Last week I published the first part to this series, a look into how Beyoncé’s "Lemonade" album is working for me on a personal level. This is the second the part to that series.
My goal for this is to take quotes from the actual visual album and the song lyrics to show exactly how these apply to me and my life. The visual album is almost one long poem, and the lyrics are rich with truth and pure emotion. I encourage all of you to watch the actual hour-long visual album to experience these songs. I promise you will not be disappointed.
Without further bantering…here are the next three tracks In the album.
6.) DADDY LESSON: “Your mother is a woman. … And women like her can not be contained.”
I grew up with the influence of very strong women. My mother is a successful business owner, and all of my grandmothers and aunts are involved in organizations outside of their
professions. Most of my family members are women; my great-grandmothers had multiple
husbands and lived through hardship and big 10+ kid families. My grandmother (being an only child) went on the have three daughters. Out of the seven grandchildren in my family, four of those are girls. It was always without saying that these women in my life were independent, self-serving, and headstrong women. In return, I have taken on that strength. However, sometimes I feel like that strength holds me back. I feel I have to act a certain way, present myself a certain way, and take on more things than I can handle all in an attempt to prove myself worthy of that strength. I feel like I cannot compete or live up to the amount of independency these women who support me radiate.
But on the other side of that spectrum, I am a daddy’s girl, and sometimes I do not want to be self-serving. Sometimes I want someone to cater to me and listen to me without getting upset or irritated. I want the attention, and I want the sympathy. I want to be selfish, and I feel guilty every time. And every time, my father has been there to show me that I don’t have to rely only on myself. Sometimes we need other’s support to achieve our goals in life. Sometimes we need to ask for help. Sometimes we are not strong, and that’s okay.
7.) LOVE DROUGHT: “Why do you consider yourself undeserving?”
I am worth it. This is a phrase we all need to say more often. I AM WORTH IT. I’m not talking about when you are on your current diet and it’s cheat day, I mean in life. You are worth love, and happiness, and success. The only person who is going to fully give you all those things is yourself, though. You came into this world alone, and you will leave it the same way. The lives meet in between only enrich our experience and make it all worth it. YOU CAN’T ENJOY THE MIDDLE IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT PAST THE HARDSHIP. We all endure it, but we are all WORTH overcoming it. You deserve it!!
“Nine times out of ten, I'm in my feelings
But ten times out of nine, I'm only human”
I am a Libra, and I love, love. I love everything about love; I am a hopeless romantic. I romanticize everything, and everyone I have even a slight crush on. I put people on pedestals and I compare myself to them and say, “this is why you aren’t capable, because you are not like this.” I have to continually remind myself that I am only human.
8.) SAND CASTLES: “Baptize me... If we're gonna heal, let it be glorious. ”
This song is all about the realization that you will overcome and heal from those self-made wounds. At some point you WILL get the courage to stand up and say, “no more standing still.” There is nothing like this feeling, of being confident in yourself and your life and your support system at home to pick yourself up from the dirt and start to wash away those infections. You start to heal, you start to mold into a person you can live in.
“We built sandcastles that washed away
I made you cry when I walked away
And although I promised that I couldn't stay, baby
Every promise don't work out that way”
No matter what you have gone through, no matter the hardships you have seen, you have the ability to start fresh. Start from the ground up; re-build. I find after every semester, every heartbreak, every new encounter that makes me grow up a little more, I take a step back and say, “okay, it’s time to re-build.” That doesn’t mean start fresh with new friends, and that doesn’t mean isolate yourself. It means to evaluate your life, decide what you can live with and what you can’t, and change yourself. Look in the mirror. Start there.
