Staff Inspection: Cowboy Carter Rides True
With Special Guest Dia Wright!
We took some time this past Monday to do a group listen to Beyonce’s latest (and greatest?). Joining us once again was our dear friend, Dia Wright. As always, the following transcript below is lightly edited for clarity and to make me look smarter than I am. In writing this transcript, I’ve learned that I cannot spell the word “renaissance.” We are all learning together.
-BSlime.
Ritter: Alright how many times has everyone heard the album thus far?
Botts: 1
Slone: I’ve listened to the whole thing but not in one sitting.
Wright: This is the 3rd for me all the way through. Love the gospel sound into the western vibe. And then still mixing the gospel.
Ritter: This is #4 for me, I’ve honestly loved it more and more each time. We can discuss placement in discography rankings at the end.
Botts: This song, [AMERIICAN REQUIEM] should intro the new UK basketball coach.
Ritter: We all said we loved the RENAISSANCE cover so much, how do we feel about CC’s cover?
Slone: The cover raises a lot of questions for me because I want to know where the horse concept goes next.
Wright: Gadsden Alabama! Grew up like 30 mins from there. And I love the cover. It convinced me more that she’s doing the Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation. And apparently this project was supposed to be before RENAISSANCE. So the “goodbye to what has been” in this first song seems to work well with that. Pale horse for RENAISSANCE - Death and her revitalizing it with an album that gives life in a very queer way. Plus the notion that it’s a memorial to her uncle who died of HIV related causes. This album is the white horse which is conquest and glory, which is originally the first horse mentioned and functions as her reclamation of what white people "conquered” and colonized. More on all this later though.
Botts: She did conquer a genre that has been whitewashed.
Ritter: So you think maybe four acts instead of three? I like that theory wow
Wright: I think there will be 3 acts and then the 4th is the visuals!
Ritter: Oh my god that’s clever. Love the theory.
Botts: She’s gonna build a stairway to heaven.
Ritter: BLACKBIIRD has made me cry so much over the span of my life, I never thought Bey would add to that number.
Slone: I love that she uses the original track.
Wright: Did not think she would do this song but it makes so much sense with it originally being written about black women and the civil rights movement.
Ritter: Love “16 CARRIAGES” even more in the context of the album. I feel like it got outshined by the fun of “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM”
Wright: Being right after “BLACKBIIRD” is great sonically and symbolically.
Slone: It is much much better as an album track. It actually bums me out a little that it got put out as a single. The “38 summers” line would indicate that this concept has been kicking around in her mind for at least a few years.
Wright: Yeah apparently she wrote the song and a majority of the album during the pandemic when she was 38. Beautiful layering of vocals to leading out of “BLACKBIIRD” through “16 CARRIAGES” and then into “PROTECTOR”
Botts: The harmony is so beautiful. Like when I think of good country, I think of harmony with simple acoustic accompaniment.
Ritter: I was really wondering how she was going to continue the seamless transitioning of songs in this album, but it is just so smooth I notice it even less than RENAISSANCE. These short tracks are killer. I didn’t even register “MY ROSE” the first time I heard the album. It’s amazing.
Wright: “MY ROSE” is a gorgeous song and so damn short. I thought it was the end of “PROTECTOR.” Didn’t even think it was its own song.
Ritter: Same!!
Wright: I LOVE that Willie Nelson did this. What a fuckin boss move.
Ritter: Having Willie and Dolly and Linda on this album is such a middle finger to the country music industry.
Slone: The choices for these songs on the radio stations are fascinating.
Wright: And for it to lead into “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” makes me like it even more. It’s almost as if you’re driving through the south and only have the radio and the stations keep changing but it’s all country.
Slone: There’s delta blues, gospel, and rock and roll. Like she traces the evolution of black popular music. And it’s one of those things that is so minor in the context of the album but you know a ton of thought was dedicated to “we’re using 4 songs” and picking what those would be.
Wright: Which makes a lot of sense if this was originally the first project. Because this album contains a preview of all the genres that need reclaiming and were originally black or have their origins in blackness.
Ritter: Oh wow. This album is so beautifully crafted this is blowing my mind. I’m really glad that she made this album the second though, because the original tracklist was missing some stunners: “SPAGHETTII,” “YA YA…” I would dearly miss those.
