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Renaissance and Cowboy Carter, Ranked




2024 has been a magical year for music thus far; it's borderline criminal to act as if Beyoncé is just another name in the music world, but the fact that her latest album release has somewhat fallen out of everyday mainstream discussion speaks to just how many high-quality releases from a slew of the biggest artists in the game we've gotten in these last 6 months (and also, to how little Beyoncé has done to promote this album so far, in the way of music videos, singles, tour announcements, etc.).


Still, minimal promotion and all, numerous mega-watt releases this year and all, there's no bigger name in the music world than Beyoncé, who admirably continues to raise the bar and bash barriers with each album release over the last decade-plus. So today, which marks both the two-year anniversary of the game-changing RENAISSANCE and the four-month anniversary of the groundbreaking Cowboy Carter, Acts 1 and 2 of her self-proclaimed "renaissance" trilogy, I want to celebrate both albums in the best way I know how. Okay in the two best ways I know how: one, by once again listening to both albums in their entirety, and secondly, by ranking every single track of the Renaissance trilogy thus far. This is a daunting, perhaps even impossible, feat that I simulataneously finally feel comfortable doing and know will yield about 12 changes of heart from me by the end of the week, if not over the course of this article. I've made the list at long last, so let's get this started before I change my mind once again:



Tier 5: The Interludes

Both albums, Cowboy Carter in particular, utilize interludes to either transition between tracks or set up a new 'scene.' It's difficult to know how to rank them as individual tracks, since their purpose isn't really to be a standalone song, so by default I'm lumping them all at the bottom of the ranking. Still, within their own strata, some both function and simply are better than others. (Also, you may contest that a few of these aren't necessarily "interludes," but to be clear, I'm defining it as anything from either album that clocks in under 2 minutes.)





Willie Nelson's second appearance on the album feels unnecessary, as he seems to once again serve no purpose but to be like "chill out man, Beyoncé's cooooool." Which is fun, but isn't needed more than once.




Because of the sped-up chipmunk vocals, I don't actually know if this is Bey singing or if it's just a straight-up recording of Chuck Berry's original. Regardless, while the 50-second sample does its job well transitioning "YA YA" to "DESERT EAGLE," it's not her song and not a memorable entry on Cowboy Carter.



41. "DOLLY P"


Dolly Parton's first of two appearances on Cowboy Carter, both spoken introductions, a la Willie Nelson. It's definitely pretty campy, and depending on how you feel about Beyoncé's cover of "JOLENE," which this introduces, maybe even a little cringe. But be honest, you smiled hearing Dolly's sweet Southern drawl reference "that hussy with the good hair."




Willie Nelson's first appearance on Cowboy Carter, by contrast to his second, feels novel and fun. The beloved country legend functions as a radio host (of "KNTRY Radio"), instructing listeners to light up a joint, sit back and relax, and if they can't do that, scram. I find myself wishing this was either his sole appearance on the tracklist, or that Beyoncé and team really lean into the radio theme and give him more consistent air time.




Certainly my favorite of the spoken interludes. Linda Martell, arguably the first commercially successful black country singer, epitomizes Beyoncé's central thesis, and with this terrific prelude to the electric "YA YA," kicks off a back half of the album that doesn't take its foot off the gas.




A fun, sexy little romp, but at just 73 seconds doesn't really pack a memorable punch.



37. "ENERGY"


I struggle with how to assess "ENERGY," because as a standalone track only, it definitely is a weaker moment on the near-flawless RENAISSANCE. But functioning as an interlude, it couldn't be better; the gradual transition out of "CUFF IT" and into "BREAK MY SOUL," two uptempo but completely different tracks, is one of the standout moments on the whole album. Plus, this song gets credit for kicking off the viral "Mute Challenge," which was one of the more delightful features of Beyoncé's last tour.



36. "MY ROSE"


One of two interludes on Cowboy Carter that I desperately wish were longer. I could listen to Beyoncé singing faux-lullabies with vocally stacked harmonies all day long.



