Song Lyric Sunday – Single Ladies

Posted byChristine BoltonPosted inBlog, Song Lyric SundayTags:, , , , ,

This week for Song Lyric Sunday, our host Jim Adams has given us a theme provided by our friend Di from Penitivity101 blog. We are to find a song that mentions jewelry like a watch, a ring or a necklace. I have picked Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) by Beyoncé. It’s a fun song with a very watchable video. Enjoy!

The Song

In this song, Beyoncé urges all the single ladies to dump their boyfriends if they don’t propose. Her man stepped up: After dating for two years, she and Jay-Z got married on April 4, 2008, about five months before this song was released. In an interview with Essence magazine, Beyoncé said when she married Jay-Z in April 2008, she didn’t even want an engagement ring, so it can be safely assumed that the Texan singer was performing this song as her feisty alter-ego “Sasha.”

This upbeat dance track features a beat provided by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, the duo behind Rihanna’s “Umbrella.” They wrote the song along with their associate Kuk Harrell and Beyoncé.

The-Dream told The Boombox that when writing for women, he likes to tap into their personal stories. “The topics change based on what you’re going through in your life,” he said. “Beyoncé was going through marriage for the first time in her life when I wrote ‘Single Ladies,’ but the blessing is in how I was raised and my principal of it, and how I feel about [marriage]. I wrote a song about a relationship that’s starting but sings, ‘If you like it then you should’ve put a ring on it,’ meaning a lot. [Meaning] that, ‘I’m OK with being this type of girl,’ which men want to hear, and women want to say.”

This was released as a single together with “If I Were a Boy.” Beyoncé wrote in a letter to her fans around the time of their release, that she was “in a different place right now and I wanted people to see the many sides of me” and indeed the two songs have completely different perspectives.

Both this and “If I Were a Boy” were released with accompanying black-and-white videos directed by Jake Nava, who also did the clips for Beyoncé’s “Crazy In Love” and “Baby Boy.”

In the “Single Ladies” video, which features Beyoncé and two look-a-likes dancing, the Texan singer and her pals are pointing in the direction of their wedding fingers, as they urge ladies to find a man who “should put a ring on it.” The dancing was inspired by the legendary choreographer and director Bob Fosse.

The video has become an internet phenomenon with thousands of homemade versions posted on YouTube. Beyoncé explained to The Sunday Times May 10, 2009 that the idea for the promo was a 1960s film of a Bob Fosse routine, Mexican Breakfast, which featured his wife, Gwen Verdon. She recalled; “I saw a video on YouTube. They had a plain background and it was shot on the crane; it was 360 degrees, they could move around. And I said, ‘This is genius.’ We kept a lot of the Fosse choreography and added the down-south thing – it’s called J-setting, where one person does something and the next person follows. So it was a strange mixture, kind of like the song, which is almost like a nursery rhyme, the ‘oh-oh-oh’s, and the sinister chords. So it’s like the most urban choreography, mixed with Fosse – very modern and very vintage. We’d spent all the budget on the video for (the previous single) If I Were a Boy, and with this song, we didn’t even have a treatment. So, it’s the least expensive video I’ve done. Not for a moment did I think, ‘This is going to be a movement.'”

Published by Christine Bolton

I have been writing poetry since I was a child and it has helped in the good times and bad times. I am always looking within to find the answers to life's problems and to write thought-provoking poetry and prose. Thanks for checking it out. Christine

28 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday – Single Ladies”

  8. Christine, so fascinating how serendipity brought the video together; also how it was low budget but went viral and got imitated. That’s how art works. Awesome choice this week!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks Li. Yes, I really enjoyyed reading about how this song and video came abouit. With regard to the video and all the work that Beyoncé put into it is amazing. I love that she based it on a Bob Fosse routine she had seen. ☺️💕

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    1. I hate to find you in my spam again Nancy! Anyway I am happy you are out and you liked my song choice today. I am a big Beyoncé fan. I think she is so talented and a wonderful performer. I wish I could dance like that!! ☺️💕

      Liked by 1 person

      2. Hi Nancy, Thanks for your comment on the song. I have been absent from WP for a couple of weeks so have not gone any further with the Spam thing. I will try and get it sorted out. Thanks for your patience ☺️💕

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  12. This is always such a fun song to hear. First time seeing the video, and it was pretty cool, and to hear what you found out about the making of it. 🙂

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