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Ring The Alarm
Album: B’Day
Year: 2006
Beyonce’s romance with a rich man goes awry in the wrathful “Ring The Alarm.”
A siren blares, setting a vigilant tone. In the hook, a muffled Beyonce yells for her boyfriend to tell her what’s wrong. She’s been involved with him for at least five years now and she isn’t ready to give up. He may be seeing another girl on the side, but it won’t last long. She’ll straighten both of them out.
In the chorus, she says the new girl will be lavished with expensive fur coats and living in a mansion. The new girl will take the life she enjoys. She will be wearing rare diamonds on her finger and driving alongside him in the luxury cars to events. She will reap the benefits of him being a great boyfriend. Something she had to gracefully teach him to be.
In the first verse, she tells him the information she knows: that every time he says he couldn’t be with her because of a meeting, he was with the other girl. She believes the person who works with him, who verified everything for her. She had heard stuff from both their friends, but ignored it. She figured they were jealous and were out to break them up. However, he fires back that the sources don’t like him much anyway. He’s her boyfriend and the one to trust. She starts pulling out his credit card bill and it shuts him up.
In the pre-chorus, she says she doesn’t want to look at him right now and leave her home. She tells him the affair ends now. She walks into the bathroom. There, she notices the dark red pimples spotting her face and the gray bags under her eyes from crying. It’s not the perfect, healthy relationship her family thought it would be for her.
The chorus and hook are sung again.
In the second verse, she explains he made her feel apart of a group and special. She thinks of him kissing her causes her knees to tremble and her lips to quiver. She doesn’t like him much anymore but the security he gives her is important to her self-esteem. She can’t comprehend that he treated her like she was disposable.
In the second pre-chorus, she says the girl will love his cockiness and charisma. It’s what attracted her to him. She tells him her rage is still brewing.
The chorus is sung again.
In the bridge, she asks him why he did it. She gave him her virginity and her love. She thinks his behavior is a penalty for suffocating him. She says she won’t leave him. Her life with him is valuable and she was the first to get it. She asks him why he doesn’t see her as important anymore.
The chorus is sung once to close the single.
At first, he courted her with an undeniable persistence. She teased him that he was being pesty, but she was drawn to him anyhow. Once they started dating, he told her she was the first woman he ever loved and someone he could see marrying in the future. He bought her jewels, clothing, all she desired. Then the whispers began. He had a woman in Miami for many years, where he often traveled to for work. He had shown interest in a young blonde at a charity event. His friends had seen him walk up to the hotel room with a waitress from the built-in restraurant. She thought it was just gossip and urban legend. He had already told her his cheating days were long gone. That is, until she found the pictures and receipts buried underneath a pile of clothes in his drawer. It was enough to break her.
Beyonce’s savage, wounded vocals are aptly conflicted. She’s disappointed in him and wants to work it out. However, she hates him. At the heart of her vocals is the fear of being alone. He’s the only serious boyfriend she’s ever had. She thinks no one will care for her like him again. She knows it will be better to eventually turn a blind eye. Meanwhile, she will quietly resent him for chipping away at her self-confidence. It’s her best vocal performance since Destiny’s Child first gained prominence.
The urgent rock/r&b arrangement heaves pressure and tension above the fumes of her burning vocals.
By playing against type in the edgy “Ring The Alarm,” Beyonce succeeds.
Album: B’Day
Year: 2006
Beyonce’s romance with a rich man goes awry in the wrathful “Ring The Alarm.”
A siren blares, setting a vigilant tone. In the hook, a muffled Beyonce yells for her boyfriend to tell her what’s wrong. She’s been involved with him for at least five years now and she isn’t ready to give up. He may be seeing another girl on the side, but it won’t last long. She’ll straighten both of them out.
“Ring the alarm/I been through this too long/But I'll be damned if I see another chick on your arm/Won't you ring the alarm?/I been through this too long/But I'll be damned if I see another chick on your arm.”
In the chorus, she says the new girl will be lavished with expensive fur coats and living in a mansion. The new girl will take the life she enjoys. She will be wearing rare diamonds on her finger and driving alongside him in the luxury cars to events. She will reap the benefits of him being a great boyfriend. Something she had to gracefully teach him to be.
