorded ‘probably 100 songs’ for the album. ‘My process is that I typically have to experiment,’ she said. ‘Once that is done, I am able to put the puzzle together and realise the consistencies and the common themes, and then create a solid body of work.’
That work is already receiving rave reviews from fans and critics alike, who are praising the fierce creativity and instant classic tracks. Celebrity fans have also commented, including Hailey Bieber, who posted a screenshot of the album playing on Instagram stories with the simple caption: ‘whew😤’. There are even official 'Hashmojis' for the album on X.
Cowboy Carter’s release has produced answers to the wild speculations about which artists Beyoncé has collaborated with on the album. Among the most talked-about is Dolly Parton’s 'appearance', and the fact that Queen Bey has rewritten the lyrics to the country icon’s classic 1973 hit, ‘Jolene’.
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Parton introduces the rewrite in the spoken word track ‘Dolly P’. The interlude, reportedly taken from a voicemail, includes a reference to Becky from the song ‘Sorry’ on Bey’s 2016 album, Lemonade. ‘You know that hussy with the good hair you sing about? Reminded me of someone I knew back when. Except she has flamin’ locks of auburn hair. Bless her heart. Just a hair of a different colour but it hurts just the same.’
This leads into Beyoncé’s ‘Jolene’, which first departs from the original with the lyric: ‘I’m warning you, don't come for my man’. The version seems to include further lyrical references to infidelity, including, ‘Takes more than beauty and seductive stares / To come between a family and a happy man’ and ‘I’m still a Creole banjee b***h from Louisiana (Don’t try me)’.
Meanwhile, in ‘Protector’, the fourth song on the album, there’s a brief appearance from Beyoncé’s daughter, Rumi Carter. ‘Mum, can I hear the lullaby please?’ says the six-year-old in an audio clip at the beginning of the acoustic guitar ballad, which is an ode to Beyoncé’s children. The touching lyrics include: ‘I will lead you down that road if you lose your way / Born to be a protector / Even though I know someday you’re gonna shine on your own / I will be your projector’.
Other guests include Miley Cyrus – on the track ‘II Most Wanted’ – and Post Malone, on the track ‘Levii’s Jeans’ (hours after the track list was unveiled, the denim brand changed its name on social media to match the additional ‘i’ in the spelling). There are also appearances from country legends Linda Martell and Willie Jones.
As well as Jolene, there’s a further cover on the album: ‘Blackbird’, originally by The Beatles. The 1968 song was inspired by the American Civil Rights Movement and Beyoncé’s version, styled as ‘Blackbiird’, features a number of other artists, including Tanner Adell. Adell had dropped hints about the appearance back in February, tweeting: ‘As one of the only black girls in country music scene, i hope Bey decides to sprinkle me with a dash of her magic for a collab’.
We’ll be having that magic on repeat for the foreseeable….
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