2008Released
4:09

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about If I Were a Boy. By Songfacts®.

This track represents a new sound for Beyoncé. The R&B singer explained to Essence magazine: "It's broad. But I had to try it, because I remember Aretha Franklin said a great singer can sing anything and make it her own." Beyoncé added that she was influenced by her recent role playing Etta James in Cadillac Records. She decided to follow the example of the blues and R&B singer and broadened her horizons. The Texan told Essence: "Etta expressed herself; she was bold. That inspired me to do a lot of things musically that no one else is doing."

This was produced and co-written by New York-based Toby Gad, whose other credits include "Big Girls Don't Cry" for Fergie and The Veronicas' Top 10 Australian hit "Take Me on the Floor." He wrote it with the singer-songwriter BC Jean. According to a 2024 interview with Gad, the inspiration for the song came during a casual moment after a studio session in New York. They were on a pizza run from Gad's studio on 46th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues when BC Jean complained about her boyfriend, exclaiming, "Well, if I were a boy, I would kick his ass," or something similar. Struck by the phrase, Gad suggested they return to the studio and explore what she would do differently if she were a boy. Once back in the studio, Gad took out his guitar, and together they went line by line, brainstorming and capturing the various things BC Jean would do if she were in the shoes of a boy.

The song's music video was directed by Jake Nava, who previously helmed Beyonce's "Baby Boy." The Texan singer told Billboard magazine about the concept behind the clip, where she plays a police officer. She explained: "It's kind of like Freaky Friday. In the beginning of the video, my husband makes me breakfast and he's excited about it, and I kind of don't have time to eat. As a police officer, I have a male partner and the video goes through our days. My husband's at work and has attractive girls flirting with him but he declines their advances. I have a guy flirting with me, and I flirt back."
Beyoncé added that the video depicts common things that men do to hurt their significant others, such as not answering their phone. She explained: "It's about all of the little things that mean so much in a relationship. At the end of the clip, you realize that I was acting out his life, and it all starts over again. He was a cop and everything that happened was really him doing the same thing to me."

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of If I Were a Boy.
F♯Key
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
90BPM

Album

The album If I Were a Boy is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released If I Were a Boy.
Music World Music/Columbia
(P) 2008, 2009 Sony Music Entertainment

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