35. "FLAMENCO"


If "MY ROSE" not being longer was disappointing, though, "FLAMENCO" only being 1:40 is criminal. Beyoncé's lyrics are so earnest, and her voice sounds gorgeous and plays off the Spanish castanets and guitar so expertly. I need a 3 and a half minute cut of this track, and need it bad.


 

Tier 4: The Forgettables

There isn't a bad song on either album, and I don't mean that as a mollifier to placate the BeyHive; it's genuinely true that both albums have been stinker-free. However, in 140 combined minutes between the two, there's bound to be some filler, and these songs are it. Not bad, but could have just been on special "deluxe versions," perhaps.





Given that all the above interludes function either as introductions to tracks, or brief stops within a larger medley, this is the closest thing on Cowboy Carter to a skip for me. It's cute, but a little too silly and melodically monotonous, and while (I think) I understand what Beyoncé was going for by selecting Post Malone for a collab, he's the only guest artist on the two albums that feels auspiciously out of place.




I like the authentic deep-country feel of this one, amidst a record that has fewer of those moments than I expected, but it's just a little too sleepy to stand out amongst a tracklist full of memorable songs.



32. "THIQUE"


Similar to what I said about "LEVII'S JEANS": given that "ENERGY" really shines as a transition track in the album, "THIQUE" is the only part of RENAISSANCE that comes close to a skip for me. It's playful and funny, but coming fresh off one of the album's best songs, kills the momentum somewhat... that is, until its crescendoing outro which bleeds perfectly into "ALL UP IN YOUR MIND."




This may be first alienating take on this piece, as I have seen a surprising number of people online cite this as one of their favorite cuts off Cowboy Carter. I am a sucker for a well-placed gospel choir like the one that comes in in the latter half of this song, and Willie Jones is a welcome voice on the album. It just takes a little too long to get to the good stuff here to keep my interest in such a stuffed record.



30. "MOVE"


Just like "THIQUE," which pops up just two songs after this one on the tracklist, "MOVE" is a lot of fun, one I can admit may be more for the girlies than I can appreciate, and simply has the misfortune of being a less melodically-driven entry sandwiched between my two personal favorites on RENAISSANCE.


 

Tier 3: The 'Time-Crunch Skips'

All of the below are good songs, even very good songs in some cases. On weaker bodies of work by lesser artists, they would be standout. But this is no ordinary artist, and her albums no ordinary bodies of work. Therefore, we have to be ruthless. Imagine you only had an hour to listen to Acts i and ii of the Renaissance, instead of the 2+ hours required; these are the songs that in addition to all the ones that came before, wouldn't make the cut for me.





One of the longer cuts on Cowboy Carter, this song is a lot of fun, but the three extremely distinct acts make it fairly uneven. I could have done a lot more "Honey" and a lot less "Buckin," in other words.




I know. I know. It's Bey's mega-hit from this era, it's what helped blow up the buzz for the then-forthcoming album, and made history, both as the first Country song by a Black woman to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, then as both the first-ever Beyoncé song and Country song to go #1 on Billboard's global charts. For that, it deserves its flowers! But... *whispers quietly* *ducks* ... as a song, it's truthfully just okay.




Easily the most divisive song off of Cowboy Carter. It felt like for a week after the album's release, I was seeing and hearing reactions to Bey's cover/reinterpretation of Dolly Parton's classic, and half seemed to be freaking out about how good it was while the other half snarked about how 'cringy' her new version of the famous song was. I find myself somewhat in the middle: I happen to love the original, sure, but really enjoyed and appreciated Bey's take on it, and nobody can deny she sings the hell out of it. At the same time, it doesn't really feel like a necessary inclusion amidst such a slew of terrific original songs.




"AMEN" is a gorgeous song, and a terrific button on Cowboy Carter in closing the album with a callback to its opening track. It ranks this low simply because, well, it's primarily a callback to the opening track and not a standalone. Come to think of it, though this comes in at 2 and a half minutes, this arguably could have been included in the "Interludes" tier, as it's really the album's 'exitlude.'




