the meaning of the song if i were a boy
If I Were a Boy "If I Were a Boy" was written by BC Jean and Toby Gad.[2] It is the opening ballad of the I Am ... disc of the double album I Am... Sasha Fierce. It is the only song on either disc that BeyoncÃ© did not co-write.[3] Most of the lyrics were written by Jean, who was inspired by the break-up of a romantic relationship.[1] One day Jean and Gad visited a pizzeria in Times Square in New York City.[1] Although tempted, Jean refrained from eating pizza because she was dieting. She then thought that if she were a boy, she would have eaten without regret.[1] After reflecting on the idea, she concluded that she would have been a better man than her past lover.[1] Gad captured Jean's ideas on a pocket recorder, and they went to the studio the same day. Once there, she wrote the lyrics and melody in about 15 minutes. She then recorded the song in less than half an hour, with Gad on the guitar.[1]
I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier" is an American anti-war song that was influential within the pacifist movement that existed in the United States before it entered World War I.[1][2] It is one of the first anti-war songs.[3] Lyricist Alfred Bryan collaborated with composer Al Piantadosi in writing the song,[4] which inspired a sequel, some imitations, but also a number of scornful parodies. It was a hit in 1915, selling 650,000 copies. Its expression of popular pacifist sentiment "helped make the pacifist movement a hard, quantifiable political reality to be reckoned with."[5]