Beyoncé Reps for the Drunks and the Divorcées in New Songs

As you know, next week Beyoncé is releasing a box set that contains two new songs, “7/11” and “Ring Off.” Full-length versions of both tracks have hit the Internet just in time for the weekend. One is a drunk-in-club record and the other is seemingly a tribute to Mama Tina.

Rapper Beyoncé (who’s always welcome here) resurfaces on “7/11,” which is something of a more spastic version of “Get Me Bodied.” Here, Beyoncé is happy and drunk-dancing in the middle of a club, propelled only by the thumps of a reckless beat you can ~body roll~ to. Her boozy mid-party thoughts exist only in nonsensical fragments. What comes out is a wonderful, disjointed inner monologue:

“Legs movin’ side to side, smack it in the air”

“Shoulders sideways. Smack it, smack it in the air”

“I’m spinning. My foot up, foot up, yeah my foot up”

“I’m spinning. My foot up, put my foot down, yeah my hands up”

“My hands up, my hands up. Flexin’ while my hands up”

“Drank.”

Siri’s on the dance floor having a syntax error. Beyoncé also warns us to “Never drop that alcohol!” If she’s anything like me, this means she’s on cup three of a whiskey-and-ginger cocktail, trying feebly to hold on tight, lest it crash to the floor.

The other song, “Ring Off” has to be an ode to Mama Tina. It could also be a sly reference to the rumors of Bey and Jay Z splitting. But it’s more like Beyoncé’s way to cape for her mom and the grace that she showed post-divorce:

“Mama, so sexy/ You live and learn, that’s just the way life goes/ Always know that y
ou got a daughter that’s oh so proud you took the high road/ You used to dress and fix your hair/ You’d always smile through your tears/ And in the mirror you would stare and say a prayer/ Like, I wish he said I’m beautiful, I wish this didn’t hurt at all/ And then you had enough and you took that ring off”

Beyoncé
seems to have no problem outing her (estranged?) dad Mathew, who’s been given the ultimate Bye-Felicia (I think) when it comes to Knowles functions. The “Ring Off” melody gives me lukewarm feels, but I do applaud its mission statement and the celebration of Tina or any woman finding a new groove.