Music Review: Beyonce "XO"

Beyonce

Album: Beyonce

Year: 2013

               DAY. UM. Let me repeat that. DAY. UM. Bow down, bitches indeed.

               Beyonce deals with her mortality in the heartwarming  “.”

              According to The Hollywood Gossip.com, former NASA officer Steve Nesbitt says  “Flight controllers here looking carefully at the situation. Obviously a major malfunction.” after  from the Challenger had exploded in 1986   It shocks and then leads to flickering synths, setting a dizzy tone. Her knuckles are turning white. Her boyfriend tells her she’s going to be okay. She touches his lips with her finger and says she would like a kiss. She isn’t sure how sure how much longer. She tells him she can feel his love tingling in her arms and vibrating throughout her body. She tells him not to go. She needs him to stay until she can longer see. (“You love is bright as ever/Even in the shadows/Baby kiss me/Before they turn the lights out/Your heart is glowing/And I'm crashing into you/Baby kiss me/Before they turn the lights out/Before they turn the lights out/Baby love me lights out.”)

             In the chorus, she tells him she’ll always be with him. If he talks to her, she’ll listen. She’ll offer him help and guide him when needed. She says when the doctor takes him aside, (“In the darkest night I'll/I'll search through the crowd/Your face is all that I see/I'll give you everything/Baby love me lights out/Baby love me lights out/You can turn my light down.”)

              She says there isn’t much time. Soon, it will be nighttime. It will be another day she won’t have. She asks for another kiss. She puts her hands on his face, saying she enjoyed every moment with him. They had their own world that existed solely for them. She asks him for him to hold her. (“We don't have forever/Baby daylight's wasting/You better kiss me/Before our time is run out/Nobody sees what we see/They're just hopelessly gazing/Baby take me/Before they turn the lights out/Before time is run out/Baby love me lights out.”)

                The chorus is sung again.

               In the bridge, he flicks a piece of her hair and she giggles. She tickles her foot on his leg and he erupts in laughter. They always have so much fun together.  She sighs. She’s going to be miss everything about him. (“I love it like XO/You love me like XO/You kill me boy XO/You love me like XO/All that I see/Give me everything/Baby love me lights out/Baby love me lights out/You can turn my lights out.”)

                The chorus ends the single.

                Beyonce’s sparkling vocals grin wide, soaking in his every expression. She watches the lines the sun makes, protecting her from her fear through the window. She couldn’t have asked for anything more.  

                  With “,” she’s challenging herself by invoking darker moods while juxatoposing it with lighter lyrics. The complexity and maturity, which was brimming underneath  of “4,” has rose to the surface.  

                The Nesbitt clip, however, chips away at the single’s greatness. It exploits the Challenger tragedy. The victims become faceless characters, used to further along the narrative. It forgets that they were real people with families. It’s poor judgement.              

                  The  incadescent “” celebrates a full life.