Love Drought

Album: Lemonade (2016)
Charted: 69 47
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Beyoncé recounts an emotional journey throughout the Lemonade album of Jay-Z's infidelity and their reconciliation. After the anger of the first half of the record, a more placid Beyoncé is now more accepting of husband's shortcomings and starts exploring forgiveness:

    Cause you, you, you, you and me could move a mountain
    You, you, you, you and me could calm a war down
    You, you, you, you and me could make it rain now
    You, you, you, you and me could stop this love drought


    Beyoncé now feels ready to reinvigorate their relationship despite her trust issues and insecurities.
  • Beyoncé wrote the song with Houston rapper Ingrid (formerly known as IB3), who grew up across the street from the "Formation" singer. She signed to Bey's Parkwood Entertainment label.
  • Longtime Kanye West collaborator Mike Dean produced the track, supplying a suitably cleansing synth line and rich bass. He recalled the collaboration to Billboard magazine: "We were in the studio together. Just writing sessions. Lotta producers, lotta singers. We'd just have them all collaborate."

    "'Love Drought' was one of the songs that we made. I was just lucky enough for it to make the album. It didn't change from the day we recorded it. It's been the same for a couple years."
  • Ingrid's original lyrics were actually inspired by issues with her label rather than mending a relationship. She told Genius the story of the song.

    "Two of the people who were running [Parkwood] at the time lied to me and told me that Beyoncé wasn't currently listening to any new music. I got to the studio to go to her writing camp literally four days later in LA, and they started playing me music, and Mike Dean was there from Houston as a part of the camp.
    Mike and I actually went in to hear their music for the first time together and it was very inspiring. The A&R is like, 'Yeah, it's amazing, I have to read to you Miss B's notes about their music.'

    She starts reading these notes and I'm like, 'They just told me that she's not listening to any music,' which doesn't even sound right. I was so pissed. I had my feet on the desk, I'm smoking, you know, smokes going in the air I remember it like it was yesterday, I wrote the song in like 30 minutes. I was just thinking, as I'm looping this beat, I couldn't get out of my head the fact that they just lied to me."
  • Beyoncé sang this at the Grammy Awards in 2017, her first performance after announcing she was pregnant with twins. She was introduced by her mother, Tina Knowles, who praised, "the devotion and love I see in her for her daughter and the way she has always expressed love to all of those around her."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Wedding Bell Blues

Wedding Bell BluesSong Writing

When a song describes a wedding, it's rarely something to celebrate - with one big exception.

Rickie Lee Jones

Rickie Lee JonesSongwriter Interviews

Rickie Lee Jones on songwriting, social media, and how she's handling Trump.

Sarah Brightman

Sarah BrightmanSongwriter Interviews

One of the most popular classical vocalists in the land is lining up a trip to space, which is the inspiration for many of her songs.

Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers

Bill Medley of The Righteous BrothersSongwriter Interviews

Medley looks back on "Unchained Melody" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" - his huge hits from the '60s that were later revived in movies.

Bill Withers

Bill WithersSongwriter Interviews

Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."

The Police

The PoliceFact or Fiction

Do their first three albums have French titles? Is "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" really meaningless? See if you can tell in this Fact or Fiction.