We're getting into the handful of songs that physically hurt me to rank this low... I think "ALL UP IN YOUR MIND" is awesome, and love that Beyoncé included the unexpected change of pace in RENAISSANCE. It's just that it does really feel like a serious change in direction in an album that otherwise flows together so brilliantly, and-- perhaps because I've never been a huge hyperpop guy --is one I've never been as drawn to as much as others on the tracklist.




Wildly different song from "ALL UP IN YOUR MIND," but just about everything I said applies here as well. I love love LOVE that Bey included it, and totally track with her vision (as well as the words of Linda Martell in the intro to this song) pointing out that she, that Country, that black artists contain multitudes. Plus she absolutely spits in this one; if you though Rap was a world Beyoncé couldn't conquer, this song should dispel with that notion. It's just that there's so many gorgeous, irresistible tracks on these two albums that this isn't one I tend to run to.




The drop in this song is a near-religious experience; that alone warrants this song's Top 25 ranking. But it's more than just that one trick: the folk-song-hearkening chorus is wildly catchy, and lyrics cleverly tell a story of a 'Jolene' figure and how she relates to the women she renders cuckqueans.




"RIIVERDANCE" is another one that I've commonly seen both among people's proclaimed favorites and their least-favorites on this album. I guess it just boils down to whether you wanna bounce on that shit, no hands. Okay, just kidding; I am not particularly interested in doing that, and yet I do find this song and its beat so enjoyable and catchy.




Another song I grapple with ranking due to the "standalone quality vs. function in album" debate. As an individual song, which is largely how I'm assessing each track in this ranking, it's a bit all over the place, and not among the strongest in an absolutely loaded tracklist. But as an introduction to "the RENAISSANCE"? Woo boy. It absolutely throws down the gauntlet, introducing just about every single musical and lyrical theme you're about to hear on the album in a way that makes you sit up and take notice immediately.




This is a hella catchy track brimming with hit potential, should Beyoncé ever decide she's interested in, you know, releasing more singles. It's grown on me a lot since first listen, too. That said, it just misses the cut of being "essential" for me, and that's largely down to how simple it feels in between a devastating opening slew of songs and a couple mind-blowers soon after it. It feels like a really good 'early Taylor Swift' song, to put it another way.


 

Tier 2: The Phenomenal

Now we're getting to the truly elite tracks. Bettered only by the absolute best of each album, all the songs below were and are in contention for some of the best songs of their respective years.





My feelings on this song, if graphed, would resemble the inverse of a bell graph. I loved it upon release and listened to it obsessively, then when RENAISSANCE came out I thought "oh lol this is actually one of the weaker songs on the album," and got away from listening to it all that much. Fast forward to present day, it's once again one of my most-played tracks on the album. It's just so infectious; it's impossible to get out of your head and stop moving once it's in there.




Other than "SPAGHETTI," perhaps the greatest misdirect by Beyoncé on either album. What overtly starts as a gospel spiritual quickly turns into an ass-shaking club banger, as the queen instructs the "church girls" to act naughty and "drop it like a thotty." It's so funny, so good and truly, profound. It's fun, but sneakily the best representation of the messages of self-love, empowerment, and celebrating complexity that define RENAISSANCE.




One of two instances on Cowboy Carter of Beyoncé covering an extremely famous song by a beloved artist. This Beatles cover generated significantly less buzz than "JOLENE," perhaps because of how straightforward the cover is. I love this song so much, though, and Bey and Tanner Adell-- who takes the last verse --do the McCartney classic justice, and in fact add a level of tear-jerking poignancy by commandeering a song that was written amidst the Civil Rights movement as an ode to the strength of Black women in America.




"COZY" flows so seamlessly from the opening track, turning the shit-talkin', self-lovin' message of "I'M THAT GIRL" outward to include all listeners in this anthem. I was convinced upon first listen that this would be one of my favorites from the record... I wasn't wrong, there just ended up being many more favorites than I expected.




