16 CARRIAGES

“16 CARRIAGES” is the first of the 2 singles that Beyoncé released in 2024 (“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” was released after) as the start to her upcoming eighth studio album.

Released on the 9th February 2024 through Parkwood Entertainment & Columbia Records, “16 CARRIAGES” is a country ballad which discusses the emotions and experiences of growing up, as well as the uprooting of your life as a child and the repercussions of that. The song also includes themes of faith, loss, resilience and hardship.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, instrumentalist Robert Randolph (who played the steel guitar in “16 CARRIAGES” alongside Justin Schipper) recalled the recording session for the song:

“When we did the first session, I was like, ‘What are we doing?’ Raphael said, ‘Here’s what Beyoncé has in her head. And you were hand-picked because you’re the only guy who could do this.’ Beyoncé already had an idea of what she wanted to do. She wanted to do something with some playing, with some country fire. She said she liked the way I make my instrument sound like a singer. […] 

[…]  And she sang with us. She sang it right there. You just follow her lead and go. […] It’s great for her to go this route. In country music for a longest time, it almost seemed like it was supposed to be out of left field when a Black artist says, ‘Hey, I’m going to do a country record.’ It’s crazy that the whole world doesn’t understand the history of country music and fiddles, dobros and banjos.” 

The lyric video was released on the 13th February 2024 through Beyoncé’s YouTube channel.

Read the lyrics to “16 CARRIAGES” here. 

*All information accurate at the time of publishing (19th February 2024).