Flawless Lyrics

Lyric discussion by BBQueen 

Cover art for Flawless lyrics by Beyoncé

In this song, it’s fairly obvious that she’s referring to female critics: “when you were little girls, you dreamt of being in my world.” When she says “in my world,” she could be referring to the music industry or her world of hyper-luxury: private jets, fancy restaurants, traveling the world, yachts, designer clothes, and all the other “perks” that go along with be a world-famous entertainer. But what she shows with the intro footage of GIRLS’ TYME in which she was performing at age 9, she’s worked incredibly hard to get where she is today. And as one of the most successful female artists in the world, she has earned her place as an icon. So she’s saying “bow down” to women in and outside of the industry who disrespect that legacy of hard work and her current place. Being married and having a baby has opened her up to criticism and she’s speaking directly to her critics in this song when she says she’s not “just his little wife,” she’s still a force to be reckoned with.

She uses a sample of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk to further dispel her critics by attacking patriarchy and sexism.

• For those who claim she’s “too” successful, or that she emasculates her husband: We say to girls / "You can have ambition / But not too much / You should aim to be successful / But not too successful / Otherwise you will threaten the man." • For those who claim that marriage was her ultimate goal and now that she’s married, it’s time for her to put her career on hold: “Because I am female / I am expected to aspire to marriage / I am expected to make my life choices / Always keeping in mind that / Marriage is the most important.” • For those who claim that she is slutty and too hyper-sexualized: “We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings / In the way that boys are” • For those who claim that she is not feminist: “Feminist - the person who believes in the social Political, and economic equality of the sexes.” • For those women in the industry who see her as a threat, not as a peer or source of inspiration and constantly affirm that they are better looking or better dancing or better singing: “We raise girls to each other as competitors / Not for jobs or for accomplishments / But for the attention of men.”

The flawless mantra is basically saying Eff patriarchy, eff these haters, we are flawless. “I woke up like this” means we are flawless exactly the way we are, and that our detractors are the ones with the issues (see above section on patriarchy and sexism). She ends the song with the conclusion of the Star Search, in which she loses to illustrate that there are times when you will lose. There are times when you will not be the best. But you are still flawless, which is why the song is ***Flawless (the three stars representing the 3 stars GIRLS TYME received).

Song Meaning

woow, no more to say, you explained it all. Bow down! haha