Beyoncé’s ‘American Requiem’ Is The New Black National Anthem, Explained

What does it mean to love a country that doesn’t always love you back? Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album opens with “American Requiem” — a soul-soaking song that can easily be described as a new Black National Anthem… and with good reason. Let’s break down exactly why this cultural track hits so hard. 

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The track opens slowly, almost echoing with grief or mourning. “Nothing really ends. For things to stay the same, they have to change again,” Beyoncé sings. “Hello, my old friend. You change your name but not the ways you play pretend.” What an eloquent way to confront the cycle of history, and how those struggles resurface under new leaders across generations, yet the core pain remains unchanged for America — Black Americans in particular. 

So many people might be missing what’s happening here. More than just a song, this track is more like a reckoning that stands alongside some of the most thought-provoking pieces in our musical history, including Billie Holiday’s haunting “Strange Fruit” (1939), Nina Simone’s powerful “Four Women” (1966), and Max Roach’s evocative jazz composition “Requiem” (1961), all of which confront America’s history of racial violence and resilience head on.

Needless to say, fans have had time to marinate on the Grammy Award-winning singer’s lyrics, and as far as they are concerned, the opening track is a “masterpiece,” reflecting on what it looks and feels like to be American right now. People gave Bey some major flack about her album not being “country enough,” however it’s clear she’s gone far beyond that, revamping traditional Americana with a revolutionary message that can’t be ignored. 

“It is the new American soundtrack,” TikTok user Genx Reference Desk said in an excellent review of the trending song. “She has combined, in so many layers of this song, what it means to be America right now…this is about America’s death,” she adds. “If things don’t change, we’re going to die.”

“This album deserves a Pulitzer prize,” one fan wrote in the comment section. “Yes! This isn’t a country album. It’s an American album. It’s a mix of all genres. An American masterpiece,” a second agreed. “‘AMERICAN REQUIEM’ is the protest song that everyone thought ‘America Has A Problem’ was gonna be! Beyhive will know what I’m talking about,” a third added. 

A requiem is a musical mourning for the dead — a way to honor loss and remember what’s been. So when Beyoncé calls this track “American Requiem,” she’s mourning the country itself, its broken promises, and the ongoing pain Black Americans face till this very day. Combining the aches and pains of the blues, folk, rock, country, and the message of Bob Dylan — “It’s time to face the wind” — she’s created a ballad similar to a funeral and a battle cry all at once. And she’s daring America to finally hear us.

“Goodbye to what has been. 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,” the heartfelt track concludes.

“American Requiem” poses a challenge to listeners — to face the truth, reckon with the past, and redefine what freedom really means for us as a nation. It’s no wonder some are calling it the new Black national anthem and the “new American soundtrack.” Because if we don’t move forward together, what future is left for the country that once called itself the “Land of the free and the home of the brave?”