Dissecting Beyoncé’s Black Parade

Beyoncé dropped her single “Black Parade” on Juneteenth, a celebratory day in the black community. June 19th, 1865 signified the end of slavery for all blacks. “Black Parade” is an anthem full of blackness. Let’s break apart the song so that we can understand all of its black greatness. Footnotes are provided for more information. 

[Verse 1]

I’m goin’ back to the South

I’m goin’ back, back, back, back

Where my roots ain’t watered down

Growin’, growin’ like a Baobab tree ¹

Of life on fertile ground, ancestors put me on game

Ankh charm on gold chains, with my Oshun energy ²

Drip all on me, Ankh on the Dashiki print ³

Hol’ up, don’t I smell like such a nag champa incense? ⁴

Yeah, pure ice (Ice), ice (Ice), buss down

Uh, flooded (Flooded), flooded (Flooded), on my wrist out

Ooh, goin’ up, goin’ up, motherland, motherland drip on me

Ooh, melanin, melanin, my drip is skin deep, like ⁵

Ooh, motherland, motherland, motherland, motherland drip on me

Ooh, yeah, I can’t forget my history is her-story, yeah

Being black, maybe that’s the reason why

They always mad, yeah, they always mad, yeah

Been past ’em, I know that’s the reason why

They all big mad and they always have been ⁶

[Chorus]

Honey, come around my way, around my hive ⁷

Whenever mama say so, mama say

Here I come on my throne, sittin’ high

Follow my parade, oh, my parade

Talkin’ slick to my folk (My folk), nip that lip like lipo (Lipo) ⁸

You hear them swarmin’, right? Bees is known to bite

Now here we come on our thrones, sittin’ high ⁹

Follow my parade, oh, my parade

[Verse 2]

Yeah, yeah, I’m for us, all black ¹⁰

All chrome (Yeah), black-owned (Yeah)

Black tints (Yeah), matte black (Yeah, yeah)

Roll by, my window down, let ’em see who in it

Crack a big smile (Ding)

Go figure, me and Jigga, fifty ‘leven children ¹¹

They like, “Chick, how?”

I charge my crystals in a full moon

You could send them missiles, I’ma send my goons

Baby sister reppin’ Yemaya (Yemaya) ¹²

Trust me, they gon’ need an army (Ah)

Rubber bullets bouncin’ off me (Ah) ¹³

Made a picket sign off your picket fence (Ah) ¹⁴

Take it as a warning (Ah, ah)

Waist beads from Yoruba (Woo) ¹⁵

Four hunnid billi’, Mansa Musa (Woo) ¹⁶

Stroll line to the barbeque ¹⁷

Put us any-damn-where, we gon’ make it look cute ¹⁸

Pandemic fly on the runway, in my hazmat

Judgin’, runnin’ through the house to my art, all black ¹⁹

Ancestors on the wall, let the ghosts chit-chat

(Ancestors on the wall, let the ghosts chit-chat)

Hold my hands, we gon’ pray together

Lay down, face down in the gravel

Woo, wearin’ all attire white to the funeral ²⁰

Black love, we gon’ stay together ²¹

Curtis Mayfield on the speaker (Woo) ²²

Lil’ Malcolm, Martin mixed with Mama Tina (Woo) ²³

Need another march, lemme call Tamika (Woo) ²⁴

Need peace and reparation for my people (Woo) ²⁵

Fuck these laid edges, I’ma let it shrivel up (Shrivel up) ²⁶

Fuck this fade and waves, I’ma let it dread all up (Dread all up) ²⁷

Put your fists up in the air, show black love (Show black love) ²⁸

Motherland drip on me, motherland, motherland drip on me

[Chorus]

Honey, come around my way, around my hive

Whenever mama say so, mama say

Here I come on my throne, sittin’ high

Follow my parade, oh, my parade

Talkin’ slick to my folk (My folk), nip that lip like lipo (Lipo)

Hear ’em swarmin’, right? Bees is known to bite

Now here we come on our thrones, sittin’ high

Follow my parade, oh, my parade

[Bridge]

We got rhythm (We got rhythm), we got pride (We got pride)

We birth kings (We birth kings), we birth tribes (We birth tribes)

Holy river (Holy river), holy tongue (Holy tongue)

