Texas Drop ‘Em: Beyoncé’s Newest Hit

I used to always say that there are two types of people in the world: those that claim they listen to all types of music but with the specific exclusion of Country, and those that listen exclusively to Country with no exceptions.  Since earlier in this year however, that does not appear to be strictly the case anymore.  From its beginning riff with the banjo chords to its rhythmic beat, many people are really beefing up and leaning into Beyoncé’s song “Texas Hold ‘Em” in a moment which is both “making history” by having a black woman doing well on the charts but also “reclaiming” in a sense an iconic music genre which supposedly is one more thing that unequivocally was stolen from the black folk by white colonizers.  For my part, I was surprised to find that I really didn’t hate it at first, and might have actually enjoyed it.  Once I began to listen to it more and more, I found that not only did I really not care for it at all but that in singing it Beyoncé is demonstrating a fundamental disconnect from the people, the community who has been the defining principle of country music for the greater part of the generation.  Not only is the song unrelatable to the common man, utilizing stereotypical imagery that consistently misses the ironic relevance that makes stereotypes true in a sense but espouses a clear moral orientation which is largely foreign in country music until this very moment.

Growing up listening to country music something became pretty clear early on: it takes more than singing about bars and using a banjo to make a Country song, but if you are a female sometimes it takes no more than adding a bunch of “woos” in it and you become an instant star.  It was the rare female artist that puts together a wonderful piece that does not lean on several “woos” or “uh-uh”s, and Beyoncé really leaned into this principle: pretty much every line ends in a “yeah” or a “woo”.  If there were only a couple, that I can overlook: as I said this seemed to be a standard (irritating as it always has been).  But almost every line?!  I wonder if this overplaying itself is not a part of the song as much as it is an attempt at a female version of a “perfect country and western song”, overdoing a stereotype to such an extreme as to make it a classic.  If this is the intent here, I think the mark was missed.

It could be that the overbearing exclamations are trying to point to the fact that this is a song really about partying at what I suppose is supposed to be a “dive bar”.  The song is clearly set to rhythm which lends itself well to a line dance (itself super stereotypical for country songs), and Beyoncé makes the claim that they are in fact headed to “the dive bar we always thought was nice”.  But the rest of the song really tries to make the claim that the whole world is your dive bar, and one long dive bar party: among all life’s calamities (all weather related), as long as she is with whoever it is she is singing to and has liquor she’s happy “it’s a real life boogie and a real life hoedown”.  But the tone is not even that of partying with a lover: she really just needs her bar mates apparently.  Sure, she talks about going down to the basement, slow dancing with whoever she’s singing to (ironic for this song), but she also exhorts whoever this person is to “pour some sugar (later liquor) on me honey”, and claims that “I can’t read your mind”.  At best this person is someone she frequently parties with; at worst he’s a warm body, the backdrop for her intense sexual expression complemented by causal drunkenness.  The latter seems likely from the sparsity of her dress in the video.  I do hope this song is successful enough that her tailor can afford some cloth…  

The kicker for me though is that refrain that most people feature in their TikTok dances.  Two words really jump out at me that illustrate the complete disconnect from the life, values, and culture of country people: “park your Lexus”, and “don’t be a B!%#$ come take it to the floor now”.  First off, words have meaning, and especially in songs have meanings higher than the vernacular words themselves.  What do I mean by this?  They point to something that espouses wider connotations.  A Lexus is a semi-luxury vehicle.  No working man who is very blue collar, either city or country is going to any of the dive bars I frequent and parking their Lexus there.  If they do, they are definitely parking a block away so their friends don’t see how well off they are.  The dive bar party mates that Beyoncé needs through life’s calamities are apparently at least one culture notch higher than myself.  And the other word, an objectively objectifying, derogatory, and in country circles insulting word for woman.  Now objectifying women in country songs is sadly no new phenomenon, and the men oftentimes sing about women in derogatory ways, but while doing so refrain from using derogatory and insulting language.  No one ever refers to their or any woman in that language in a way that is intended to be celebrated, as it clearly is in this song.  So not only are Beyoncé’s bar mates 1) the people she needs to be happy in life, 2) more wealthy than you or I (which begs the question if they really know what or where their nearest dive bar really is), but 3) espouse a radically different worldview and moral orientation than I.  

The final nail in my argument is to look at who is really head over heels for this song, who is dancing to it, and who is placing their names and faces against the backdrop of this song.  Growing up we would have unilaterally and unequivocally called these people “dudes”, intending to be mocking.  They have cheesy line dance moves (probably themselves learned from TikTok), dress in clothing that really seems like they tore the tags off moments before they started filming, and seem to be in more well-off neighborhoods.  Even the “country” backdrops for these cringe-worthy dances seem to be the local park.  I contrast this with some of the videos featuring some other country artists, and see workers, fishers, and partiers dancing in lines wearing clothes that are no more strangers to real life than the people wearing them.  If you needed any more proof that the people Beyoncé is singing about, to, and with, look no further than YouTube.

So, is it a country song?  Perhaps.  But if you try to bring any of these points up, the invariable response is “you know she’s from Texas, right?”  Texas is a big state, with its fair share of rich morally depraved people, like I am supposed to admit something is good and I can relate to it simply because someone comes from Texas.  I’m not one to say it is NOT a country song, and as I mentioned at first glance you can really find yourself getting into it.  But if you are looking for a song that is about your life (and you’re not wealthy, morally left, and divorced from the world of work), look elsewhere.  If it is in fact a country song it marks a dramatic shift in what I am supposed to admit is country, and demands that I accept the relatability of a song which espouses such completely different values than I do that I might as well listen to that coffee shop indie music instead.  I might do just that: at least I can pick up my own banjo and play along.