Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

This catchy fun song is not about materialism and getting gifts from your man; the ring is symbolic of treating a woman with love and respect and commitment, and not being selfish and taking her for granted. “Don’t treat me to these things of the world. I’m not that kind of girl means both she’s not materialistic nor into being played by men. Actually this song urges women to dump their boyfriends if they don’t propose. In an interview with The Boombox, co-writer The-Dream explained that he likes to tap into women’s personal stories when he writes songs for them. He said: “The topics change based on what you’re going through in your life, Hence, Beyoncé was going through marriage for the first time in her life when I wrote ‘Single Ladies,’ but the blessing is in how I was raised and my principal of it, and how I feel about marriage. I wrote a song about a relationship that’s starting but sings, ‘If you like it then you should’ve put a ring on it,’ meaning a lot. The music video was directed by Jake Nava, In the video, , Beyonce and the dancing girls are pointing in the direction of their wedding fingers, as they urge ladies to find a man who “should put a ring on it.” The dancing was inspired by choreographer and director Bob Fosse. The video became an internet phenomenon with thousands of homemade versions posted on YouTube. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Beyonce explained that the idea for the promo was a 1960s film of a Bob Fosse routine, Mexican Breakfast, which featured his wife, Gwen Verdon. She said: “I saw a video on YouTube. They had a plain background and it was shot on the crane; it was 360 degrees, they could move around. And I said, ‘This is genius.’ We kept a lot of the Fosse choreography and added the down-south thing. It’s called J-setting, where one person does something and the next person follows. So it was a strange mixture, kind of like the song, which is almost like a nursery rhyme, the ‘oh-oh-oh’s, and the sinister chords. So it’s like the most urban choreography, mixed with Fosse, very modern and very vintage. We’d spent all the budget on the video for ‘If I Were a Boy’, and with this song, we didn’t even have a treatment. So, it’s the least expensive video I’ve done. Not for a moment did I think, ‘This is going to be a movement.'”

Release Date: October 13, 2008

Songwriter/s: Christopher “Tricky” Stewart – Terius “The-Dream” Nash – Thaddis Harrell – Beyonce Knowles

Label: Columbia

Chart Rankings: In the US, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Dance Club Play and the US Pop Songs charts. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it Quadruple Platinum for sales over 5 million copies. In the UK, it topped the R&B charts and peaked at number 7 on the Official Charts Company. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified it Platinum for sales over 840,000 copies. The song topped the charts in Brazil and reached the top 10 charts in several countries around the world including Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and Spain. It was certified 5 times Platinum in Australia, Double Platinum in Canada, and Platinum in New Zealand and Spain. In Denmark, Germany, Italy and Mexico it was certified Gold.

Artist’s age on Release Date: Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter was 27 years old when she released this song.

Cover Versions: Marmaduke Duke – Stan Walker – PS22 Chorus – Dame Edna Everage – Jeff Tweedy and Alan Pownall – Pomplamoose – Katy Perry – Sara Bareilles – A Rocket to the Moon – Kharizma – Matthew Raymond-Baker – The Chipettes – Liza Minnelli – Young Men Society – Amateur artists covered this song on youtube.