If I Were a Boy
"If I Were a Boy" is a song written by BC Jean and Toby Gad and originally performed by Jean in 2008. The song gained international attention the same year in a version by the American singer Beyoncé, from her third studio album I Am... Sasha Fierce. Jean and Gad also handled its production alongside Beyoncé. Inspired by the difficult break-up of a romantic relationship, the song was initially recorded by Jean, whose record company rejected it. Beyoncé then recorded her own version. Jean was upset when she learned that Beyoncé was releasing it as a single, but eventually, they reached an agreement. Columbia Records released "If I Were a Boy" to US radio on October 8, 2008, as a double A-side single alongside "Single Ladies " as the lead singles. The two songs showcased the contrast between Beyoncé's personality and her aggressive onstage persona, Sasha Fierce. A Spanish version of the song, titled "Si Yo Fuera un Chico", was digitally released in Mexico and Spain.
"If I Were a Boy" is an introspective pop and R&B ballad which draws influences from soft rock through its instrumentation of which includes acoustic guitars, drums and strings. The song's lyrics lament the misunderstandings between the genders and indict the male side of relationships. "If I Were a Boy" was well received by critics, who complimented Beyoncé's tormented and emotive vocal performance and called the song her best work to date. The single was a commercial success as it placed in the top ten on twenty-five different singles charts. It topped the charts in numerous countries, including Brazil, the Netherlands, Sweden, as well as the United Kingdom, where it is Beyoncé's best-selling single, though it only comes in third once streaming data is included. "If I Were a Boy" peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and earned multi-platinum certifications in Australia, Canada, and the US, as well as a diamond one in Brazil. It was the third-bestselling song in 2009 in Brazil.
The accompanying music video for "If I Were a Boy" was directed by Jake Nava and shot in black-and-white. With a theme of role reversal, it is conceptually similar to the Disney comedy film Freaky Friday. A video for the Spanish version of the ballad was edited from the original clip. Beyoncé promoted "If I Were a Boy" through live performances at venues including The Oprah Winfrey Show, the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, and the I Am... World Tour. The song has been covered several times on televised music competitions. American singer Reba McEntire sang a country version of the ballad on Country Music Television, and a studio version was released as the second single from her 2010 album, All the Women I Am.
Writing and production
"If I Were a Boy" was written by BC Jean and Toby Gad. It is the opening ballad of the I Am... disc of the double album I Am... Sasha Fierce. It is the only song on either disc that Beyoncé did not co-write. Most of the lyrics were written by Jean, who was inspired by the break-up of a romantic relationship. One day Jean and Gad visited a pizzeria in Times Square in New York City. Although tempted, Jean refrained from eating pizza because she was dieting. She then thought that if she were a boy, she would have eaten without regret. After reflecting on the idea, she concluded that she would have been a better man than her past lover. Gad captured Jean's ideas on a pocket recorder, and they went to the studio the same day. Once there, she wrote the lyrics and melody in about 15 minutes. She then recorded the song in less than half an hour, with Gad on the guitar.After completing her version of "If I Were a Boy", Jean presented it to her record company, which rejected the song. Gad and Jean had co-written 12 songs, including "If I Were a Boy", for the singer's debut album. As the deal with Jean's record company fell apart, Gad marketed the songs to established artists. Beyoncé liked "If I Were a Boy" and recorded her own version of it for her album I Am... Sasha Fierce. Gad and Beyoncé produced the track in 2008 at Roc the Mic Studios and Strawberry Productions in New York City and at GAD Studios in Ibiza. Gad did the musical arrangements, assisted in recording the music, and played the instruments alongside his brother Jens Gad and Reggie Syience Perry. Jim Caruana recorded Beyoncé's vocals at Roc the Mic Studios. Mark "Spike" Stent mixed the track with assistance from Matt Green at The Record Plant in Los Angeles. "If I Were a Boy" was placed on the I Am... disc of I Am... Sasha Fierce, as it is a ballad that shows Beyoncé's insecurities about love and the person she is "underneath all the makeup, underneath the lights and underneath all the exciting star drama".
In an interview with Essence magazine, Beyoncé explained that "If I Were a Boy" is "broad" and different from her previous releases because it is not a traditional R&B song. She added, "I had to try it, because I remember Aretha Franklin said a great singer can sing anything and make it her own." Beyoncé was also motivated by her audience's strong expectations from her as a singer. While preparing her third solo album, Beyoncé wanted to experiment with stronger lyrics and record ballads like "If I Were a Boy" because, "the music and the emotion in the story is told so much better. It's a better connection because you can hear it and it's not all these other distractions. I really wanted people to hear my voice and hear what I had to say."