Wright: True! It also wouldn’t have gone over as well if it was the first thing form her out of the lockdown portion of the pandemic.
Slone: We were content starved, we’d have taken anything with open arms.
Wright: Fair! I think she probably thought that we needed to dance and rejoice. “BODYGUARD” took some time for me to enjoy but I definitely feel that summer driving down the highway vibe.
~An interlude regarding Dia coming unsynced from the listening session~
Wright: I love the “Hey Honey Bey, it’s Dolly P.” I screamed when I heard that the first time.
Ritter: Crystal Wilkinson posted a big theory on Facebook that Bey is talking from her mother’s perspective here, do we agree with this?
Wright: Oh I agree. A lot of the early part of the album is from Miss Tina’s perspective. Or dedicated to her at least. “DAUGHTER” is SO good. “Did my best impression of a damsel in distress.”
Ritter: “DAUGHTER” feels like a throwback to Lemonade and I can’t put my finger on why.
Wright: And then the Italian aria??? Caro mio ben??? Werk girl. WERK
Botts: Spaghetti Westerns are in the country genre.
Wright: Oh yeah, it’s spaghetti westerns but it’s also the connection / interplay between black and Italian cuisine. A lot of southern black folks grew up eating spaghetti constantly. But it’s a different version than the traditional Italian. She was really speaking to my heart with this damn sing.
Ritter: Shaboozey is a fantastic artist, if no one has heard him yet. Also, all the women on “BLACKBIIRD” are incredible; shoutout Bey for brining them onto the project.
Wright: Also that clip clopping we hear before the bridge is a similar sound to the “boots, spurs, shoot” we hear in “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM.” And what a transition into “ALLIIGATOR TEARS!” Also, a lot of people are confused as to why she says alligator tears instead of crocodile tears.
Slone: It’s me, I’m a lot of people.
Wright: Louisiana and Texas have alligators not crocodiles. Her momma is from Louisiana. [BREAK] Willie Nelson’s intro to this is great. For this song to be called “JUST FOR FUN” it’s sad as hell.
Slone: Willie Nelson is such a force for good in the universe. I can’t stand Miley’s country voice.
Wright: Okay I LOVE this song with Miley. Their voices work so well together. Oop! Dissent!
Ritter: No Miley slander allowed
Slone: I got no beef with Miley
Wright: I love it lol
Ritter: Is part of this album about Gloria Carter, Bey’s mother in law?
Wright: I wonder about that! Especially this song gives heavily queer Bonnie and Clyde vibes and Jay-Z’s mom is a lesbian.
Ritter: That’s why I asked, this song feels queer coded to me.
Wright: Heavily queer coded
Botts: Dia, you’ve made me think everything is queer coded.
Wright: Well…
Ritter: I could go without Mr. Malone’s goat vibrato but this song is still amazing.
Wright: Not Mr. Tumnus! I saw a tweet that said it sounds like Beyonce got Post Malone to take a shower on this track and I SCREAMED. That goat sound good though. I’ll give him that.
Ritter: He did what he needed to do on this track
Wright: Yeah, took a shower.
Ritter: “FLAMENCO” is another track we wouldn’t have had if this album came first. Which woulda been criminal.
Wright: Okay. I’m so sorry. I don’t feel “FLAMENCO” like that just yet. I need a couple more listens. She sounds great though.
Ritter: It hit me the last time I listened.
Wright: Yeah that last one was superb. YES Linda Martell. She said, “A range of genres you stupid fuckers.” So great to have her there because in her time the racists were at her heels CONSTANTLY.
Ritter: Linda received her first charting song this week, long overdue. I don’t have words to describe how incredible “YA YA” is.
Wright: THE RODEO CHITLIN CIRCUIT! This song made me act the fuck up. People have been saying it sounds like the big sister to her song “Work It Out” from the Goldmember soundtrack. Also this Beach Boys sample is so fun.
Slone: This is that shit that got played on the Ed Sullivan show in 1965 and made people think their kids were gonna go do drugs and worship Satan.
