Tryna rain, tryna rain on the thunder
Tell the storm I'm new
I'ma walk, I'ma march on the regular
Painting white flags blue
Lord, forgive me, I've been running
Running blind in truth
I'ma rain, I'ma rain on this bitter love
Tell the sweet I'm new
[Pre-Chorus: Beyoncé]
I'm telling these tears, "Go and fall away, fall away," oh
May the last one burn into flames
[Chorus: Beyoncé]
Freedom, freedom, I can't move
Freedom, cut me loose, yeah
Freedom, freedom, where are you?
'Cause I need freedom, too
I break chains all by myself
Won't let my freedom rot in hell
Hey, I'ma keep running
'Cause a winner don't quit on themselves
[Verse 2: Beyoncé]
I'ma wade, I'ma wave through the waters
Tell the tide, "Don't move"
I'ma riot, I'ma riot through your borders
Call me bulletproof
Lord, forgive me, I've been runnin'
Runnin' blind in truth
I'ma wade, I'ma wave through your shallow love
Tell the deep I'm new
I'm telling these tears, "Go and fall away, fall away," oh
May the last one burn into flames
[Chorus: Beyoncé]
Freedom, freedom, I can't move
Freedom, cut me loose
Freedom, freedom, where are you?
'Cause I need freedom, too
I break chains all by myself
Won't let my freedom rot in hell
Hey, I'ma keep running
'Cause a winner don't quit on themselves
[Verse 3: Kendrick Lamar]
Ten Hail Marys, I meditate for practice
Channel 9 news tell me I'm movin' backwards
Eight blocks left, death is around the corner
Seven misleadin' statements 'bout my persona
Six headlights wavin' in my direction (Come on)
Five-O askin' me what's in my possession
Yeah, I keep runnin', jump in the aqueducts
Fire hydrants and hazardous
Smoke alarms on the back of us
But mama, don't cry for me, ride for me
Try for me, live for me
Breathe for me, sing for me
Honestly guidin' me
I could be more than I gotta be
Stole from me, lied to me, nation hypocrisy
Code on me, drive on me
Wicked, my spirit inspired me, like yeah
Open correctional gates in higher desert (Yeah)
Open our mind as we cast away oppression (Yeah)
Open the streets and watch our beliefs
And when they carve my name inside the concrete
I pray it forever reads
Freedom, freedom, I can't move
Freedom, cut me loose
Freedom, freedom, where are you?
'Cause I need freedom, too
I break chains all by myself
Won't let my freedom rot in hell
Hey, I'ma keep running
'Cause a winner don't quit on themselves
[Outro: Kendrick Lamar]
What you want from me?
Is it truth you seek? Oh, father, can you hear me?
What you want from me?
Is it truth you seek? Oh, father, can you hear me?
Hear me out
[Spoken: Hattie White]
I had my ups and downs
But I always find the inner strength to pull myself up
I was served lemons, but I made lemonade
About
“Freedom” is an anthem dedicated to black women. The song brings Beyoncé’s visual album to an apex with the scene ‘hope’ and features the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Eric Garner pictured with photos of their deceased sons.
Throughout the song, Beyoncé alludes to herself as a force of nature who can empower other women like herself to break free of the bonds society places on them. She addresses her struggle with infidelity as a black woman, as well as alluding to the history of slavery inflicted upon African-Americans, including current issues and the Black Lives Matter movement. Beyoncé and her writers, musicians, and producers sonically reference the musical memories of all those periods.
Beyoncé is joined by Kendrick Lamar in their first ever collaboration. While Beyoncé focuses on women’s issues, Kendrick continues to touch on institutionalized racism, a major theme of his critically acclaimed 2015 album To Pimp A Butterfly. However, Kendrick also brings women to the forefront, alluding to 2Pac’s “Dear Mama” and “Ride 4 Me” while sending a message of empowerment to his own mother.
In Kendrick’s verse, he employs a style of writing that counts down from ten to five, before switching to a syllable count to further the countdown. This gives the impression that Kendrick is counting down towards something significant. Within context of the song (and the final bars of the verse), Kendrick is likely counting down to freedom from oppression. Yasiin Bey employs a similar writing style on “Mathematics.”
Along with issues affecting black women, social equality justice are major motifs of this song.
Producer Just Blaze told the Rap Radar podcast that Beyoncé came to him with the “Let Me Try” sample by Kaleidoscope and an already completed demo.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Shout out to the homie Egon from Stones Throw, he’s kind of the one that brought that sample to life. I forget the original writer’s name, but there’s only 300 copies of that record in existence. It was recorded in Mexico back in I think the late 60s. Egon had re-issued it a couple of years ago, so now it’s out there, but for years if you didn’t have one of those 300 copies, you were out.
Basically, did the idea at the house. Got it to where I felt it was right. One of her things was, she said ‘This sounds like you, this feels like you.’.. Sent it back to her. And I was a little nervous cause I didn’t hear anything right away… But I mean it’s Beyonce we’re talking about, she’s doing a zillion things at a time… Then I finally got the email back, like ‘This is it.’
Within 24 hours of hearing the song, Beyoncé recorded what we had so far, just to test herself out on it. Then she got to work on how she wanted to say the words properly. She’s a visionary herself, so she started helping us find the direction of the song. She wanted it to be a female anthem, and we wanted to address certain issues. We met in the summer [of 2015], and in the beginning of 2016 we were still working on the second verse, trying to refine it. It wasn’t just like, ‘Yeah, take the song.’ We really crafted it all together.
- 2.Hold Up
- 4.Sorry
- 5.6 Inch
- 7.Love Drought
- 8.Sandcastles
- 9.Forward
- 10.Freedom
- 11.All Night
- 12.Formation