Jean's response
After Jean's version of "If I Were a Boy" was rejected by her record company, she was upset that Beyoncé recorded and released the ballad. Roger Friedman of Fox News wrote that Jean was first informed that Beyoncé recorded the song by a stranger. The Daily Telegraph reported that Beyoncé's father and then-manager Mathew Knowles pursued the publishing rights of "If I Were a Boy" after realizing that it had the potential to become a big hit. Jean used her Myspace account to express her frustration: "I have been reading some of these comments and to set the record straight from the horse's mouth – IF I WERE A BOY is my song; YES, I wrote this song; It is my story; a painful one, and the song is very dear to me. You can hear the original version on my myspace site." Friedman later reported that Beyoncé and Jean had come to terms. The deal included a promise that Beyoncé would record a duet with Jean for her debut album.In an interview with Eric R. Danton of the Hartford Courant, Jean was asked about her reaction when she heard that Beyoncé was recording "If I Were a Boy". She was initially surprised when people regarded her as a songwriter because she envisioned herself as "do the whole artist thing as well". Jean added, "It's an amazing compliment, but I was like, 'That's great, but it's going to be on my album!' And it can be on my album, too, I just didn't realize how it worked ... At first when I got this, people didn't know that I was an artist, so it was, like, 'Oh, this songwriter BC. "If I Were a Boy" was the first song she ever recorded, and she initially did not intend to hand it to another singer. Jean said that the fact that Beyoncé recorded the ballad provided many opportunities, and she was approached by many people who wanted to purchase her lyrics. She refused their offers, desiring to use her songs for her own album. However, Jean still intends to write for other artists.
Composition and lyrical interpretation
"If I Were a Boy" is a midtempo pop and R&B ballad, with folk rock and soft rock influences. The song was composed using common time in the key of G major and has a moderate tempo of 90 beats per minute. It was written in the common verse-chorus form; the verses are supported by four chords and follow a vi-IV-I-V chord progression in the form Em7–B–G–D/F. Ed Masle of The Arizona Republic noted that the progression is reminiscent of Nirvana's 1991 song "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Instrumentation is provided by a piano, acoustic guitars, live drums, and strings as well as hand claps which are used throughout the song. Beyoncé's vocals span the range from a low of F♯3 to the high of E5. Her singing gets higher and louder as she employs melodic crescendos. Critics noted that Beyoncé delivers a tormented performance with unwavering sentiments.The lyrics of "If I Were a Boy" are about a gender-swapping thought experiment, through which the narrator analyses the ideologies of a tense relationship. As she sings about things she would do if she were a boy, the narrator highlights the vulnerability of a woman and ponders how things would be different if men had women's sense of empathy. During the first part of the ballad, the narrator alternates between the role of her flawed partner and that of the better man she would be. In the first verse, she envisions herself impersonating her unfeeling love interest as she sings about consuming beer with other men, chasing after girls, and treating her lover cruelly, before adding that she would never be confronted for it. The narrator then sings the chorus, in which she gives her vision of life as a better man, "I think I could understand / How it feels to love a girl / I swear I'd be a better man", because she knows "how it hurts when you lose the one you wanted / 'cause he's taken you for granted and everything you had got destroyed".
In the second verse, the narrator resigns herself and continues to sing about cruelties that men often inflict on women. Still imagining herself impersonating the man who has wronged her, she highlights how some men switch off their phones to avoid ex-lovers after having found another girl. The narrator continues, "I'd put myself first / And make the rules as I go / 'Cause I know that she'd be faithful / Waitin' for me to come home". She then repeats the chorus; the intensity with which she sings gradually increases until she hits her upper register and seems close to crying. During the bridge, the narrator stops singing about the male behaviors she would indulge in if she were a man and addresses her callous lover directly. As the narrator emphasizes how it feels to be cheated on, she sings her vocal lines an octave higher than she did in the rest of the song. She finally tells him that it is too late to come back and apologize. In the last verse, the narrator concludes, "But you're just a boy". Fraser McAlpine of BBC Music notes that she " her voice into a thin, pleading whine" at this point. With a squeak in her voice, she repeats the chorus for the final time as she fights to remain strong, not allowing her agony to bring her down.