Speak the glory (Speak the glory), feel the love (Feel the love)

Motherland, motherland drip on me, hey, hey, hey

Motherland, motherland drip on me, hey, hey, hey

I can’t forget my history, it’s her-story

Motherland drip on me, motherland, motherland drip on me

[Chorus]

Honey, come around my way, around my hive (My)

Whenever mama say so (Hey), mama say (Hey, hey)

Here I come on my throne, sittin’ high (High)

Follow my parade, oh, my parade (Hey, hey, hey)

Talkin’ slick to my folk (My folk), nip that lip like lipo (Lipo)

Hear ’em swarmin’, right? Bees is known to bite

Now here we come on our thrones, sittin’ high

Follow my parade, oh, black parade

That’s all folks. You’re welcome. #iamblackandiamproud 

1. Baobabs are a species of tree that is native to Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar.
2. The ankh is an ancient symbol that has origins in Egyptian mythology; it represents the key of life. In these days, the symbol has become synonymous with Afrocentrism and can be found on many jewelry pieces. Oshun is one of the many Orisha goddesses, finding her origin in the current-day Nigerian Yoruba religion who is seen as the goddess of femininity and fertility.
3. Dashiki is a colorful African printed tunic or shirt that African-Americans wear to show pride for their heritage.
4. Nag Champa is a popular fragrance of incense that has a sweet sandalwood scent. Black people love incense.
5. Melanin is a substance in the skin that affects how dark your skin is.
6. Black excellence is everything, and non-blacks hate to see us excel at anything in life, but we gon’ keep shining, so y’all can stay mad.
7. Beyoncé’s fan base is known as the “Beyhive,” which is a play on words combining Bey’s name with beehive. The “Beyhive” has passion and will swarm your ass in a minute.
8. Keep talking smart and degrading black people; we will bust your lip and make it look like you recently underwent surgery.
9. Bey references black people being royalty.
10. Beyoncé is for all things black- black business, black art, etc. It’s a whole Black Lives Matters movement.
11. Beyoncé loves using “fifty ‘leven” when she’s referring to multiples. Here, she is speaking of having multiple children and how her and Jay-Z have continued to maintain their success despite having three kids.
12. Yemaya is a Yoruba water goddess. The association with water could also refer to Solange being a Cancer sign, one of the water signs.
13. Beyoncé is referencing a form of nonlethal weapons used by police on protestors. She is saying that police violence will not affect her or the fight for freedom from oppressive and racist systems.
14. Basically, Bey is saying that she will use your white damn picket fence from your white middle/upper class suburban house to make her picket sign for protesting.
15. Yoruba people are an ethnic group in West Africa across various countries whose traditional dress includes wearing waist beads.
16. Mansa Musa was the tenth emperor of the Mali Empire. He oversaw the expansion of his empire’s salt and gold production, which made him the richest person in recorded history, with an estimated net worth of $400 billion in modern terms. Beyoncé references his wealth as an example of Black prosperity.
17. A stroll line is a line of synchronized dancers that are from the same Greek letter organization. Don’t try to walk in between a Greek stroll line; it is offensive, and it’s the quickest way to start a fight! Beyoncé is not Greek, but she references Greek organizations a lot in her music.
18. Black people make err-thang look cute. Period.
19. Obviously Bey and Jay have a whole collection of black art in their house. Bey has shown black art in many of her music videos.
20. Wearing black to a funeral is traditional, but in the South and in African culture, it’s common to wear white.
21. If there’s one thing that black people do, it’s stick together. Well, with the exception of Candace Owens and a few others.
22. Curtis Mayfield is a black soul singer.
23. Malcolm X, MLK, Jr. and Tina (Bey’s mom) are all listed as her influences.
24. Tamika Mallory is an advocate for BLM and a social activist who is known for organizing marches.
25. We’ve been asking for both of these since forever ago.
26. In order to make our hair straight, we have to perm it, but Bey says, “F*ck that; you gon’ get this hair the way it naturally grows out of my head.”
27. And for the black men, f*ck the clean cut and ocean waves that they have to rock their durag to get. Let it dread up like our ancestors’ hair.
28. This is black unity and love. The raised fist is a symbol that represents solidarity and resistance.