Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’: The Samples & Interpolations on Her New Album
Beyoncé doesn’t just drop albums, she drops incredibly dense, multilayered bodies of work that pull from decades of musical history across genres and regions to fashion something wholly new and idiosyncratic from the legacies of those who came before her.
With the release of her eighth solo studio album, Cowboy Carter, on Friday (March 29), Queen Bey added yet another culturally immersive record to her illustrious catalog. Across the album’s 27 tracks, the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer square dances her way across a sprawling soundscape that incorporates samples, interpolations and production motifs that nod to country, ’70s rock, trap, house, Brazilian funk, opera, blues, gospel, R&B and pop.
“I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive,” Beyoncé wrote in a March 19 Instagram post detailing the album’s creation. “It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.”
In order to fashion her very own Western epic out of the roots of country music, Beyoncé chose to sidestep the concept of genre — “a funny little concept,” according to country legend Linda Martell — and completely reimagine classics from the likes of Nancy Sinatra, Fleetwood Mac and the Beach Boys in the process. Cowboy Carter follows directly in the footsteps of its predecessor, 2022’s Renaissance, in the way that Beyoncé looks to the past to fashion new futures out of the different styles she’s experimenting with.
Here’s a list of the samples and interpolations throughout Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter.
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“SMOKE HOUR ★ WILLIE NELSON” (with Willie Nelson)
For the first of the album’s radio-themed interludes, Beyoncé recruits country legend and fellow native Texan Willie Nelson to act as radio host. Before Willie hops on the mic, however, there’s a bit of station surfing that references tracks from several pillars of rock ‘n’ roll.
Those songs are as follows:
- Delta blues performer Son House’s “Grinnin’ In Your Face”
- Godmother of Rock ‘N’ Roll Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s “Down by the River Side”
- 1955 rock classic Chuck Berry‘s “Maybellene”
- Legendary American vocalist Roy Hamilton‘s “Don’t Let Go”
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“Daughter”
On the haunting murder fantasy “Daughter,” Beyoncé interpolates a section from the renowned aria “Caro Mio Ben.”
Entirely in Italian, Queen Bey croons: “Caro mio ben/ Credimi almen/ Senza di te/ Languisce il cor/ Il tuo fedel/ Sospira ognor/ Cessa, crudel/ Tanto rigor.”
(English Translation: “My dear beloved/ Believe me at least/ Without you/ The heart languishes/ Your faithful one/ Always sighs/ Cease, cruel one/ A lot of rigor.”)
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“Spaghettii” (with Linda Martell & Shaboozey)
Beyoncé, Martell and Shaboozey built this zany country-rap hybrid off a sample of the beat from Brazilian funk artist O Mandrake’s “Aquecimento Das Danadas” (with DJ Xaropinho).
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“II Most Wanted” (with Miley Cyrus)
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“Ya Ya”
For this Cowboy Carter standout, Beyoncé ropes in several classics: First, the song begins with a sample of Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 Billboard Hot 100 No.1 hit “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.” The sample serves as the background music for Bey’s playful call-and-response intro.
Later in the track, Bey interpolates another ’66 Hot 100-topper, The Beach Boys‘ “Good Vibrations,” in the refrain, “She’s pickin’ up good vibrations/ He’s lookin’ for sweet sensations.”
Towards the end of “Ya Ya,” Beyoncé coos “And lover boy, you’re so fine,” in a similar delivery to Sylvia Robinson’s “oh lover boy” on Mickey & Sylvia’s 1957 R&B No. 1 hit “Love Is Strange.”
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“Oh Louisiana”
This entire interlude is comprised of a sped-up sample of Chuck Berry’s “Oh Lousiana,” the opening track from his 1972 album San Francisco Dues.
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“SWEET ★ HONEY ★ BUCKIIN’”
At the very beginning of “SWEET ★ HONEY ★ BUCKIIN’,” Beyoncé interpolates the chorus from Patsy Cline’s classic “I Fall to Pieces,” which reached No. 12 on the Hot 100 back in 1961.
Bey sings: “I fall to pieces/ Each time I see you there/ And I miss all our secrets/ So tell me how you been.”
Patsy Cline’s version: “I fall to pieces/ Each time I see you again/ I fall to pieces/ How can I be just your friend?”
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“Amen”
Surprise! To close out “Amen,” Beyoncé interpolates the opening track of her very own Cowboy Carter, “Ameriican Requiem.”
In “Amen,” Bey sings: “Say a prayer for what has been/ We’ll be the ones to purify our Fathers’ sins/ American Requiem/ Them old ideas are buried here/ Amen.”
In “Ameriican Requiem,” she sings: “A pretty house that we never settled in/ A funeral for fair-weather friends/ I am the one to cleanse me of my Father’s sins/ American Requiem/ Them big ideas are buried here/ Amen.”
