35. Purple Lemonade: Prince & Beyoncé

It has been a period of musical loss and celebration. On the same week we lost Prince, the world was gifted Beyoncé’s Lemonade. Both artists contain multitudes of musical traditions, collaborators and themes that weave throughout their song. In the first half of the show, we break down Beyoncé's “Hold Up,” an exemplary piece about Lemonade's main theme of marital distress. But the song is not as simple as it may seem. Its compositional restraint suggests more complex ideas about love. Speaking of love, Prince may have published more songs on the subject than any other recording musician. In the second half of the show, we speak with scholar and Musiqology contributor Matthew Valnes about Prince’s musical legacy.

Featuring

Beyoncé - Pray You Catch Me
Beyoncé - Freedom
Beyoncé - Formation
Beyoncé - Love Drought
Beyoncé - Sorry
Beyoncé - All Night
Beyoncé - Daddy Lessons
Beyoncé - Hold Up
Major Lazer & DJ Snake - Lean On
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
Vampire Weekend - Obvious Bicycle
Beyoncé - Don’t Hurt Yourself
Prince - Musicology
Joshua Redman - How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore
Prince - How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore
Prince - When Doves Cry
Sly & The Family Stone - Thank You
Prince - Super Bowl Press Conference Performance
Marcus Miller - Jean Pierre (live at North Sea Jazz Festival)

You can read Matthew Valnes' article "When Doves Cry" over at Musiqology.

Also check out Behind The Linear Notes’ latest episode on the history of the Castrati featuring a clip from our episode on One Direction.