The longest song on Cowboy Carter, but you wouldn't know it. Nestled near the end of the tracklist, in the middle of the album-closing medley of tracks, 2H2H is such a pretty, deeply exhaling balm. It's 5 minutes and 40 seconds of feeling like you are, in fact, a stallion running in the wind, dancing in the moonlight, and catching every breeze, as Bey sings.




I recognize I am, I think, higher on this song than most who love RENAISSANCE. It certainly is the most (the only?) "conventional" R&B song from Beyoncé on the album, so I can understand why it maybe didn't stand out to others as much. But it's just so gorgeous to me; it feels sexy, yes, but the kind of sexy that's comfortable. Dancing with your lover in your living room with a glass of whiskey in hand, vs. sweating in a nightclub, if you will. Plus, Queen B's vocal runs in the outro, and the way it speeds up and transitions into "VIRGO'S GROOVE"? Borderline orgasmic.




People need to put some respect on "16 CARRIAGES," which I fear has never gotten the time in the sun it deserved. Released at the same time as "TEXAS HOLD 'EM," it ended up being somewhat of a B-side to the much bigger mega smash hit, and then got overshadowed by the shiny new songs upon release of the full album. But this song is incredible: I've always been most drawn to Country music that's a throwback to the days of earnest storytelling, and emotive musically, and this track is that to a T.




It's actually absurd that an album like RENAISSANCE can be so good for over an hour, and then also end on an incredible high. The absolute audacity. Perhaps because it is the bookend of the record, I don't often see this track referenced as much as its album peers, but it is an absolute banger, thanks in no small part to Beyoncé's expert interpolation of Donna Summer. Its synth-heavy outro leaves listeners gasping for an immediate replay of the album, and having seen this tour in person, I can confirm the same is true of the live show-ending.




Another one that I initially wrote off (not in a "this is a skip" kind of way, but in a "Cool! Anyway, next song" kind of way) that has grown on me immensely, to the point where I would put it in my Top 5 songs on RENAISSANCE. Sure, it helps my estimation that Bey released a banger of a remix with my other favorite artist, Kendrick Lamar. But truthfully, both the original and the remix are a short-but-sweet absolute bop, one that kinda makes me want to put on shades, do a line of coke, and forget that I have no idea how to dance.




I'm not ashamed to admit that multiple songs on Cowboy Carter brought tears to my eyes, and this was undoubtedly one of them. I was cautiously optimistic about a Miley Cyrus-Beyoncé duet; I love both singers' voices, and Miley of course has a country upbringing, but also having never heard them sing together, I wasn't exactly sure how the two would meld. Near-perfectly, as it turns out. The two powerhouse vocalists at times harmonize, and at other times double up on the melody, and in both cases, pack an absolute punch in this ride-or-die anthem.




An absolute classic. Many (most, even?) B-hive members would bump this one up a tier, and I wouldn't fault them for it at all. I personally am not as moved by the thumping beat and dramatic voiceovers, as the, shall we say, more dance-inclined among us, are. But that doesn't mean I don't recognize the immense quality of production in this song, nor does it mean I don't ascend to a higher plane each time the chorus arrives.


 

Tier 1: The Hall of Fame

This is it. The crème de la crème. In two albums' worth, 2+ hours' worth of terrific music, these "Elite Eight" stand out above the rest, as some of the best work Beyoncé has ever done.





I will never forget my first time listening to this track. The penultimate song on RENAISSANCE, I already was a little thrown by the themes of the album upon first listen, and when the "PURE" section was largely devoted to Beyoncé sultrily summoning the pretty boys and the gworls to the floor, I assumed this one may not be a replay for me....then came the heavenly transition into "HONEY," a ridiculously addicting Prince-inspired latter half. With every listen of this album, I like it even more, and no one song epitomizes that experience more than this one.




