Then Beyoncé takes us to the neighborhood where the rest of the video goes down. And this is the point: the Neo-Classic monument, the use of mysticism, the poetry, the underwater visuals- all these dramatic archetypes take us to another place transcending race, class and culture- to the dreamland of wish-fulfillment narrative as art. The video begins with Beyoncé plunging underwater and reciting her agonizing, mystic poem of unknowing: "I tried to change, closed my mouth more, tried to be soft, prettier, less awake. Fasted for sixty days, wore white, abstained from mirrors. But still inside me coiled deep was the need to know." She emerges then, in a Biblical torrent of water, through the double doors of a Neo classic building, before proceeding to the neighborhood to wreck the cars. But, the extraordinary visuals of the opening sequence are not. These sentiments of love, betrayal and revenge are universal. As she flounces through the neighborhood, exacting her revenge on parked cars, we understand that she's gonna fuck-her-up some windshield, and that, if she could, she'd bust up the other woman, and maybe even Jay-Z- even as she keens for, and in some respects fights for his return. Still, Bey is spectacularly iconic in her citron-dyed, artfully tattered, breast-displaying dress. I had already been made aware of "Lemonade" and the video "Hold Up" (Beyoncés artistic response to infidelity) and the only quarrel I had with the video was Beyoncés smile as she wielded her avenging bat. We started with Beyoncé, who my niece tells me is called BAE, an affectionate acronym meaning "Before Anyone Else." But you already knew that, and so, dimly and involuntarily did we. So one Sunday morning we decided to take a peek behind the velvet, electronic curtain to see what the fuss is all about and catch up. Still, the last ten years of auto-tuned, hip-hop inspired, aggressively operatic and diva-driven pop music has somehow eluded us. Middle-aged and yes, white. We don't consider ourselves stodgy or set in our ways a'tall. My boyfriend and I are folk and Americana-inspired musicians, but we can also be described as Late to the Party: Inspired by Bourgeois Ecstasy Perfect Sound Forever: Beyonce and Jay Z Beyoncé and Jay-Z
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