Beyoncé’s Best Lyrics on ‘Cowboy Carter’ — From ‘John Wayne’-ing That Ass to Warning ‘Jolene’ to Find Her Own Man
variety.comThania Garcia Beyoncé’s new album “Cowboy Carter” arrives after what the Texas-born singer says was a five-year journey she embarked on after feeling rejected by the country music world.
On her eighth solo LP — a “Beyoncé album” not a country album, she insists — the artist freely pushes the boundaries of country music and utilizes the genre’s signature touchstones to make a sonic return to the house music of Act I, or 2022’s “Renaissance,” on tracks like “Riverdance” and “II Hands II Heaven.” Where “Renaissance” was an homage to queer club culture icons, “Cowboy Carter” features endorsements from Nashville’s best in the form of spoken interludes from icons like Willie Nelson, Linda Martell and Dolly Parton.
Beyoncé also covers Parton’s “Jolene,” but updates it as a menacing alert: “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene / I’m warnin’ you, don’t come for my man,” she sings.
Nelson, Parton and Martell are the guiding voices on the 27-track, 80-minute-long narrative complete with swift, petty one-liners and fresh takes on centuries-old sounds.
Read more on variety.com