Given that Cowboy Carter was, according to Beyoncé, originally scheduled to come out 5 years ago and thus has likely been a long evolving project, it wouldn't surprise me if this (with "THE LINDA MARTELL SHOW" preceding, of course) was originally supposed to be the album opener. As it is, it kicks off the nonstop medley that runs the length of the 2nd half of the album, and the only problem with that terrific medley is that it never rediscovers the heights reached by this phenomenal hit. Even if awards shows try to make amends for past snubs and invite Beyoncé to perform, she very well may turn them down, and I would get it...but selfishly I hope she doesn't, because boy would I pay money to watch her and a backing band and dancers absolutely burn down the CMA stage with a performance of this track.




Probably the only song off of RENAISSANCE, and perhaps off of both albums, of which my estimation has remained the exact same from the very beginning all the way through my gajillion listens: it's just a fuckin' banger. Simple as that. It's the most readily-packaged hit of both albums, combining the best inclinations of 2013's two strongest 'sexy pop' hits (Bey's "Blow" and Daft Punk's "Get Lucky") to make a supersmash.




Sometimes when artists go 'theatrical,' it's overkill and unintentionally campy. Sometimes, though...it absolutely lands. This falls into the latter category. You can almost tell Beyoncé had visions of scoring a Spaghetti Western when crafting this song; her emotive, dynamic vocals tell a sinister story, and the operatic segue in the final act of the song was one of the most jaw-dropping moments on Cowboy Carter.




I mentioned earlier how a handful songs on Cowboy Carter got me in my feelings...only one made me full-on cry. "PROTECTOR" is just absolutely gorgeous. So much of the Renaissance acts thus far have been about empowerment and celebration of self, of women, of the queer community, of black Americans, and I love all of that. But it just makes this quiet oasis, wherein Beyoncé as mother sings a heartfelt, soothing love song to her children, all the more poignant. I love this track, and I'm not even remotely close to having children of my own; if I ever do, I can't imagine how much deeper this will affect me.




RENAISSANCE's brilliance is that is almost physically impossible to only listen to one song off of it, and I'm not joking; Bey put crack in that album. That said, if there were only one individual song I've plucked out and listened to more than the rest, it would surely be this one. The beat is compelling enough on its own-- you'll groove to it, 100% --but the lyrics are sneaky great. Beyoncé attempts to cool herself down because the haters and critics have her "heated," but it all culminates in the most electric sequence on the album, where the Queen, as fired up as she was when the song began, raps through distortion a laundry list of insults she's endured, even going back to childhood, and powered through to this day.




The longest song of both Renaissance acts thus far, this is an epic 6-minute dance party. I'm a consistent sucker for two things: Beyoncé, and new-age Disco/Funk, and this is both things at their best. "VIRGO'S GROOVE" is a banger as a standalone track, and believe it or not, it's even better in the context of RENAISSANCE.




I understand why Bey ended up swapping the order of her Renaissance acts, but there are a couple reasons why I'm sad that Cowboy Carter wasn't act I, as she originally intended, and none more significant than this: "AMERIICAN REQIUEM" would have been one hell of a way to kick off this incredible, masterful project of hers. As it is, it's already an unreal album-opener, and as a body of work, perhaps Beyoncé's magnum opus. In its 5 and a half minutes, it touches on every musical and lyrical theme that will be explored in the history-making album, and instantly establishes Queen B as proficient in Country, Gospel, and Psychadelic Rock. I will leave you with this particularly insightful analysis from a YouTube user regarding this song:


"IT'S A LITERAL FUNERAL MASS IN UNDER 6 MINS. LOVE IT. It's structured like a Church service with a clear Opening Hymn, Sermon, Closing Hymn structure, and specifically a Black or Southern Baptist church when it comes to the Sermon portion. A lot of people realize that requiem means funeral mass and what the song means about laying the old ideas and biases to rest but no one is pointing out that the song itself is quite literally a full funeral mass, start to end. During the sermon portion there are vocal interjections as a choir would with a preacher in a call and response sort of way and also preaching chords. INGENIOUS & BRILLIANT! A clever girl indeed."




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