I’m Glad I Found the Good in Goodbye
Sometimes you need a reminder that the boy you wanted isn’t worth your time. But only you can realize your self-worth. There is something about self-respect and self-love that will change the perspective you have for yourself.
Beyoncé Knowles, a singer and female pop vocalist, sings a song all about self-worth and the karma that will befall the boy who mistreated you. Ladies and gentlemen, from her mouth to your ears, from her album 4, I present: “Best Thing I Never Had.” Quite a phenomenal song, describing both an acknowledgment of her mistakes and her assertion of what she deserves.
While her vocals bring the song together, the lyrics of the song are the backbone of the music, as with any song.
My favorite lyrics are:
“I know you want me back
It’s time to face the facts that I’m the one that’s got away
Lord knows that it would take another place, another time
Another world, another life
Thank God, I found the good in goodbye” (2:31)
The first line in this stanza asserts to the boy or target of this song that she is desirable. Beyoncé is reminding the person in question that she is a woman to be wanted. And she knows that he still wants her, disregarding the fact that she left. She continues this in the second line by declaring that she escaped him, but she does not seem burdened by her escape. She shows no sign of remorse. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
Beyoncé said, “It’s time to face the fact,” but she wasn’t talking about herself. Beyoncé is telling the boy in question that he shouldn’t be delusional about her choice. She is never going back to him and she wants him to realize this too. Of course, regardless of how he feels she will continue to live this life of hers because that is her choice. In other words, as she tells him that it’s time for him to get over her, it sounds as if she could not care less because she has made her decision.
She’s playing with him!
Then, as if she hasn’t asserted her feminine dominance over him enough, she credits herself by including the highest biblical power in Christianity. She is saying that God is backing her up which no man can go against. Philippians Chapter 4 and Verse thirteen (4:13) states, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me.” Beyoncé is asserting her dominance through God, furthering the agenda that she will never see him again and he has no choice but to accept it.
She also empowers her protest against him with God’s knowledge because, “Lord knows that it would take…another life”, for them to possibly engage in a relationship. The word choice reveals that Beyoncé is toying with him. Christianity is a monotheistic religion that believes in the afterlife. This means that when you die, your soul goes to heaven. As such, Beyoncé is saying that God knows it would take him creating a cycle of reincarnation for mortals, Christianity-wise, for them to ever get into a relationship again.
“Best Thing I Never Had” shows great lyricism to portray a story of karma and empowerment. She understands her self-worth within this song, almost to the point where she makes a joke that only furthers the agenda she creates in this song.
And to top it off, Beyoncé thanked God, the higher being she just mentioned, that she found the good in goodbye. Wow Beyoncé, you have outdone yourself.
