"Lemonade," an album as well as visual concept album released by Beyonce April 23, 2016, is an album that breaks every barrier when it comes to music. This album is filled with hard-hitting truths, subjects of infidelity, anger, love, and healing, and beautifully blends all that with the wonder that is poetry. Thank you, Warsan Shire, for bringing us your beautiful poetry. Without it, "Lemonade" would not be what it is.
See also:Transcript of Beyonce's "Lemonade" Because The Words Are Just As Important As The Music
There are 12 lines from the visual concept album that really stood out to me and shook me to my core. They give me life.
Disclaimer: These are lines from the spoken words of the visual album, not from the musical lyrics.
1. Intuition
"In the tradition of men in my blood, you come home at 3 a.m. and lie to me. What are you hiding? The past and the future merge to meet us here. What luck. What a f*cking curse."
2. Denial
"I grew thickened skin on my feet, I bathed in bleach, and plugged my menses with pages from the holy book, but still inside me, coiled deep, was the need to know...Are you cheating on me?"
3. Anger
"I think of lovers as trees...growing to and from one another. Searching for the same light. Why can't you see me? Why can't you see me? Why can't you see me? Everyone else can."
4. Apathy
"So what are you gonna say at my funeral, now that you've killed me? Here lies the body of the love of my life, whose heart I broke without a gun to my head."
5. Emptiness
"Dear moon, we blame you for floods...for the flush of blood...for men who are also wolves. We blame for the night for the dark, for the ghosts."
6. Accountability
"You go to the bathroom to bathroom to apply your mother's lipstick. Somewhere no one can find you. You must wear it like she wears disappointment on her face."
7. Accountability (part 2)
"Did he convince you he was a god? Did you get on your knees daily? Do his eyes close like doors? Are you a slave to the back of his head? Am I talking about your husband or your father?"
8. Reformation
"He bathes me until I forget their names and faces. I ask him to look me in the eyes when I come...home. Why do you deny yourself heaven?"
9. Forgiveness
"Baptize me...now that reconciliation is possible. If we're gonna heal, let it be glorious...There is a curse that will be broken."
10. Resurrection
"When your back gets against the wall and your wall against your back, who you call? [...] You gotta call Him. You gotta call Jesus. [...] You gotta call Him 'cause you ain't got another hope."
11. Redemption
"My grandma said, 'Nothing real can be threatened.'"
12. Redemption (part 2)
"You're the magician. Pull me back together again, the way you cut me in half. Make the woman in doubt disappear. Pull the sorrow from between my legs like silk. Knot after knot after knot."
Even though the album came out well over a year ago, being able to listen to this album in full as well as watching the visual album for it really brought me life and gave me a new perspective on the life of a woman in heartbreak, a woman who is dealing with so much at once.