Wright: SAME thought. It could mashup so well with “Do You Love Me” by the Hollies, which is 1964! And Beatles “Twist and Shout” which is 1963 I believe. Which, historically, is also the time that popular music moved firmly into this space of free flowing dance rather than traditional partner dances.
Slone: That’s also when pop music began to understand that you can talk about concepts deeper than romantic love and fun dances.
Ritter: We need more bass lines in pop music like the one in “DESERT EAGLE.”
Wright: The bassist on “DESERT EAGLE” deserves the world. Baby the rent was DUE with the way they are plucking on that damn instrument. Another song that makes me lose my MIND. BOUNCE ON THAT SHIT DANCE.
Ritter: I sing this song to myself ALL THE TIME
Wright: NO HANDS
Ritter: NO HANDS
Wright: I be going through the day just humming “bounce on that shit dance, dance.” The singing in this song is almost the exact tone and key of when she says “the legacy” in “16 CARRIAGES”
Ritter: I never noticed that but you’re right. That transition.
Wright: Didn’t even notice that smooth ass transition. damn.
Ritter: This song, [II HANDS II HEAVEN]. It’s soooo good.
Wright: Yes it is. The gospel harmonies here are SO gorgeous with the up tempo of the song.
Ritter: This breakdown has broken me every time I hear it. “TYRANT” is wild. [SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN’"] My favorite track!!! fun that the penultimate track on CC and RENAISSANCE both have “HONEY” in their title. Wonder if she’ll keep that up.
Wright: “II HANDS II HEAVEN” is like this album’s plastic in the sofa. I FUCKING ADORE “TYRANT.” One of my fave songs.
Botts: It’s honey cause other albums don’t drip like this.
Ritter: “Booty cornfed” is a wild bar
Wright: It speaks so directly to RENAISSANCE. Also it’s 3 songs mashed together.
Slone: There’s so many elements that I want to focus on at any given time.
Wright: I love that a motif of this album is the sounds that sonically remind you of horse hoof beats. It’s in most of the songs. It gives such a sense of forward progressive motion. Like this shit doesn’t stop. It’s a whole ride.
Ritter: I say “LOOK AT THAT HORSE” randomly throughout the day.
Wright: Look at that horse is the black version of that little white girl saying “can I pet that dawg.” What an amazing and exalting final song. And it loops perfectly back to the beginning of the album. Alright. LOVE love love this album.
Ritter: Bey mentioned AOTY, so I gotta say it — this album deserves AOTY but it feels racist if the Grammys give it to her for a “country album” I’m so conflicted about this subject. I use quotes on country because it’s so much more than that.
Slone: It’s not as though she has done anything to make that album “less” herself in order to appeal to that demographic though.
Botts: That was a solid listen.
Wright: It’s so interesting and there’s so much to unpack. It’s like a thesis. It gives the same kind of academic energy that Lemonade did.
Ritter: How does this stack up for everyone in her discography? I think it’s a close second to Lemonade for me. Also, favorite songs?
Slone: It’s either second or third. “YA YA.”
Wright: I enjoy it sonically more than Lemonade but I enjoy Lemonade more symbolically. But that’s because of the visual album aspect. I love this in the context of her Acts for this whole project. And my fave songs are “TYRANT,” “YA YA,” “RIIVERDANCE,” “II MOST WANTED,” “AMERIICAN REQUIIEM.”
Slone: As a whole, I tend to prefer the front half of the album. Sonically anyway.
Botts: Same.
Wright: I actually enjoyed the second half more! But I love the whole thing.
Ritter: I can’t pick between the two halves at all, it’s just so solid.
Wright: Okay! This was lovely. I gotta jump off but before I go, re: the 4 Horsemen thing, I think the next act is the red horse of war and that’s gonna be the rock album and she’s gonna use it to represent her reclaimed peace. I think the visuals will be the one that represents famine. And she will reclaim that by it representing bountifulness and plenty!
Ritter: Thank you for joining us again! Love the theory, I pray it’s rock/punk and we get some mosh pit jams. Everyone have a lovely night
Botts: “AMERIICAN REQUIIEM” tbh. Then “16 CARRIAGES”
How do you feel about the new Beyonce album? Let us know in the comments!