Black Parade

Album: single release only (2020)
Charted: 49 37
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Black Parade" is a bass-heavy anthem that starts off with Beyoncé singing about her Southern heritage.

    I'm goin' back to the South, I'm goin' back, back, back, back
    Where my roots ain't watered down, growin', growin', like a baobab tree


    The Texan songstress is proud of her black ancestry and culture.
  • Beyoncé released the song on Juneteenth (June 19), a day celebrating the end of slavery in the US. The holiday commemorates June 19, 1865, when federal troops arrived in Beyonce's home state of Texas to proclaim the freedom of all enslaved individuals. The 2020 Junteenth celebrations were especially poignant as they followed weeks of international mass-protests against police brutality and racism arising from the killing of George Floyd. Beyoncé reflects during the track on the deeply rooted racism in today's society.

    Being black, maybe that's the reason why they always mad
    Yeah, they always mad, yeah


    And the rough treatment of the protesters by the police.

    Rubber bullets bouncing off me

    Overall, the song is a celebration of blackness amidst their struggles.

    Put your fists up in the air, show black love
    Need peace and reparation for my people


    Beyoncé wrote on her website: "Being Black is your activism. Black excellence is a form of protest. Black joy is your right."
  • Beyoncé co-wrote the song with her husband Jay-Z, as well as Derek Dixie, Akil "Fresh" King, Rickie "Caso" Tice, Kim "Kadence" Krysiuk and Nova Wav. Dixie co-wrote eight The Lion King: The Gift tracks with Beyoncé including "Bigger" with Fresh and "Keys To The Kingdom" with Fresh and Kaydence.

    Beyonce and Derek Dixie produced the song.
  • The song shares its title with Beyonce's "Black Parade" project, which supports black-owned small businesses.
  • This won for Best R&B Performance at the Grammy Awards in 2021. It was Beyonce's fourth win of the night, following Best Music Video for "Brown Skin Girl" and two awards for her Megan Thee Stallion collaboration, "Savage." With 28 total, she surpassed Alison Krauss' 27 for most Grammy wins by any female.

Comments: 1

  • Cazz from NjLove
see more comments

Editor's Picks

The Evolution of "Ophelia"

The Evolution of "Ophelia"Song Writing

How five songs portray Shakespeare's character Ophelia.

Chris Fehn of Slipknot

Chris Fehn of SlipknotSongwriter Interviews

A drummer for one of the most successful metal bands of the last decade, Chris talks about what it's like writing and performing with Slipknot. Metal-neck is a factor.

90s Metal

90s MetalFact or Fiction

Test your metal - Priest, Maiden, and Beavis and Butt-head show up in this one.

Steve Cropper (Booker T & the MG's, Blues Brothers)

Steve Cropper (Booker T & the MG's, Blues Brothers)Songwriter Interviews

Steve Cropper on the making of "In the Midnight Hour," the chicken-wire scene in The Blues Brothers, and his 2021 album, Fire It Up.

Don Brewer of Grand Funk

Don Brewer of Grand FunkSongwriter Interviews

The drummer and one of the primary songwriters in Grand Funk talks rock stardom and Todd Rundgren.

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.