“She gon' be rockin' chinchilla coats/If I let you go
Getting the house off coast/If I let you go/She gon' take everything I own/If I let you go/I can't let you go/Damn, if I let you go/She gon' rock them VVS stones/If I let you go/Couped in the 'bach or the Rolls/If I let you go/She gon' profit everything I taught/If I let you go/I can't let you go/Damn, if I let you go.”
In the first verse, she tells him the information she knows: that every time he says he couldn’t be with her because of a meeting, he was with the other girl. She believes the person who works with him, who verified everything for her. She had heard stuff from both their friends, but ignored it. She figured they were jealous and were out to break them up. However, he fires back that the sources don’t like him much anyway. He’s her boyfriend and the one to trust. She starts pulling out his credit card bill and it shuts him up.
“Tell me how should I feel/When I know what I know/And my female intuition/Telling me you a dog?/People told me 'bout the flames/I couldn't see through the smoke/
When I need answers, accusations/What you mean you gone choke?”
In the pre-chorus, she says she doesn’t want to look at him right now and leave her home. She tells him the affair ends now. She walks into the bathroom. There, she notices the dark red pimples spotting her face and the gray bags under her eyes from crying. It’s not the perfect, healthy relationship her family thought it would be for her.
“You can't stay, you gotta go/Ain't no other chicks spending your dough/
This is taking a toll, the way the story unfolds/Not the picture perfect movie everyone would've saw.”
The chorus and hook are sung again.
In the second verse, she explains he made her feel apart of a group and special. She thinks of him kissing her causes her knees to tremble and her lips to quiver. She doesn’t like him much anymore but the security he gives her is important to her self-esteem. She can’t comprehend that he treated her like she was disposable.
“Tell me how should I feel/When you made me belong/And the thought of you just touching her/Is what I hate most?/I don't want you but I want it/And I can't let it go/To know you give it to her like you gave it to me, come on.”
In the second pre-chorus, she says the girl will love his cockiness and charisma. It’s what attracted her to him. She tells him her rage is still brewing.
“He's so arrogant and bold (Oh)/She gon' love that shit, I know/I done put in a call, time to ring the alarm/Cause you ain't never seen a fire like the one I'ma 'cause.”
The chorus is sung again.
In the bridge, she asks him why he did it. She gave him her virginity and her love. She thinks his behavior is a penalty for suffocating him. She says she won’t leave him. Her life with him is valuable and she was the first to get it. She asks him why he doesn’t see her as important anymore.
“How can you look at me/And not see all the things that I kept only just for you?/Why would you risk it baby? Is that the price that I pay?/But this is my show and I won't let you go/All has been paid for, and it's mine/How could you look at me/And not see all the things?”
The chorus is sung once to close the single.
At first, he courted her with an undeniable persistence. She teased him that he was being pesty, but she was drawn to him anyhow. Once they started dating, he told her she was the first woman he ever loved and someone he could see marrying in the future. He bought her jewels, clothing, all she desired. Then the whispers began. He had a woman in Miami for many years, where he often traveled to for work. He had shown interest in a young blonde at a charity event. His friends had seen him walk up to the hotel room with a waitress from the built-in restraurant. She thought it was just gossip and urban legend. He had already told her his cheating days were long gone. That is, until she found the pictures and receipts buried underneath a pile of clothes in his drawer. It was enough to break her.
Beyonce’s savage, wounded vocals are aptly conflicted. She’s disappointed in him and wants to work it out. However, she hates him. At the heart of her vocals is the fear of being alone. He’s the only serious boyfriend she’s ever had. She thinks no one will care for her like him again. She knows it will be better to eventually turn a blind eye. Meanwhile, she will quietly resent him for chipping away at her self-confidence. It’s her best vocal performance since Destiny’s Child first gained prominence.
The urgent rock/r&b arrangement heaves pressure and tension above the fumes of her burning vocals.
By playing against type in the edgy “Ring The Alarm,” Beyonce succeeds.